The Rochdale AFC preliminary round of the EFL Kids Cup have taken place this week.
40 teams entered from primary schools across the borough throughout Monday to Thursday, with the finals taking place on Friday.
Heap Bridge Village Primary, Hopwood Community Primary, St Vincent’s Primary and St Gabriel’s RC Primary all returned on Friday having made it through, along with Marland Hill Primary who qualified as winners of a recent Community Sports Trust event.
St Vincent’s won the tournament on goals scored after a 5-1 victory in their final match, and they will now represent Rochdale AFC in the regional finals of the EFL Kids Cup.
They have a chance of making it through to the final, which will take place at Wembley before the Sky Bet League One playoff final in May.
The EFL Kids Cup is a six-a-side competition for under-11 schoolchildren and culminates in three finals across the Sky Bet EFL Play-Off weekend.
The road to the finals starts when the new school term starts. Each EFL club organises a Kids Cup local competition for all local schools wishing to take part.
The 72 EFL clubs are first split into three divisions, in line with club’s divisional status, before being again split into two groups, north and south. The winners of the divisional northern and southern finals will then qualify for the chance to play before the Sky Bet EFL Play-Off Final of the relevant division.
St Vincent’s now have the chance to go on to represent the club in the Area, Regional and National phases of the competition, where they will face schools representing other League clubs.
They, and runners-up Heap Bridge Village Primary, will be presented with their trophies and medals at Dale’s match against Fleetwood Town at the Crown Oil Arena on Saturday 10th February.
Good luck, St Vincent’s!