1st DFFC Tournament (West Bromwich)

The first ever DFFC Tournament took place last Sunday at the West Bromwich Albion FC Academy and a fantastic day was enjoyed by all as Birmingham DCC ‘A’ ran out worthy winners in a nerve jangling Under 16s final.

Five teams took part, Fulham DFC, Birmingham DCC ‘A’ and ‘B’, Royal School for the Deaf Derby FC and Northampton Town DFC, in a five-a-side competition with each team playing each other in a group stage.

All games took place indoors on the state-of-the-art 3G pitches, so despite the wet weather all the players and spectators stayed dry and warm!

There was some superb football displayed by the teams, the passing and movement was particularly good. Despite some strong competition, Thomas Barnett, the Northampton Town goalkeeper, thoroughly deserved the Player of the Tournament award. He put in some amazing performances, keeping his team in their matches time and time again with some stunning saves. His semi final performance was particularly eye catching with his saves keeping a rampant Fulham side at bay until the closing minutes before eventually losing 2-0.

Birmingham ‘A’ and Fulham emerged from the closely fought group stages and semi-finals to contest a final to decide the champions. Fulham had the upper hand in the first half and their passing game gave them a 1-0 half time lead. Birmingham equalised soon after the restart but Fulham regained their lead with a fantastic second goal. Fulham looked to have secured the cup but Birmingham fought back and peppered the Fulham goal with shots. With a couple of minutes left Jason Severn found the net with a long range shot to give Birmingham their second equaliser.

With the referee looking to his watch, the game was heading towards a nail biting penalty shootout when Jason struck again with an identical shot to send the Birmingham team and their supporters into raptures with virtually the last kick of the game. Unsurprisingly, Jason won the Man of the Match award as he collected his winning medal and Adam Breeze, the Birmingham captain, lifted the trophy.

Birmingham now hold the title of DFFC Champions until next year’s competition! So if you would like your deaf school or club to get involved in this tournament and prove you are the best deaf junior team in the country, please get in touch with the NDCS Football Development Officer on football@ndcs.org.uk or 07966 341 022 (SMS Only).

Final Table

Semi Finals

Final

Click to view our gallery of photos from the day.