Rochdale youngsters join football tournament

Under 18s finalists DX and Real Deeplish

More than 250 children and young people from different Rochdale communities took part in an exciting week-long football tournament recently.

Great Places Housing Group community cohesion officer Azmat Khan organised the event at South Street kick pitches in Rochdale with Rochdale Youth Services, Regenda Housing Group, Housing Marketing Renewal, Greater Manchester Police and Wardleworth Community Centre.

A total of 20 teams competed in under 12 and under 18 age groups. The under 12s final between Rochdale Juniors and Belfield Boyz, was attended by a 100-strong crowd. It ended in a draw, then a penalty shootout – then sudden death, with Mohammed Hamza scoring to take the title for Rochdale Juniors.

In the under 18s contest, after 46 games, DX and Real Deeplish converged for the final, ending with a score of 1-0 to DX.

Youth worker Mohammed Shiraz said: “The kids all loved the event and every one was a winner for participating.”

Azmat Khan, who used to work for Rochdale FC, said: “This tournament has been running for 4 years and this time we had more teams than ever. There really were some world class performances on and off the pitch.

“The local police officers were impressed at how the older players were acting as positive role models for the younger participant and the local councillors were impressed with the skills on show.”