Charity five-a-side raises funds for mosque

Bradford Allstars with the Golden Cup presented by Tahir Mahmood, president of the Golden Mosque

3 More Image(s) In Gallery

A charity five-a-side football tournament raised over £500 to assist in raising funds for the new Golden Mosque in Rochdale. Sixteen teams from Greater Manchester and Yorkshire entered the tournament, organised by Deen For All (DFA).

Nawaz Moin, Fundraising Manager for DFA explained how the event came about: “The President of the Mosque, Tahir Mahmood has worked tirelessly on raising funds for the new mosque and cultural centre. We felt a responsibility to help the Mosque President. We were fortunate to receive support from various sections of the community. In particular, I would like to thank Mohammad Zarafat from Link4Life and Neuman Mohammed of Roca Juniors. Both of these community leaders give up their Sundays to help with the refereeing. I would also like to thank Councillor Mohammad Sharif the portfolio holder for Community Cohesion as well as Tahir Mahmood for their support.”

Mr Moin added: “All the funds raised were either a result from entry fees or donations from local sponsors (A1 Auto, JR Pizza and Raj Palace). We have so far raised £500 although we expect that amount to be around £650 mark once all sponsorship and entry fees have been collected.”

Mr Moin concluded: “This year DFA has managed to raise around £37,000 working with different organization for various causes. I am extremely pleased with this figure and have already began to make plans for a 2009 Soccer Aid tournament to raise further funds for good causes.”

The tournament itself was highly competitive. From the early group matches Real Deeplish, Spotland Golden and Bradford Allstars looked like the teams to beat. All three teams won their respected groups- averaging three goals per match.

In the semi-final, Spotland Golden, average age only 19, met Allstars of Bradford. Both teams knew the winners of this match would start as firm favorites for the final. Spotland began to dominate the match and took a deserved lead. However, with minutes to go, nerves began to tell and the Bradford Allstars equalised. With seconds to go Bradford Allstars put together a counter attack to snatch a last gasp winner.

In the other semi-final, Real Deeplish lost out to Deeplish Superstars, again in a tightly fought match.

The final was dominated by an inspired Braford Allstars Team. They ran out 4-2 winners with Jon Sebbar winning the player of the tournament award for his all round match performances.

Councillor Sharif, the portfolio holder for Community Cohesion, said: “I was delighted to play a part in bringing a highly entertaining and skilful tournament to Rochdale. These are young men from our community who have given up their own time to help raise money for their mosque and cultural centre. It is a £3 million project. Having discussed the plans with representatives from Golden Mosque Management Committee, they intend to ensure the centre is for the whole community. It’s purpose once built can only serve to promote community cohesion further.

"Regarding the event itself, in truth every player, supporter and sponsor was a winner. It is always good to see young men direct their talent and energy for such good causes. Well done to everyone involved!”

President of Golden Mosque Mr Tahir Mahmood, also congratulated everyone involved. He said: "The funds are much needed and I thank everyone from sponsors to the volunteers as well as the teams who took part. To me it is vital the Golden Mosque, as Greater Manchester’s first mosque, promotes community cohesion. My management Committee intend to ensure we open our doors to the wider community once the new building is built. This Mosque is not only for Muslims but for the whole community and that is something we intend to work towards.

"You need look no further than the winning team today. They consist of players from such diverse ethnic backgrounds that it shows what can be achieved by working together."