After leading Cambridge United to the first ever FA People’s Cup U16 girls title, Albany Hodgson is urging players across the country to register for this season’s competition.
The U’s skipper organised their team for the People’s Cup, which ended with a 2-1 victory over Ole United in the Final at Manchester’s Goals centre in May.
With such fond memories of the People’s Cup still fresh in the mind, Albany is keen to explain Cambridge’s campaign began without any real expectations of silverware.
The FA People's Cup
First Round: 22-24 January 2016
Categories: Adult Male, Adult Female, U16 Boys, U16 Girls, U14 Boys, U14 Girls, Male Veterans, Female Veterans, Walking Football (Over 50s & mixed), Disability
Click here to find a local heat and register
And as the People’s Cup is free to enter, with over 100 venues in England hosting the early rounds, the 2016 title winners will all have to start somewhere.
"At the start, we only entered it as a bit of fun really and on the social side of it to have a bit of a laugh," she revealed.
"We just wanted to see how far we could get, but we didn’t think it would get that serious.
"We played together as a team at the Cambridge United centre of excellence and we knew each other outside of football and education, so it was just a bit of fun to start with.
"We had the first regionals in Peterborough, which we got through and then we went to Hull before it was the Finals in Manchester.
"But we were all so glad that we did it and it turned out to be a great experience."
To cap it all off perfectly, the Cambridge team were then at Wembley Stadium the following week to collect their winners’ medals at half time of The FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Aston Villa.
"Wembley was a brilliant way to end it,” admits Albany, who now plays for Tottenham Hotspur Ladies.
"It was a great atmosphere, so to end up with tickets to the Final was brilliant and something we never expected when we first started."
So if you fancy taking a stab at your own Cup glory, whilst also supporting Sport Relief along the way, do yourself proud, tell your friends, get them involved and donate.
The first round will be taking place between 22–24 January and ahead of that weekend, there will be a series of squad-building events around the country, enabling individuals without existing teams to sign up, meet potential team-mates ahead of the games and talk tactics. These events will happen the weekend before in order to give individuals the time to meet new team-mates.
In total, there are ten categories in the competition: Adult Male, Adult Female, U16 Boys, U16 Girls, U14 Boys, U14 Girls, Male Veterans, Female Veterans, Walking Football (Over 50s & mixed) and Disability.
For full details on The FA People’s Cup and to enter, click here.
Sport Relief is back from Friday 18 – Sunday 20 March 2016 and there are more ways than ever for you to take part, change lives and feel proud. Find out more information about Sport Relief by clicking here.
