51st Father Ryan &Walter Tomlinson Primary Football Tournaments are a Huge success

                      St Laurence's become 51st winners of prestigious Father Ryan

The 51st Father Ryan and Walter Tomlinson Primary football tournaments took place at All Saints High School on Saturday 29th June. The Father Ryan is the most prestigious Primary school football tournament in Kirkby and players like Leighton Baines, Craig Noone, Ricky Lambert, Ryan Taylor, to name but a few, will have represented their Primary school in the past. All Saints PE staff have planned, organised, and led the tournament for the last 15 years ensuring the heritage of the tournament will remain part of Kirkby history. 

The tournament this year was a fantastic advertisement for Kirkby junior football. Most notably there were more girls playing than in previous years. Not content with playing, some of the girls wanted to outshine the boys. In fact player of the tournament was T.Shelley for St Laurence's. She scored two in the final against Westvale and was a whisker away from a hatrick when a rocket of a hit smashed against the post. The standard of goalkeeping was also very high and there were so many spectacular saves.

The 51st Father Ryan football tournament was won this year by St Laurence's as they beat Westvale 3-2 in an end to end final. W.Ferguson's goal proved to be decisive as he coolly slotted past the Westvale keeper. 

The final of the Walter Tomlinson was a much tighter affair and the newly formed Northwood Primary secured victory with a penalty to beat Park Brow 1-0. The Northwood team was mainly made up of Year 5 pupils which could mean they are a team to be reckoned with in the 52nd Father Ryan.

                          Northwood Primary celebrate their Walter Tomlinson victory

All Saints pupils once again referred the tournament and they were a credit to the school and the community. They were in at 8am setting up the goals, marquee, and organising teams. The standard of their referring was also commendable. The respect shown to the referees by pupils and parents was also of the highest order. There was a real competitive edge to the games, but the day passed by without a referee having to speak to a single pupil about poor attitude or a bad tackle. This really was a fantastic advertisement for the Kirkby Community.

At All Saints we cannot wait to work with the youngsters on view today. If football is your passion then you will definitely be coming to the right school, as All Saints is the only school in Knowsley to be playing in the big Liverpool school's league each Saturday morning. All Saints has a rich history of producing the best teams on Merseyside, and have regularly contested Merseyside finals over the past 10 years. All Saints currently boasts no fewer than five past pupils who are making a living from the game. 

         All Saint past pupils making the grade

You can view the highlights of the Father Ryan Final by following us on Twitter @allsaintspe

Any queries about sport at All Saints and the opportunities we give please don't hesitate to contact us

through Twitter or on the school number 0151-477-8740