Mowbray Rangers go international for 11th annual festival

The under 12s competition featured regular French visitors Etoile alongside Mowbray Rangers Jaguars, Melton Rangers, Asfordby FC and Melton Foxes.

Irish side Monaghan United made the trip for the under 13s tournament alongside Etoile, Mowbray Rangers Tigers, Beaumont Park Pumas, Bardon Hill

Falcons, Mowbray Rangers Lions, Kirby Kings and Houghton Rangers.

Teams faced off in a round-robin competition to decide the U12s title with Mowbray Rangers Jaguars topping the league from runners-up Asfordby FC, with Melton Rangers third, Melton Foxes in fourth, and Etoile finishing fifth.

The under 13s format was two groups of four, with the fourth-placed team in each group playing their final game to decide who came seventh and eighth in the competition, and so on up to the group winners who played in the final.

Mowbray Rangers Lions pipped Bardon Hill Falcons 1-0 in the final to complete a home double.

Final placings: 1 Mowbray Rangers Lions, 2 Bardon Hill Falcons, 3 Kirby Kings, 4 Mowbray Rangers Tigers, 5 Etoile, 6 Monaghan United, 7 Beaumont Park Pumas, 8 Houghton Rangers.

All teams received a trophy, while Mansfield Town footballer Conrad Logan, formerly of Leicester City congratulated all of the boys at the presentations.

This Festival of Football could not have taken place without sponsors, Aston Vauxhall, Asbury Planning, B and H Midland, ESF Festival of Football, The Crown (Asfordby), Asfordby Post Office, Graham Spencer Massage, Heidi Jacobs-Farnsworth, Homewood Residential Lettings, Melton Castle Carpets, Melton Sports, Ocean Blue, QD Stores, Samworth Brothers, Richard Tait Builders and Vinny’s of Asfordby.

Other support vital to the success of the festival came from referees Michael Cornes, Simon Baker, John Barkworth, John Carr, Ryan Kelly, Adam Brierley-Lewis, Kevin Carter, Kevin Sinclair, Reece Warner, Nigel Marriott and Karl Read.

Mowbray also wish to thank the club’s host families who accommodated their friends from Etoile and the volunteers who manned the kitchen and barbecue throughout the weekend, support which was also vital to the festival’s success.

Mowbray Rangers committee spokesman said: “We would like to thank all for enabling the 11th International Football Festival to maintain its high reputation for being unique within Leicestershire and Rutland and for being a huge success.”