Burbage juniors are champions
BUDDING football stars who were the original members of their junior football club celebrated in style after securing promotion to the top flight of their county league.
Children from FC Burbage enjoyed a glass of bubbly (fizzy grapefruit juice) six years after it was set up by three dads from the village.
Rupert Newman, Jason Lee and Phil Stockton wanted to set up a football club for under eights and over the course of the coming years they took on 18 qualified coaches and more than 150 children across seven age groups.
Six years later, the original set of youngsters who played for the club have tasted success.
Now the Under 13 side, they won the league title of Division B of the Leicester and District Sunday Juniors League and a place in the tier above.
The boys also gained a place in the U13 League Cup Final which will be played on Sunday May 7 at Coalville Town FC.
Rupert said: “The elation comes after a long season full of tough opposition where any one of a number of teams could have ended up on top.
“The Under-13 Lions had seen promotion in each of the past two seasons but always as runners up and were beginning to feel like they would be ‘always the bridesmaid and never the bride!’
“In the picture, etched on the faces for many, is the delight that had been a long time coming”
Rupert added that part of the success lay in those “countless volunteers” who “give up their time every Saturday and Sunday, come rain or shine to coach, organise teams and travel the length and breadth of the county to support us, and for that we could not be more grateful”.
The team still harbours a desire to have a home where all matches and training would take place in one location in the village alongside a clubhouse benefitting the whole community.
But Rupert added: “The reality of that kind of green space with the current wave of housing development is for now, not a reality.
“So we have founded the club on some sound principles which mean that irrespective of how spread out we are, the essence of what started six years ago still lives on as each year we add in a new age group at Minis level.”
The three dads hope that there are many more years of “boys and girls from across the community coming together to exercise, learna new skills, make new friends and enjoy themselves. Thank you to all those who have supported us in getting this far and thank you in lieu of those who will help us on the next stage of our journey.”
Anyone interested in contacting the team should email info@fcburbage.co.uk