Riverside lads shine in France
Scottish teams have had mixed results in Europe recently but that wasn’t the case for a youth football team from Stirling who travelled to France to take part in their first ever tournament abroad – and came home champions.
The nine 11-year-old boys from Riverside Football Club 2006 team travelled to Froissy in the Picardy region with coaches Barry Anderson and Derek Clark to take part in the tournament organised by US Froissy Section Jeunes.
The boys competed against eight other teams in the 2006 age group playing eight-aside and despite the 280C heat, they kept a clean sheet in winning six games and drawing one, racking up an impressive 19 goals in total.
Coach Barry said:“his was the first tournament abroad for the boys and it was a fantastic experience for them. To win the tournament and come home with a trophy was the icing on the cake.”
While in France, the boys and their families stayed with host families who showed tremendous hospitality.
Barry added:“The whole town was welcoming and really made us feel at home. We were there for four days and stayed with host families which meant we experienced their culture and way of life. Our new friends could not do more to make us feel welcome and we now have memories and friends for life.”
The Riverside team travelled to France with their friends from the Tillycoeur Association. Tillicoultry has been twinned with the town of Crevecoeur le Grand in Picardy since 2012, and for the Tillycoeur team it was their fifth time in France playing at a tournament and like their Stirling counterparts, they also won their respective age group.