Adam Heslop Cup

The Adam Heslop Cup took place on Thursday 21st November at Halifax Indoor Football Centre. There were 30 school teams competing from across Calderdale, 12 in the girls only competition and 18 in the boys/mixed event. The competition is in it’s 9th year and is possible thanks to the fantastic support we receive from RSA Insurance and The National League Trust.

The girls event ran first with two groups of six, St. Malachy’s topped group A on goal difference and Greetland Academy finished second, St. Mary’s won group B with Salterhebble in second place.

There were 81 goals in the group stages with lots of very close games, the girls were really enjoying the games and setting the standard for the boys/mixed competition to follow.

The semi-finals were both close encounters, Salterhebble beat St. Malachy’s 2-0 and Greetland squeezed past St. Mary’s with a 1-0 win.

The final was a tight fixture, Greetland and Salterhebble couldn’t be separated in normal time, so the final was the first match of the day to go to dreaded penalties. Salterhebble were unable to score in the shoot out and Greetland won the competition by finding the net twice.

The girls trophy returned to Greetland Academy having won the competition in 2023.

The boys/mixed competition started with several schools, all previous winners, hoping to regain the trophy. Old Earth and Barkisland battled out for top spot in Group A, Old Earth eventually finishing first on goals scored, having finished equal on points and goal difference. Group B was won by Greetland with newcomers Ash Green finishing in second place. Copley won Group C at a canter and Salterhebble finished second. With the superior points/results Barkisland advanced as the best second placed team against the group winners.

There were a whopping 187 goals across the group fixtures and it was great to see 6 new schools taking part in the competition for the first time.

In the boys/mixed semi-finals, second placed Barkisland leap-frogged their Group A counterparts with a 4-0 win. In the other semi Greetland beat Copley 2-0.

The final was a repeat of last year’s boys/mixed final with Barkisland being the victors 1-0 in 2023. This year was a different story as Greetland were too good in front of goal and they ran out 3-0 winners.

Having won the girls event earlier in the day Greetland Academy are the first school to do the double in Adam Heslop Cup history.  Both teams now progress to the regional finals of the National League Trust U11 Cup where they will face the winners of the local tournaments ran by other National League clubs.  The tournament culminates in a National Final played at Wembley stadium before the National League Play-Off Final.

We would like to thank the FC Halifax Town first team players who attended for photos and to hand out the awards.

Next year marks the 10th anniversary of the Adam Heslop Cup, we hope to have an even bigger and better event.