Here’s another blog for Bantams Banter, this one off special is about our yearly trip to Holland where we compete against different teams. The first thing we do on the trip is meet at Valley Parade where we all meet Paul Jubb the head coach of Bradford Disability Football Club who usually counts how many are on the coach.
Then we travel down to Hull Ferry Port where we catch the ferry over to Holland which is overnight. We watched a show and had plenty to drink which always makes time pass by.
Friday morning we get off the ferry then go to the accommodation where we are staying during our time in Holland.
We put our bags and things into the room we are staying in and put first dibs on beds, I always fight for the bottom bunk! The weather was nice and sunny. We went on a ground tour to FC Twente which was a really impressive stadium which had a lot of heritage. We then went back to the accommodation for a barbeque and more beers!!
On Saturday we got up and set off to the venue where we are playing football at Rigtersbleek FC, we played a full day of football in 28 degrees heat. There were quite a few nose bleeds and lots of tiredness which we blamed on the heat and not the booze lol. At the end of the tournament there’s a big presentation congratulating all the teams. All in all BDFC came away with 5 trophies. After the presentation we stayed at the venue, got showered and changed ready for another barbeque that our hosts in Holland organize. They also put on a big party for us, with pitchers of beer and some of us watched the UEFA Champions League Final.
We took 3 teams, 2 adult teams and a junior team.
Here’s how Bradford Disability Football Club got on during the tournament
FC Bradford JG1 which is the BDFC Juniors finished 5th out of 10 – and they won the penalty competition
FC Bradford G1 – which was a mixture of BDFC seniors from two different levels finished 10th out of 16
FC Bradford G2 – which is the lower seniors of BDFC they finished the tournament 14th out of a possible 16 teams they also won the fair play award which means that they were respectful to every team and player that they played against.
This is Joe Bray one of the coaches at BDFC and in the background you can see a certain Mark Lighthowler who is one of the lower level coaches, he also coaches the juniors.
This is the end of my one off Special, before I sign off I would like to THANK everyone that made the Holland trip such a fantastic and enjoyable four days! This includes members of BDFC, coaches Joe Bray, Paul Jubb , Jaimie Dorward Shaw, Mark Lightowler, Ken knights and all the parents and carers especially my mum who likes to party occasionally!!
Next time, I'll be blogging about our annual Harrogate Tournament - when Tom & Dom will be taking charge of one of our team!
See You Then
Liam BCFC Midgley