Gay and Lesbian Recreational Football for London

Group A

Leftfooters FC 0-4 Hertha Junxx Berlin
Paris Arc-En-Ciel 0-1 Bristol Panthers
Leftfooters FC 0-6 Paris Arc-En-Ciel
Hertha Junxx Berlin 0-3 Bristol Panthers
Leftfooters FC 0-1 Bristol Panthers
Hertha Junxx Berlin 1-5 Paris Arc-En-Ciel

Group B

Leftfooters FC #2 1-3 Pan Fodbold
Brighton Bandits 1-0 Leicester Wildecats
Pride of the North 4-0 Leicester Wildecats
Leftfooters FC #2 1-1 Brighton Bandits
Brighton Bandits 0-1 Pride of the North
Pan Fodbold 3-0 Leicester Wildecats
Pan Fodbold 1-2 Pride of the North
Leftfooters FC #2 1-0 Leicester Wildecats
Leftfooters FC #2 2-0 Pride of the North
Pan Fodbold 1-0 Brighton Bandits

Group A Table

  PLD GD PTS
Bristol Panthers 3 5 9
Paris Arc-En-Ciel 3 9 6
Hertha Junxx Berlin 3 -3 3
Leftfooters FC 3 -11 0

Group B Table

  PLD GD PTS
Pan Fodbold 4 5 9
Pride of the North 4 4 9
Leftfooters FC #2 4 1 7
Brighton Bandits 4 -1 4
Leicester Wildecats 4 -9 0

Semi Finals

Bristol Panthers 3-0 Pride of the North
Pan Fodbold 0-4 Paris Arc-En-Ciel

Final

Bristol Panthers 1-0 Paris Arc-En-Ciel

 

 

FOOTBALL FOR ALL 2005
26th February, Regents Park - London

The last weekend in February saw the London Leftfooters' organise a 'Football For All' tournament in the Capital. Teams came from across England and from Paris, Copenhagen, Barcelona and Berlin. Below is an account of the weekend written by the main organiser.

Firstly I guess we should say thank you to everyone who came up to London for the weekend to take part in our little kickabout.

Events kicked off on the Friday night, upstairs in Comptons. Mike H and I managed to turn up with all the gear roughly about half an hour before everyone was due to turn up. Not being a driver I would never criticise Mike's driving as he's a fantastic taxi - though I think maybe picking a route out of Orpington that went past several schools at home time was a bad idea given the hurry we were in!

After about an hour, Comptons was to fill to the brim with players and fans from all over the UK and Europe, and not even the fact that we'd left the free drinks vouchers in another pub could dampen the evening. Well done to Steve M for swinging by Camden and saving the day there! After the group stage draw - a few ice buckets and Kinder Eggs no less - the excitement grew and the drinks flowed. In the spirit of the tournament I'm pleased to report that hardly anyone opted for an early night and stayed till the end.

As the sun came up across Camden on the Saturday, we drew a collective sigh of relief that the snow that threatened all week to muck up our plans, had decided to shove off somewhere else. After a nail biting will they/wont they? half-hour of waiting for the changing rooms to be opened we managed to get the tournament under way with little delay. The games were all played in the true spirit of Leftfooters and everyone had a great time shouting from the sidelines.

As the matches passed, the day grew colder (and how). Qualifying from the groups we had an all English semi-final of Bristol Panthers vs. Pride of the North (made up of Yorkshire Terriers & Village Manchester). The second semi-final saw Paris Arc-En-Ciel take on Pan Fodbold of Copenhagen to ensure we would have an English and European team in the final (aaah!).

Bristol Panthers eventually saw off the Pride of the North with a 3-1 win and Paris Arc-En-Ciel battered the Danes 4-0 in the other game, so it was all set up for a replay of the first game of the tournament where these two teams met in the group stages.

Fair play to all the supporters who stuck around for the final. The wind was biting and it started to rain towards the end, but it did nothing to dampen the spirits of both sets of teams.
To give the final a real International feel, we were lucky enough to have a qualified Bundesliga match referee in the form of Hertha Junxx's Sascha R. Nobody to my knowledge tried to throw him a bung. The pretty boys from Paris played pretty football to match. In a closely contested game Panther's Carl G hit the winner to take both the top scorer trophy as well as the 'Football For All' Cup itself back along the M4. Gary T in the Bristol goal put the icing on the cake by not conceding a goal the whole day.

At the post tournament party at the Black Cap I think it's fair to say everyone had a brilliant time. Our wannabe patron Sandra did us proud, only managing to insult one person by default.

We hope you all enjoyed taking part as much as we did heckling once we'd been eliminated. The feedback was very kind, so we might even do it again next year - though maybe in the summer, or Spain. It was really great to see so many people and to quote the wonderful Mike H ... "Everyone there will know that something very special happened this weekend that will stay in our memories for a long time."

There are, of course, too many people to thank - especially within the Leftfooters. Special thanks though to the FA for their support, Jimmy for helping sort out The Black Cap and Comptons and the Pink Paper for covering the event.
Mikey C