Liverpool Community College held their annual Anthony Walker Memorial Shield Football Tournament on 25^th May 2011. It was again hailed a huge success by all involved.

The tournament, which took place on UEFA’s Grassroots Football Day at Kensington Sports Centre, Liverpool, was organised in association with local non league football club AFC Liverpool (www.afcliverpool.org.uk.) who kindly supported the event and supplied bottles of water, a player of the tournament trophy and two great referees.

The main aim of the tournament is to promote the message “Kick Racism out of Football” and Paul McCombs AFC Liverpool’s Vice Chair and Community Officer stressed this in his opening address to the students at the tournament. “It is the perfect opportunity to bring together so many good things in football; the Respect Campaign, One Game One Community, and grassroots football in memory of Anthony Walker”

Eight diverse teams from across the college competed in the tournament and the overall winners were Nike 5 (see picture), a group of students from Clarence St and Vauxhall Road Centres who beat runners up LCC boys, sport’s students from Vauxhall Road.

Anthony Walker’s mother Gee expressed her pleasure in such an event taking place. “Please convey my gratitude to the organisers of the Anthony Walker memorial football tournament with a vision to promote racial harmony amongst our young people.  I am really hopeful that through Anthony’s legacy of acceptance and tolerance they are impacting lives by doing the things they enjoy.  It is really comforting to know so many are playing a part in what my son enjoyed and what he would have doing had he lived.

An AFC Liverpool representative added “A tournament like this is the perfect thing to have in the community, as football brings people together. It is grassroots tournaments like this that make a real impact on the local community.”