The match takes place at Liverpool County F.A. Liverpool Soccer Centre, Walton Hall Park, Walton Hall Avenue, Liverpool, L4 9XP. Kick Off 6.30pm

The team are on course to win 4 trophies this season, having already won the Adam Bell Trophy earlier in the month, beating Arriva Youth. 

We hope you can make it to the game and show your support to the future of AFC Liverpool.

With First team manager Derek Goulding and Reserve team manager John Moran in attendance, AFC Liverpool’s Under 16’s secured the trophy in a one sided 3-0 victory over Arriva Youth.

The reds were in the ascendancy right from the off and took the lead after 5 mins when a David McElnay cross looped over the opposition goalkeeper.

The reds didn’t need such luck with James Woods and Daniel Currie controlling the midfield to ensure that from an early stage the result was never in doubt.

The reds continued to press for a second goal without success until on the stroke of half time Tom O’Sullivan nodded in a right wing cross to make it 2-0.

In the 2^nd half AFC Liverpool made a number of substitutions without losing control of the game showing the strength in depth of the squad.

A nasty looking injury to Steven Grey which resulted in a red card for the offender from the opposition marred the 2^ndhalf which ended with Lewis Hogg scoring the 3^rd for a well deserved victory.

Its was a great night for the Under 16’s with a good turnout from AFC Liverpool fans and the support of the first team and reserve team manager. Paul McDonnell can now focus his squad on the league title challenge and the Liverpool County F.A. Cup Final.

For any fans wishing to attend the details are as follows:

Thursday 26^th March 2009 Kick off 6.30pm at the Liverpool County F.A. Liverpool Soccer Centre, Walton Hall Park, Walton Hall Avenue, Liverpool, L4 9XP.

Steve Wallis’ team have played some superb football throughout the season and thoroughly deserve the league title for their efforts.

On winning the title Steve said ‘A great effort from this talented bunch of boys, winning the league was our sole focus this season so that we can enter the champions league tournament for other league winners in July

We have continued to play football in an attractive manor developing the children and having fun along the way’

Steve has set up his own webpage for the side which can be viewed atwww.afcliverpool.moonfruit.com

The U11’s team are also in the final of the cup so fingers crossed there may be another victory for the AFC Livepool Youth Set Up to look forward to.

This news comes in addition to recent success of the U16’s who have reached two finals and are going well in the league. The U16’s won 3-0 on Wednesday night with a great performance in the Adam Bell Trophy Final against Arriva Youth. 

The U13’s are riding high in their league and the Wirral based U11’s are also going well over the water.

Sean and Russ would like to thank all the coaches and lads involved in these age groups for their hard work and commitment so far this season.

Russ and Sean have been working on the system since March 2008 and are proud to have taken on some coaches of a very high standard. They are confident of developing players through the system who will one day be capable of playing for either AFC Liverpool Reserves or ideally the First Team.

Sean and Russ are eventually aiming to have Under 8 teams up to Under 18’s teams both based in Liverpool and on the Wirral.

There are currently 4 youth teams already representing AFC Liverpool at youth level and the details of these teams can be found below.

Unfortunately the Under 18’s that played in the North West Counties U18’s division earlier this season have withdrawn from the league due to changes in personal circumstances for the coaches involved. Plans are afoot to have a new U18’s team next season.

Under 16’s Managed by Paul McDonnell and assisted by Kev Coakley play in the Craven Minor League.

Under 13’s Managed by John Ford and assisted by Griff Jones Snr and Griff Jones Jnr.

Under 11’s (Liverpool) Managed by Steve Wallis and play in the MHJFL.

Under 11’s (Wirral) Managed by Steve Mercer and assisted by Kim Buckley and play in the Ellesmere Port League.

Sean has commented on the system by saying ‘We are delighted to have these teams on board at such an early stage in AFC Liverpool’s life. We were initially only expecting to get 2 or 3 teams created but to have 4 is thrilling for the club and illustrates the level of interest in the club already and how serious the club is by building foundations for the future.’

Russ added ‘The strength in depth with the coaches we have in place and of course the players should help secure a bright future for the club but rest assured this process has only just started and we will be strengthening the youth system further ready for next season. Watch this space!’

On top of working with AFC Liverpool Sean and Russ also work with Wirral Schoolboys U14’s and co manage Upton U16’s in the Chester and District League. They would like to reserve special thanks for Dave Innelli who has worked closely with their teams them season and will be a valuable asset for the youth set up over coming seasons as he is a specialist goalkeeping coach. 

Russ and Sean would also like to publicly take this opportunity to thank club founder Alun Parry and Mark Woods for all of their support in assisting getting the youth system off the ground. In a joint statement they said ‘Alun, Mark and the rest of the steering group showed a great deal of faith in us in giving us this opportunity in February 2008 and we hope we can deliver all we promised them over the next couple of years. The existing steering group are also extremely supportive of what we are doing and we hope we can ensure that there will be youth team players turning out for AFC Liverpool for years to come.’

We hope to have new section on the website up and running as soon as possible where you can learn more about the youth system. There will be pages set up for each age group and these will be regularly updated from now on so fans can track the progress of all the teams during the season.

If any one is interested in coaching a team at AFC Liverpool please email us at youth@afcliverpool.org.uk . Next season we will be looking to add U8’s, U9’s, U10’s, U11’s, U13’s, U14’s, U15’s and U16’s boys teams.

We are also looking for a Child Welfare Officer so if anyone is interested please email us at youth@afcliverpool.org.uk .

We have been working together in football for the past few years.

We completed our FA Level 1 Certificates together in September 2005 and started a coaching role with Heswall Under 12’s. We continued to work for Heswall seeing the team through their season as Under 13’s.

We both qualified as FA Level 2 coaches in 2007 and were appointed as coaches for the newly formed Wirral Schoolboys Under 15’s for 2007-2008 season. This team achieved great success reaching the last 16 of the National Cup, finishing second in the Merseyside League to Liverpool (who were National Champions) and runners up in the Cheshire Cup Final narrowly missing out on penalties.

After a successful stint with the U15’s, we were presented with a few further opportunities in coaching and as we are very ambitious coaches we have taken on three roles this season.

Firstly, we were offered the chance to stay on at Wirral Schoolboys and coach the newly formed Under 14’s team, which has made a solid start to the 2008-2009 campaign in the Merseyside League and Cheshire Cup.

We also jointly Manage Upton JFC Under 16’s team which is currently sitting top of the Chester & District League. This team includes a few of the players who currently play in the AFC Liverpool U16’s team. We also have Dave Innelli working with us with this team. Dave who is also a regular columnist in the AFC Liverpool match day programme has been fantastic with the lads and in particular he has worked closely with our goalkeepers who have improved immensely under his coaching. We will be looking to get Dave involved with the U18’s side next season as his goalkeeping coaching expertise will be invaluable for potential future first team goalkeepers. 

What excited us most of all was the opportunity to set up the AFC Liverpool youth system. We see this as a real opportunity to leave a legacy behind and hopefully ensure that this club can have youth teams representing us at all levels for many years to come.

The focus of our efforts is on player development. We would love to be able to bring a few players through to the youth system who can play in the first team and represent the club at the top level. For us winning leagues and cups etc is a secondary focus to ensuring that players are developing, improving and enjoying their football.

On top of developing players for the club another objective is to ensure that AFC Liverpool is represented from Under 8’s up to Under 18’s. We are also desperate to ensure that lads both in Liverpool and on the Wirral get the opportunity to represent AFC Liverpool. Both of us come from the Wirral and we are aware how big a Liverpool FC fan base there is on the Wirral and we want the Wirral Liverpool supporters to get the same opportunity to put on the red shirt as the Liverpool lads. Having being involved in coaching Wirral Schoolboys we are also very aware of the talent that there is on the Wirral and we believe it is an area that is slightly untapped in terms of youth football.

We had decided to delay announcing the details of the youth set up this season until we knew everything was up and running successfully. We hope you do not mind us taking the time in providing you with all the information but we wanted to make sure everything was running smoothly before we made any hasty announcements.

We are extremely pleased with the progress all our teams are making and we hope you the fans enjoy sharing in the success that these teams will hopefully bring over the next few years and more importantly we hope you get a nice surprise when you pass a local park and see a young team in AFC Liverpool kits representing the club.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors in particular MJP Justice Solicitors who have provided us with kits for two teams this season. If you would like to sponsor the youth system in anyway may it be a kit or a donation of some kind please email us at youth@afcliverpool.org.uk .

If any one would like to get in touch with us please email us at youth@afcliverpool.org.uk . We are still actively looking for players and coaches for next season. Any coaches or youth team players interested in coaching or playing for AFC Liverpool please email us and we will look to contact you before the start of next season with further information.

We are also looking for a Child Welfare Officer so if any one is interested in this role please contact us again at youth@afcliverpool.org.uk .

All the best

Russ and Sean  

The Liverpool County F.A. Cup is the most prestigious trophy for U16’s in our area as any team from any league who are affiliated to the F.A. can enter so it would be a real achievement to win it.

They have already reached the Final of the Craven Minor Adam Bell trophy whose final is held at Burscough’s ground where a certain Derek Goulding masterminded the defeat of Gillingham in the F.A. Cup and are at the quarter final stage of the Craven Minor Ken Les trophy whose final is to be held at the home of Southport F.C. one of Derek’s old playing grounds.

The Craven Minor league is a tight affair, having probably 4 or 5 teams which could contest any other Merseyside league. Bad weather and good cup runs have seen many of our fixtures postponed and we currently lie in third position but after winning nine out of our ten games to date we can go 7 points clear if we win our games in hand.

Dates for your diary

The boys would very much welcome some support at their finals from fans, players, management and board alike. Please feel free to wear your colours and bring your scarves as the boys play in the same Home and Away strips as the first team

Adam Bell Trophy Final

Kick off 8.00pm Wednesday 11^th March 2009.

Burscough F.C. Victoria Park, Bobby Langton Way, Mart Lane, Burscough, Lancashire L40 0SD

Liverpool County F.A. Cup Final

Kick off 6.30pm Thursday 26^th March 2009

Liverpool County F.A. Liverpool Soccer Centre, Walton Hall Park, Walton Hall Avenue, Liverpool, L4 9XP

FC United had the first chance of the game when the impressive number 7 shot over the bar from the edge of the box.

Moments later AFC had their first positive attack and scored another great team goal when Joe Evans and Dean Williamson combined well and released Jordan Gerrard who finish with vengeance from 10 yards out.

Afc continued to win the personal battles on the pitch with Billy Sutton causing the FC back 4 problems with his powerful and direct approach, and it was a foul on him just inside the FC half that brought about AFC’s second.

Kieron Long put a quality ball in to the area and Gerrard again rose highest to bullet a header in to the top corner.

Half time FC 0 AFC 2

The AFC manager stressed the importance of the next goal in the half time team talk, and it was his AFC side who answered him in the best possible way when Gerrard capitalized on a poor defensive clearance and coolly lobbed the keeper from 30 yards out.

FC now started to play some good stuff and created a good opportunity but AFC keeper Chris Brinksman was up to the task and neatly tipped a curling shot round the post. But there was nothing he could do when FCUM finally scored after good pressure.

The number 7 slipped a great ball into the striker who finished well from a tight angle, much to the delight of a voicerous home line.

The referee now seemed to take centre stage with some curious decisions booking several players and sending the FCUM left back off for what looked like trying to return to the field of play after going off for treatment!!

AFC finally put the game to bed in emphatic stlye when Williamson seized on a poor pass and finished well past the keepers left. As the final whistle blew the referee sent another FC player off for dissent in a game that never warranted so many cautions as it was played in good spirits and the welcome the AFC players and staff received was top class.

So it is AFC who progress into the next round after another 4-1 win.

Ian Porter (AFC manager) gave his man of the match to hat trick hero Jordan Gerrard who scored the perfect hat trick (Right foot, Left foot and a header) although the defence played well together with
Conor Murphy in particular impressing.

So its to Altrincham Youth next week who should provide a big test for the lads as they
finished runners up last season narrowly missing out in the league by a single point.

Final Score: FC United of Manchester 1 AFC Liverpool 4

Report by AFC Liverpool fan Vinster.

In there final pre-season game of the season, our U16’s took on the highly respected Vauxhall Motors under 16’s.

Despite having no fewer than 5 regular players missing and a squad of just 13 on the day, The Reds started really well and bossed the opening exchanges.

AFC’s squad was further depleted after just 10 minutes when Steven Gray was carried off injured after a late tackle on the edge of Vauxhall’s box. The mood was lifted however when James Woods scored direct from the resulting free kick.

Shortly after, Danny Rimmer extended the lead with a half volley after being set up by Dan Guy-Currie.

Half time Vauxhall Motors 0 AFC Liverpool 2

Vauxhall came on strong in the second half after switching to 4-3-3 and Liverpool had to soak up plenty of Vauxhall pressure. They held firm for 20 minutes before Owen Davies deservedly pulled one back for the motormen. Vauxhall continued to pile on the pressure and were awarded a penalty when AFC’s Keeper Ryan Mainwaring was adjudged to have brought down a Vauxhall player inside the box. However the excellent Mainwaring saved at full stretch to his left to maintain the lead.

Final score Vauxhall Motors 1 AFC Liverpool 2

Please note that there are 2 AFC Liverpool Under 16 teams:

Liverpool based (L)
Wirral based (W)

The under 18’s recently competed in the umbro tournament featuring teams from over 50 countries and got to the final.

On the wednesday AFC Liverpool played Flixton youth and drew 2.2, In a game they dominated and should have won by a clear margin, The AFC goalscorer’s being Joe Evans with a thunderous left foot shot and Dean Williamson with a trademark free kick.

On Wednesday afternoon AFC played Wilmlslow Juniors and beat them 2.1 in a score line which flattered the opposition. Dean Williamson scored again and Matt Mcdermott grabbing the first and leaving AFC top of their group at the end of the day.

On Thursday AFC only had one game which they drew 0.0 against grapes new chapel from London in a game were they created enough chances to win 10 games leaving them needing to win their final group game to ensure qualification.

Friday AFC faced Sale united and beat them 16 .0 Billy Sutton grabbing 5 goals,Matt Mcdermott 4, Jordan Gerrard 1, Lloyd Molyneux 2, Anthony Mcdowell 1, Joe Evans 2, and Dean williamson 1

In the Semi Final AFC played River State from Nigeria and beat them 4.1 with goals from Matt Mcdermott 2, Billy Sutton 1, and Dean williamson scoring again in a good game of football and the lad’s will have gained good experience from playing against foreign opposition.

AFC looked tired and were left with a thin squad for the last day and were beaten 2.0, but overall the AFC youngsters can be pleased with their contribution to this prestigious tournament with teams from over 50 countries competing in it.
Manager Ian porter Said he “Was pleased with the lads attitude over 4 days of football, i thought they would tire at the end of the tournament, for the day of the final we met at 7.30am at the Jolly Miller and the final seemed a game too far for us, but we cant complain because we had a good few days together and the spirit amongst the lads is first class.

It was a decent game, with both teams getting the ball down and playing football.

This was AFC Liverpool U18s first game of the pre season and Macclesfield’s second.

Ian will be pleased with what he saw from his squad on the night. He was able to give the full squad a run out and the new players he brought in impressed him.

The only thing he will be disappointed with, was the way they conceded the goal, but that can be put down to a little rustiness, which I’m sure will disappear once the season gets under way.

This match was against a professional club’s youth team and a couple of Macclesfield’s players had played 1st team football so this was a very good performance for AFC Liverpool’s U18s.

If this standard is maintained, AFC Liverpool will have a very good U18 team.

Report by Kevin Torpey