The Vacucom sponsored Eccleshall Under 10s got their season under way playing in the Doug Brown Founders Trophy in the North Staffs Junior Youth League held at the Hardman Football Development Centre. They faced a real test as the team was put in Group A with Tier 1 teams. Manager Dan Chell takes up the story:

"The competition started against FC 41 and we came out with a 3-1 victory with goals coming from Elijah Harris (2) and Theo Stone. In the second match, we faced Leek Town and we played some lovely one and two touch football to romp home with a 3-0 victory, the goals coming from Jacob Egan (2) and Elijah Harris. The last game was a decider to determine who won the trophy against a very strong Cheadle SMU team. We fell behind early on with a goal from a free kick. This spurred the team on and we then dominated the game and eventually drew level with an excellent long range strike into the top corner of the net from Freddie Chell. The match ended 1-1 and went to a penalty shoot out.

Cheadle took the first spot kick and Jacob Eagan pulled off a terrific save, plucking the ball from the top corner. For the Eagles, Freddie Chell was up first and fired home, giving the Cheadle keeper little chance. Cheadle missed their next spot kick and Elijah Harris stepped up to find the net again. Cheadle's third penalty hit the bar and clear meaning that if Eagles netted the next kick, they were trophy winners. Iris Healey, with no sign of nerves, stepped up and fired the ball home.

This was a great tournament against some strong opposition but the Eagles quality shone through with a well deserved victory on the day. The team are now looking forward to the new season".

Photo shows the trophy winners after the competition.