Coinciding with the Women’s European 2017 Finals, Sheffield Hallam University hosted a 9v9 tournament to help showcase women’s football at a local level.  Not long after the England Lionesses beat Scotland in their opening game, there was a surge of additional team entries into the tournament.  A total of nine teams took part in the event, playing in a group completion with the top two teams playing in the final. 

"A fantastic way to celebrate the rise of the women's game and the England Lionesses competing in the Euro's"

Dronfield Town Ladies narrowly beat local rivals AFC Dronfield 1-0 in the final.  Harworth Colliery Ladies finished in third place, after edging out a young Sheffield Wednesday Ladies side 1-0 in the third place play off.  Not only did all of the players receive a Lioness goodie bag but the winners and runners up also received free tickets to watch Sheffield FC Ladies in a WSL2 match. 

Tobias Taylor, Football Development Coordinator at Sheffield Hallam University was delighted by the success of the tournament “I was really pleased to see all the teams playing, more so the manner and enjoyment all teams took into playing the games was fantastic and a credit to female football. A fantastic way to celebrate the rise of the women’s game and the England lionesses competing in Euro’s.  With the success of this tournament we are already excited for the development of the tournament next year”.

Sheffield Hallam University actively promote female football, and not just across the University but also within the local community.  One of their successful projects last season was the Flexi-Football league which will continue into the 2017-18 season and start again in October.  The 9v9 league is aimed at teams or groups who want to play a more informal and flexible version of the game.  Fixtures take place on a fortnightly basis and teams can enter the league throughout the season. 

“We understand the barriers of playing week in week out, and we want to provide an opportunity that is more flexible.  We feel that we could attract new players or players returning to football.  It’s a fun league, which is competitive, but we don’t take games too seriously” commented Tobias. 

For more information about the 9v9 Flexi-Football League please contact Tobias Taylor, Sheffield Hallam University or Sarah Wood, Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA.