THE FA PEOPLE’S CUP – IT’S BACK!   THE BEST (FREE) AMATEUR 5 A-SIDE FOOTBALL COMPETITION IN THE COUNTRY!

You don’t even have to be brilliant at playing football, just get some mates together and enter a team!

It’s FREE to enter and there are plenty of venues around the Country to go and play your games.  There are now 18 categories to choose from and you can check them all out and where to enter your team, here:

http://www.thefa.com/news/2017/dec/19/search-for-the-fa-peoples-cup-2018-191217

The Crawley Old Girls (COGS) first entered the People’s Cup in 2016, in the Adult Female and Female Vets’ categories.   We booked 4 teams to travel to Portsmouth (basically so we had an excuse to book a hotel and combine it with a “Jolly”!)

Unfortunately, the Ladies’ Vets category only had 6 teams entered in the whole Country so the 2 COGS’ Vets teams were lucky enough to go straight through to the Finals, in Sheffield.  We have to say that the first ever competitive games we played, as Crawley Old Girls, were at the People’s Cup and we absolutely loved it.  The experience of playing competitive football inspired us to want to do it more often and we’ve certainly done that since!  We were up against some ladies who had reformed teams from their playing days but we made some great friends and the camaraderie on the day will always be remembered.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03nf2j4  “Old Women Rock!”  Check out the BBC’s quick video at the Female Vets’ Finals in 2016!

In 2017, it was fantastic to see the number of Ladies Vets’ teams increase at the venues and we were delighted to see that the Hackney Jurassics won the Final to retain their 2016 crown!  Now, this year we need to get more women, over 35, involved in the Ladies’ Vets’ category so we can all enjoy the opportunity to play the beautiful game!  It could be a chance for Mothers & Daughters to play at the same venue (in different teams) and create some amazing moments!

There are plenty of other categories which give everyone a chance to play in this Competition.  Why not grab a few mates to make a 5 a-side team? It’s a few hours over the weekend of 23rd/25th February and, we’re not encouraging anyone, but we always find it helps team bonding to find a local pub (preferably afterwards!) It’s one of the highlights of the COGS’ calendar and last year we managed to take 6 teams to Southampton where we had a brilliant day, after staying the night before.

If you manage to get through to the Finals, and win it, you will go to the FA Cup Final, in May and receive your Cup on the hallowed Wembley turf!  A dream for many….

Through the Rounds and on the way to the Finals, there is also great coverage, not only from the FA, but the BBC and BBC Inspired, who encourage and publicise all the good things that are going on, you may even end up being seen on Match of the Day or Football Focus! There are plenty of stories on The FA and BBC Sport website, respectively, where the COGS have been lucky enough to feature.  Read more here:   http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/38675749

We know a few more teams who will be entering the Adult Female and Female Vets’ categories this year and we would encourage anyone to sign up and play, after all it’s FREE and great fun.  What more could you want?  Get involved and you never know what can happen!