Red House Farm Junior Football Club will be represented by both teams contesting the final of the Northumberland FA Under-13 Shiremoor Press Boys Trophy.
Friends become foes as Red House Farm Under-13s Kites and Falcons meet in a cup final with each side bidding to win silverware and, arguably most importantly, club bragging rights. It is not often that two teams from the same club meet in a final, but that is exactly what will be happening on Sunday 8 May when Kevin Bills (Falcons) and Mathew Mann (Kites) lead their teams out.
In grassroots football, clubs often have two or three teams competing in each age group, so it is not completely unheard of to have two teams from the same club facing each other. There have been instances before of cup finals contested between sides representing one club, but it is a rare occurrence
It will be the first time that Red House Farm, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, has achieved the feat.
Close-Knit
Usually, before a big cup final, teams will do everything they can to keep their match preparation secret from their opponents. With both teams training on the same night at the club, that won’t be possible and, regardless of the result, all the players, coaches, and parents will be celebrating after the final as one.
“They are two really good sets of kids,” Kites coach Mathew told Fen Regis Trophies. “The majority of them have been at the club since they were seven; it’s excellent for them.
“Everybody knows each other. On a Thursday night, Kev’s team trains and immediately after, we train. In the summer, when we get together, we play friendly matches to get the lads ready.
“They’re such a good group of kids. We’re trying to get something sorted to get everybody together to go out after the game, regardless of the result.
“Obviously, Kev wants his team to win and I want my team to win. All the lads know each other, they go to school with each other, and all the parents know each other. We’re a close-knit club.”
This won’t be the first taste of a cup final for the Kites, with Mathew touching on their experience of winning the Under-9s League Cup.
He said: “There’s a few of them that have been here when we won the League Cup at Under-9s, and we still speak about that now. We use that as part of the team talk.”
Giant Killers
If there is one thing that everyone loves about cup football, it is a lower league side upsetting the odds and knocking out a higher division side. Kevin’s Falcons, who play in the age group’s Division Six of the Northumberland Football League, have beaten three sides in higher leagues to book their spot in the final.
“We’re two leagues below Matt’s team,” said Kevin. “We play teams that are generally in higher leagues than us, so we’ve done well to get to the final.
“We’re about to get promoted into Division Five as well, so we’ve got a promotion and a cup final on the horizon.”
The Falcon’s coach added: “It would be a great achievement for the boys (if they win the cup final). We started in Division Eight and they’ve worked so hard to move up the leagues.
“It’s a testament to their hard work and a credit to them for getting to the cup final. To win it would be outstanding. It would be brilliant to see their faces at the end of it.
“Even if we do lose, it’s a fantastic achievement and everybody will be happy that the cup is going to Red House at the end of the day.
“I’m not sure it’s happened before (having two Red House Farm teams in a final), I think it’s the first time two Red House teams are meeting in the final.
“It will be my first final with the team. We’ve had a promotion before, but we haven’t reached a cup final.
“We did get to the semi-final of the other cup but we lost that one, unfortunately, so it was great to get a semi-final win.
“This is definitely my biggest achievement with the team. To get a Division Six team through to a final, playing against three higher division teams, is a massive achievement for both me and the team.”
The Boys on the Pitch
Hoping to make the difference on the pitch for their respective teams are Jude Wilton-Devlin and Cole Williamson, who are both central midfielders for the Kites and Falcons respectively. While his team-mates and coach like to draw upon the experience of winning a trophy back at Under-9, Kites captain Jude was not part of the team yet and is looking forward to his first cup final.
He said: “This will be my first cup final. My coach brings up the Under-9s cup final quite a lot.
“It’s been pretty good not conceding through the cup run. I know that we are quite good.”
This will be the first season to be played in its entirety since 2018/19, when the boys were in the Under-10 age group, due to the pandemic and Jude told Fen Regis Trophies how he coped when football was suspended.
“I watched Match of the Day and kept in contact with my friends,” he said. “I missed going to training and games loads [during the pandemic]…I didn’t know what to do!”
For the Falcons, Cole is under no illusion how difficult it is going to be to cause one last upset in the final but is desperate to win it for his team-mates.
Cole said: “Our chances are good but we have to work hard!
“The people are really nice who are on my team and I get along with them really well. I hope we win this final.”
Whatever the outcome may be, it is certain to be a proud day for both sets of teams as well as for the club itself. We would like to wish both the Falcons and Kites all the best for the final.
