Millwall Street Soccer Academy are the winner of the first-ever Street Soccer Cup Tournament.
Formed in 2015, The Street Soccer Foundation is an award-winning charity operating nationwide throughout England. Its nationally acclaimed flagship programme, the 'Street Soccer Academy', is the number one football-led project tackling youth homelessness in England. The ten-week programme aims to provide an opportunity for 18–30-year-olds who are currently homeless or not in education, employment, or training to learn new life and employability skills.
The Millwall Street Soccer Academy was launched this year in partnership with The Street Soccer Foundation.
Headed by Sian Fitzpatrick of the Millwall Lionesses, and Scott Johnson at Millwall Community Trust, the programme provided a fusion of football coaching, mindset training, and skills and employability workshops – with mentoring support; to help instil greater confidence and self-belief in young people by helping to improve their mental health and well-being; empowering participants to take positive action, to believe in themselves, and to encourage young individuals to change their lives for the better.
This month marked the ending of the first Millwall Street Soccer Academy, and with that came the Soccer Cup Tournament. The team played against other Street Soccer teams just like them, and they ultimately won over runners-up, Leicester City.
Keith Mabbutt, CEO and founder of The Street Soccer Foundation said: “It was a truly fantastic achievement from the Millwall Street Soccer Academy team. Beating Leicester City in the final, they came together so well and really gelled as a team. Competing in this national competition they did both the Millwall Community Trust and themselves proud. It’s testimony to the impact and outcomes young people can achieve by completing the Street Soccer Foundation’s Academy programme, as their confidence, belief, and determination to succeed really was so obvious to see.”
Sean Daly CEO of Millwall Community Trust said: “I would like to congratulate our Street Soccer Academy on their win, and congratulations to everyone else who took part in the first-ever tournament. The last 10 weeks have proved to be beneficial to the team in many ways. I hope they continue to move forward to do great things with all the coaching and mentoring they have received.”
The Street Soccer Cup 2021 winners
· The Street Soccer Cup Winners: Millwall
· The Street Soccer Cup Runners Up: Leicester City
· The Golden Boot Award: Sheldon, West Ham Utd (9 goals)
· The Fair Play Award: Sheffield Utd
