• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• Right To Play Charity Challenges
• Right To Play
  World Cup
• Right To Play and Corporate Partners
• Annual Report
• Right To Play International News (opens in a new window)

Right To Play World Cup Tournament Report

The 2008 Chelsea Right to Play football tournament was a brilliant day for all concerned – 14 individual teams turning up to represent a Right to Play country on the fantastic Stamford Bridge pitch.

The first teams to kick-off the morning session were ATOS Origin and Chelsea FC Academy in a game which ended with a 1-1 draw, the start of a comfortable journey for both teams into the Cup Semi-Finals. Playing in the same morning group, Xerox put in a sterling effort to secure themselves a place in the Plate Final.

Both afternoon groups were also closely contested – of the two meetings of Bridge and Pitney Bowes, one ended in a win for Pitney Bowes and one ended in a draw. However, the end of the group stages saw Bridge secure a place in the quarter finals and Pitney Bowes had to make do with going through to the Plate. Group D saw many clean sheets although it was Amita Corp., playing some really exciting and intelligent football, who broke away from their competitors to secure their entry into the Cup Competition.

The Cup Semi-Finals saw group winners Chelsea Academy FC and ATOS Orgin met again, although this time Chelsea Academy FC breezed through to the finals. On the next pitch Bridge, with one of the brightest kits and certainly the loudest supporters, were itching to get on the pitch to play their semi-final, but their cheer squad’s support could not quite push them far enough and after the game went to penalties it was Amita Corp. who won themselves a place in the final.

The Plate Final did, at one point, threatened to go on until dusk as after a goalless draw the ensuing penalty shoot-out was an epic affair. It was supposed to be best of three but the deadlock simply refused to be broken. But finally, after claiming a 7-6 victory, it was Xerox who walked away from the day as winners of the Chelsea Right To Play World Cup - Plate Competition.

The Cup Final brought together the two top teams of the day – Chelsea FC Academy and Aimita Corp. All spectators gathered to watch the final, some watching from the stands while some, already dressed up to the nines, watched for the suites above. Chelsea FC Academy used the space of the 11 a-side pitch well and got the first goal after a nail-biting 5 minutes. It seemed that Aimita Corp might be able to claw their way back into the game when, late in the second half, they were awarded a penalty after a fairly vicious tackle from an Academy defender in the box. Jack Bradshaw stepped up to the spot but it was just not meant to be and, just to rub salt in the wounds, Chelsea then grabbed the ball on a break to secure the win with a two-nil victory. It was a fairly despondent Aimita Corp. that returned to the dressing rooms, but the Academy boys, despite their long day of football, were still positively bouncing having bagged themselves the title of Chelsea Right to Play 2008 World Cup Champions.

As well as the Chelsea Academy players, special mention must go to our two Individual Prize Winners of the day. The Golden Boot award for the most goals scored went to Xerox’s Tosi Fasinro who scored 6 goals in the competition. The Player of the Tournament Award went to Jack Bradshaw who was commended for his excellent on-pitch leadership and, despite playing in several different positions during the afternoon, always maintained a fantastic standard of play.

Many thanks to all who took part and helped raise funds through the competition and the auctions in the evening. Right To Play are overjoyed with the success of the day and hope to see all teams back in 2009 for the third, bigger and even better Chelsea Right to Play World Cup.