Slyne with Hest primary will head to Port Vale on Friday 13th March for the next round of the Utilita Kids Cup annual competition, the Regional Finals.
What is the Utilita Kids Cup?
The Utilita Kids Cup comprises of a six-a-side competition for under eleven schoolchildren and culminates in three finals across the Sky Bet EFL Play-Off weekend in May. The road to the finals starts when the new school term starts. Each EFL club organises a Utilita Kids Cup local competition for all primary schools within their catchment area wishing to take part.
This Years' Competition
For this years' competition we had a total of sixteen primary schools participate from the area. We had a great day of football on show and after playing all group stage matches and the semi-finals, we were left with two teams.
Greatwood and Slyne with Hest Primary made it down to the final two. Therefore, they competed in a final during half-time of the Morecambe v Cambridge United game at the Globe Arena back in January.
It was a closely constested affair that resulted in a 2-1 victory for Slyne with Hest primary, meaning that they would progress into the Regional Finals representing Morecambe FC.
Regional Final Details
This year for the Regional Finals, we have been added in the Northern league two group against the winning Kids Cup teams from the likes of Carlisle United, Oldham Athletic, Salford City to name a few.
The full standings for the League Two Northern group that Slyne will be competing in is as follows:
| Bradford City | Carlisle United | Crewe Alexandra | Grimsby Town |
| Macclesfield Town | Mansfield Town | Morecambe | Oldham Athletic |
| Port Vale | Salford City | Scunthorpe United | Walsall |
As mentioned, the Regionals will be taking place with the hosts Port Vale at Dimensions Leisure Centre, Scotia Road, Burslem, Stoke on Trent, ST6 4ET
The Regionals is due to start here just after 10am and run through until 3pm on Friday 13th March 2020. The twelve teams will be split into two groups of six with the top two teams from each group going into Semi-Finals and then a final to find a winner.
History of the competition
Since the Utilita Kids Cup competition first started up in 2007, it's safe to say Morecambe have had a fair bit of success in the past with the local primary school teams.
St Wilfred's in Halton, Slyne with Hest and most recently St Peter's a few years back have all won the competition. Getting the unforgettable experience of playing at Wembley Stadium on the pitch during half time and all managing to lift the silverware.
Slyne with Hest will be hoping to do the double this year by progressing through the Regionals to the next round of the competition. On behalf of everyone here at the Globe Arena we would like to wish all involved the very best of luck later in March!