October 30th 2026. u11 Girls face Leeds.

Wolverhampton Schools FA welcomed Leeds Schools FA to Our Lady and St Chad’s on Friday afternoon for friendly fixtures involving our Under 11 boys and girls representative teams. As part of their Autumn tour Leeds were also due to play Birmingham Schools FA on Saturday.

Schools district football in Yorkshire is particularly competitive in Yorkshire with Leeds, York, Sheffield, Barnsley and Rotherham, all used to playing against quality opposition. There were two Girls games and the first proved to be the closest and most competitive of the two fixtures, with both teams producing some excellent football in an evenly contested encounter.

Wolverhampton created several opportunities throughout the game, with Edith and Sienna Johnson in particular involved in our better attacking moments. However, the outstanding performer for Wolverhampton was undoubtedly Josie, and our keeper produced a series of excellent saves to keep our team in contention. She was called upon on numerous occasions but repeatedly rose to the challenge with some impressive goalkeeping.

As the game entered its closing stages, neither side looked capable of finding a winner but just as it looked as though Wolverhampton would hold on for an honourable draw Leeds broke the deadlock and grabbed the winning goal with virtually the last kick of the game.

Tough to take but so much to be encouraged by. Particularly with the quality of Josie’s performance and the resilience of our defence generally.

The second girls’ fixture provided an important opportunity for several players who have been training with the squad to play in a city team for the first time. The experience of playing against such accomplished opposition will be an important part of their development. Leeds were able to field a far more experienced side of course and demonstrated real quality in their 6-1 win.

The score- line must not be allowed to detract from the effort and determination which was shown by this group of players, however, who battled throughout against such difficult opposition.

The highlight of the game as far as our players were concerned was when April Malinga, who was enjoying an excellent game in midfield, was able to score a consolation goal. This was a deserved reward for both her individual performance and for the team’s determination to keep pushing forward at every opportunity.