Luke Hampton, Director of Sport at Barton Peveril Sixth Form College and English Schools’ Football Association (ESFA) Under 18 Manager, has led the England U18 schoolboys to win the Hummel Centenary Shield for the first time since 2016.
Barton Peveril student, Dominic Cupid, formerly of Cams Hill School was also part of the winning team, managed by Luke.
The final game took place on Friday 28th April at Hednesford Town, where the England U18 schoolboys went head to head with Wales U18 schoolboys.
England took a 1-0 lead in the first half after captain, Laiith Fairnie scored a header. The second half saw Murtas equalise for Wales, leaving both teams with everything to play for. The match concluded with a 1-1 draw, meaning both teams finished on the same amount of points in the Hummel Centenary Shield and the trophy was shared.
Luke Hampton spoke about the success of the team:
It has been an honour to lead the England Schoolboys’ U18s this year. I am absolutely delighted we were able to win the Centenary Shield for England for the first time since 2016. The group of players have worked so hard for this, showing real commitment and resilience to come through 4 tough games against the home nations undefeated. We started with a 3-1 win in Ireland, followed by a 3-1 win in Scotland. We managed to follow up the two wins on the road with a hard fought 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in front of a crowd of over 2500 at Billericay FC. Finally, we secured a 1-1 draw against Wales at Hednesford Town in front of over 2000 supporters at the end of April to top the group on 10 points and win the competition.”
Luke also discussed the team and his plans for the future:
The boys are selected from regional and national trials, after being nominated by their county schools managers. We have a training cap in February half term, followed by several friendlies before the competition starts in March. This year Hampshire had 2 players in the squad, including Barton’s own Dominic Cupid. I have one more year as manager before stepping down in my role, so would love to try and retain the Shield next year.”
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