AvailableCar Charity Football Tournament raises over £2,200 for mental health charity, Mind!
The AvailableCar Play on the Pitch charity football tournament at Pride Park Stadium was a huge success raising over £2,200 for the mental health charity, Mind.
The event took place on Tuesday 10th May 2022 and was organised by Richard Kennedy, General Manager at Castle Donington and Aimee Ainsworth, PA at Castle Donington, who did an incredible job ensuring the event was a huge success.
The tournament consisted of 5 teams, Head Office who played in white, Castle Donington who played in black, Sutton in Ashfield who played in red, Cannock who played in green and Leeds who played in blue.
The tournament consisted of a total of 10 games played over 3 hours.
The first game between Castle Donington and Sutton in Ashfield kicked off at 5.05pm and the final game between Cannock and Sutton in Ashfield kicked off at 7.38pm.
All teams played incredibly well and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the tournament.
Our Team Captains and Goalies
Head Office – T.C Richard Kennedy & Dan Evans & Goalies Richard Kennedy & Michael Bell
Castle Donington – T.C Luke Foster & Dan Wheatley & Goalie Dan Mayes
Sutton-in-Ashfield – T.C Mark Deakin & Goalie Keenan Milburn
Cannock – T.C Joshua Wheeler & Goalie Ash Parsons
Leeds – T.C Chris Kay & Goalie Tom Byers
The Head Office Team – The WINNERS!
Our Head Office team were the winners scoring a total of 7 goals across the 10 games with a points total of 10. Jonny Murray scored 3 goals and Simon Proudler, Nick Vallis, Lewis Horton and Michael Bell all scored 1 goal each!
Richard Kennedy, Team Captain Head Office said: “Our rock solid defence and sound match management all contributed to no goals being conceded and us taking the trophy! And let’s not forget my incredible overhead kick!”
The Castle Donington Team
Our Castle Donington team came fourth scoring a total of 3 goals across the 10 games with a points total of 4. Dan Davis, Kardin Kniveton-Anderson and Luke Foster all scored 1 goal each!
Gary St Clair, Player for Castle Donington said: “Anything that helps charities and boosts wellbeing for others is a good feeling. I would like to do it again as it’s also good for the business building a better bond between us all.”
Nick Flowers, a spectator from Castle Donington said: – “Really good family night with my children. It was very entertaining for my kids and I especially loved that they were able to go down the dugout and changing rooms. The highlights for me was that it was nice to see everyone getting together from all branches and having fun!”
The Sutton in Ashfield Team
Our Sutton in Ashfield team came third scoring a total of 2 goals with a points total of 5. Jordan Nicklin and Max Dennis scored 1 goal each!
Mark Deakin, Assistant Showroom Manager at Sutton and Sutton Team Captain said: “On behalf of the Sutton-in-Ashfield team, it was a great privilege to be involved in this event and most importantly to be able to raise money and awareness for a great charity like Mind. We look forward to taking the trophy off Head Office next season!”
The Cannock Team
Our Cannock team were the runners up also scoring a total of 7 goals but with 9 points. Josh Wheeler scored 4 goals and Peter Arundel, Dan Squires and David Pettit scored 1 goal each!
Jake Mumford, Cannock player said: I’m so grateful that I defeated all the odds and was able to play after my cruciate ligament injury!”
One of the main highlights for the Cannock team was Jake Sharp delivering the ball perfectly into the box for Dan Squires to score with the only header goal scored in the tournament!
Nick Price, General Manager, Cannock said: “After a very shaky start losing 3-0 to head office, the team re grouped and changed formation from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1, and also found their desire to win!!!
The team then won 1-0 against Leeds, then won 2-1 against Donnington then finally demolished Sutton 4-1!!!
Cannock finished the night in 2nd place on 9 points! 1 point behind head office!
The highlight of the competition was the incredible goal scored by Josh Wheeler from a 25 yard free kick!, curling into the top right hand corner leaving the goal keeper fumbling on the floor!!!!.
Go team Cannock!”
The Leeds Team
Our Leeds team came fifth, with sadly no points or goals, however, everyone played incredibly well.
Chris Kay, Team Captain said: “We all throughly enjoyed the tournament and it’s fantastic to have raised over £2,200 for Mind. We look forward to taking part again next year! We’ve already started training!”
Steve Wiseman, General Manager at Leeds said: What an event! Proud to be part of the AvailableCar family, and even though we lost, it was great to get the gang together and have a kick about! Brilliant day out not only for the players, but also the spectators to visit such a historic ground and raise some money for such a fantastic charity.”
We would like to give a special mention to:
Ryan Harris – For ordering all the teams shirts and having these printed.
Joshua Walters, Samuel Dawes, Grace Middleton and Tom Whitton – For being our photographers on the night
Dean Theron – For helping to set everything up!
Mia Deakin (aged 11) and Ava Deakin (aged 8) – For being little superstar helpers on the night! No job was too big or too small for them, and they wanted to help with everything they possibly could!
A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the AvailableCar Cup 2022 at Derby County Football Club, everyone who donated, and to everyone who joined us to show their support on the night!
We will be back again next year with a BIGGER and BETTER tournament!
