The Inter-Shul Football League was set up last year, to provide a fun and positive environment for playing football, and a great opportunity to bring the community together.
We were approached at Heaton Park and invited to put together a team. The season started in the best possible way, with a 6-4 win over the eventual champions Whitefield. However, with this followed by 4 defeats in a row, it was clear we needed to make some changes. A tactical switch, which saw Aron Frankel drop into defence from attack, and his cousin, Hudi take his place up front, settled the team down and a 10-2 victory over Ahavas Yisroel (who later left the league), an 8-6 win over Holy Law and a hard-fought 6-4 win over Ohel Shalom saw us into the winter break.
We were delighted to welcome Darren Cohen in 2024 as we looked to shore up the defence. The year began where we left off, with a huge win over Holy Law and victory over Ohr Yerushalayim, but our winning run came to an end with a disappointing defeat to Shrubberies. We gained revenge with a win in our second game against Young Lubavitch, but Whitefield then exposed our strategy in the next game and it was back to the tactics board.
This led to two fantastic wins, against Vine Street, who had topped the table for most of the season at that point, and victory over Windsor Road, who, despite joining the league late, were mounting a strong bid for the title.
At this point we could still win the title ourselves but a controversial defeat to Ohel Shalom in our penultimate game put paid to that, although we finished with a bizarre 8-7 win over Shrubberies. At various points we were 3-1 down and then 8-3 up.
It is fair to say that the League has been a great success, with 4 teams still able to win the title going into the final round of fixtures. The season culminated with a fantastic Awards Evening, and, although ultimately we fell short with our title challenge, we were delighted to pick up the Golden Boot (Hudi Frankel) and Player of the Year (Yaakov Wilson).
We have already made changes to improve the team ahead of a Summer Cup across June and July and the League restarting in September. Sruli Bengio has joined as goalkeeper and Ryan Silvester, who impressed in a number of games before picking up an injury, will be back to add firepower.
There are still places available, so if you would like to join the squad please be in touch with Yoni Finlay on 07531 873 872.