UWL staff vs students football tournament lights up the Brentford FC stadium
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Monday 27 May saw the return of the University of West London’s annual staff vs students football competition, held in the grand surrounds of Brentford FC’s Gtech Community Stadium as part of UWL’s partnership with the Premier League side.
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A week on from the Bees’ final home game of the season, 88 footballing hopefuls (two staff teams and two student teams) arrived hoping to take home the coveted UWL Cup.
The staff teams warmed up in the home dressing room, soaking up the atmosphere that inspired Thomas Frank's side throughout the 2023/24 season. The two student squads, along with their managers Jonathan Eastwood and Indy Hair, took advantage of the away end, hopeful of a repeat victory following last season’s thrashing of a beleaguered staff team.
Striding out onto the pitch to ‘Hey Jude’ (the walk-out anthem used at Brentford’s home games), the two staff teams took their positions on the pitch as the students headed to the stands alongside a large crowd of friends and family.
Immediately, standards amongst the UWL staff looked high, with the white team taking the lead through Bamo Nouri. The blue team equalised minutes later with a cool finish from Sharo Draey. However, a last-minute scramble in front of the blue goalmouth saw the white team snatch victory – to the delight of their manager Kyle Allen, who sprinted down the touchline to celebrate with his players.
Final score: White team 2 - 1 Blue team
After the match, Kyle said:
You can’t get a better feeling than scoring a winner on a Premier League football pitch – absolutely incredible.”
Blue team captain Sharo commented:
It’s a dream come true for everyone. We grow up supporting our clubs, we all dreamed of playing for a Premier League team or being able to play on the pitch. Thank you to UWL and to Brentford for giving us this opportunity.”
His coach Alexander Lavall added:
Unfortunately we would’ve liked the result to go the other way, but we lived a dream today – unbelievable.”
After a short break, in which UWL’s Warriors cheerleading team entertained the crowd with a spectacular performance, the students kicked off their own semi-final. This was a less cagey affair, as the green team (coached by Indy Hair) racked up four goals with no reply – including a hat trick for player-of-the-match Sina Nilforoushan.
Speaking after the game, red team captain Pemba Sherpa said:
You’re always watching Premier League matches on the TV, but being here and playing on a Premier League pitch was a really awesome moment.”
Head cheerleader Maddison Coleman commented on their musical performance:
It’s amazing. Being able to come and perform somewhere so high-profile like this, it’s a really good opportunity.”
Final score: Green team 4 - 0 Red team
As the white and green sides shook hands ahead of the grand final, tension in the stands was palpable. Strangely, the student side left both Nilforoushan and Lamar Luwum (the previous game’s other goalscorer) on the bench for the start of the match, a move which seemed to backfire when the staff took an early lead through star captain Leon Griffiths.
However, the students’ superior fitness shone through in the second half, as two terrific finishes from Kieron Jones and David Chime turned the game on its head – with a late lob from Gobinda Tamang sealing the victory for UWL’s students.
Final score: Green team 3 - 1 White team
As the student team lifted the trophy, their manager Indy commented on the event:
It was a fantastic experience. I’ve been at UWL for most of my working life, and having the opportunity to come to a Premiership football stadium – Brentford, our local team – it's fantastic. One of the lads can now say he scored a hat-trick at a Premier League stadium – it's something to boast about!”
Green team captain Scott Brooks spoke about playing at Brentford’s ground:
It seems a lot bigger than the 11-a-side Sunday league pitches – it’s tough, but an incredible experience! Being a UWL student, having the opportunity to play at these massive stadiums, it’s unreal.”
The University of West London are incredibly proud to be Brentford Football Club's Official Higher Education Sponsor, as well as being a Founder Partner of the club and their Gtech Community Stadium. Find out more about how we have collaborated
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