Mohammedan clean sweep at awards

EMDAD RAHMAN

At the recent youth achievement awards hosted by the Tower Hamlets Youth Work Training Forum at Tower Hamlets College, local Team Mohammedan Sporting Club (London) showed how hard work results in great success.

Members of the Mohammedan Youth Academy were awarded the prestigious sports Diploma from the World Youth Cup Organisation and also certificates from their success at the FootBiz sports program.

Mohammedan Sporting Club (London) has been enjoying ongoing success locally, nationally and internationally since the 1970’s. 2006 was a very successful year for the Club.

Returning from a very successful tour of Bangladesh, where the team fielded its emerging youth team against popular regional and select team(s) to return un-defeated from all games played. Going on to complete a very impressive cup campaign in the Inner London Amateur Football League (ILAFL), to go and win in impressive style by beating opponents Vallance FC 5-0, in the Cup Final.

Mohammedan also completed a very successful campaign at the UK Asian Community Cup Safer Neighbourhood Football Tournament, Sonali Bank UK Cup and Channel S Challenge Cup competitions.

Mohammedan SC are; 4 Times Premier Division Winners, 2 Times Runners-up, 3 Times Cup Winners and 3 Times Cup runners-up during the last 10 years of the Bangladesh Football Association (UK) Summer League.

Only conceding 3 goals in the whole 2006 league and finishing undefeated, surely a league first, and an awesome display of the young talent being nurtured at Mohammedan today.

Mohammedan SC also celebrated this summer after winning the UK Bangladeshi Championship, another project of the BFA, hosted this year by Westwood FC in Oldham. Bringing together the cream of Bangladeshi talent from across the UK. Mohammedan beat rivals from Birmingham SFL 2 -0 to take their 2nd UK Bangladeshi Championship title in the tournaments 4th year of existence.

At the same time, members of the Mohammedan Youth Academy descended on the National Training Centre, Bisham Abbey. Training facilities for non other than the England Football Team. Members of the MSC Youth Academy were the first in a national program to participate in a new project titled ‘FootBiz’. Taking young people from different communities to look at the commercial and business elements of sports and football, as well as the wider benefits to community and enterprise.

The course was lead by business executives, professional and ex-professional sports personalities, international management development strategists. Completing a week of intense training and development, as well as showing of their footballing skills, members of the MSC Youth Academy were recognised for, skills, ability and innovation, when they took first prize at the awards ceremony presented by industry leaders, including the CEO of Mars, and David Dean of Arsenal FC for youth enterprise.

Other success during 2006 included:

An awesome display by Mohammedan under 18’s at the World Youth Cup in Sweden, attended by over 1,500 select teams from over 60 different countries. Competing against ‘the best of the best’

This year the team participated in the under 18’s category of the tournament, which saw some of the most fierce competition from across the globe. The tournament attracted over 1,500 teams form over 60 countries this year. With 30,000 plus players and 4,000 plus coaches form around the globe, it was a great experience which took place straight after the World Cup finals in Germany.

Highlights included other than the football, 45,000+ people opening ceremony and international media coverage, full page spread in the Swedish newspapers alongside Turkish team Galatasary and Algerian team from Zinadine Zidan’s home town.

The footballing experience came to a close for Mohammedan at the last 16 stage of the tournament after losing 1 – 0 to a very well established Swedish team dating back to the 1950’s. The team was expecting a quarter or semi-final position, but it wasn’t to be on this attempt. Injuries and exhaustion took its toll on players. What professionals try to do over a month at the World Cup, the World Youth Cup is completed within 1 week, with a possible 10 games.

Mohammedan SC players also participate in the Sporting Bengal United team, which they were instrumental in creating. The first Asian team to participate in the world famous FA Cup competition in 2005. Players also take part in playing in the Kent Senior League for Sporting Bengal, and the UK Asian Championships hosted annually in Glasgow and Ibrox stadium, and the Inner City World Cup in London.

The Club would like to thank its supporters for their kind efforts namely the support of Islamic Relief UK, MSC (London), BFA UK, YES project, E.One.2000, GrassRoots Talent UK, & Anam Hoque (PACE)