The Charity Cup

‼️Breaking News‼️

The Charity Cup is proud to announce our total amount raised for A Gift for Gav; Standing up to Brain Cancer is …… £800

It’s such a little, local event but we love doing it and we love raising these amounts to help people in our own communities.
So we just want to say a huge thankyou to everyone that gets involved in our little Charity game every year, this is the 9th year we have been holding this game and over those nine years we have come close to raising £8500, I know it’s not Socceraid millions but we hope that what we do raise does still help.
So a huge thankyou to Staveley MWFC for letting us host our game at their incredible facilities, which gets bigger and better every year, thankyou to all the players that put their bodies on the line and their hands in their pockets and donate to play, thankyou to the officials, who every year take time out of their own lives to referee and run the lines and they never ask for anything other than to be asked to do it again next year, thankyou to the trophy suppliers who again gift us discounts and trophies which means less outlay and more for the charities and last but not least a huge thankyou to the supporters who turn up wind, rain or shine, pay on the door to watch old, retired local players panting in 30 degree heat and donate throughout the game. We really do hope you all enjoy playing, watching and being a part of our little event as much as we enjoy arranging it every year. Please don’t stop being the legends you all are.
We pass on a huge thankyou from Gav and his family and thankyou from all of us at the Charity Cup, see you next year ⚽️🏆

⚽️🏆Match Report🏆⚽️

What a day!! The Charity Cup 2026 at Staveley MWFC was the 9th year since it was established and the score between the two teams, The Gladiators and The Spartans, stood at 4 wins each, so a victory would see the winning team move ahead. The day started with a bit of rain which we all hoped would cool things down a little but the sunshine and heat returned well before kick off.
The reigning Champions, the Gladiators, were wearing their traditional yellow and red and the challengers, The Spartans were wearing their usual royal blue and it was The Spartans who kicked the game off, both teams started cautiously but chances started to present themselves to both sides, Kev Tye in the Spartans goal pulling off some quality saves to keep the score level as did John Styring in the Gladiators goal. The closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half came right at the end when the Spartans broke forward and the ball fell to Mark Clement on the corner of the six yard box, the net would certainly have bulged if it hadn’t have been for a combination of goalkeeper John Styring and Clembo still having a hangover from the night before.
So referee Simon Owen blew for halftime with the scores at 0-0.
After a rest and a gallon of water each, the teams came out for the second half refreshed and determined to score and the Gladiators did just that, a great attack lead to a corner and unmarked Lee Hutchinson rose like a John West Salmon, closed his eyes and nodded home from 10 yards out, 1-0 to the Gladiators.
This seemed to wake the Spartans up and the midfield of Ben Sissons, Jordan Hall and Craig King, started moving through the gears creating chances, it was Craig King that took the initiative, going on a mazey, Ryan Giggs style run down the left wing and sliding the ball into the far corner from inside the the 18 yard box, 1-1. This was the start of a purple patch for the Spartans and they looked the most likely to get the next goal which is exactly what happen when Aiden Mctighe beat John Styring with a classy finish from all of 20 yards, 2-1 and the Spartans in control. The Gladiators didn’t roll over though and came back strong, the forward line of Ian Hutchinson, Pete Stubley, Dan Bonnick and Leighton Hutchinson were causing all sorts of problems for the Spartan defence and they finally got their reward when Gaffer, Ian Hutchinson turned in a Dan Bonnick cross from 10 yards out to level the scores at 2-2. It was an even game with both sides attacking, looking for the winner, legs were getting tired and old injuries were starting to resurface, substitutes were happening every 5 mins and both teams knew they had a chance of grabbing a winner, Spartans midfield maestro, Craig King, once again grabbed the bull by the horns and went on another mazey run which ended in him being pulled down for an penalty with 10 minutes to go, which he coolly slotted home to put the Spartans 3-2 up. The Gladiators weren’t having that though and started to turn the screw and in the last minute a shot from outside the box was superbly saved by Kev Tye but the ball bounced free in the box and Gaffer, Ian Hutchinson rolled back the years to do what he does best and scooped the rebound over the keeper to level things up again, 3-3.
Seconds later Simon blew the final whistle to take the game straight to penalties, the Gladiators won the coin toss and opted to take the first penalty, up stepped captain Scott Timbrell, he went to his left only to see his shot saved by the impeccable Kev Tye, Spartan gaffer Neil Hutchinson stepped up for their first and smashed it to John Styrings top left and let out a sigh of relief as it rebounded into the net off the bar, unstoppable, Spartans lead 0-1, The Mountain, Steve Lambird was next for the Gladiators and he slotted the ball home to level it up at 1-1. The Magician Jordan Hall was next for the Spartans, ball despatched into the bottom left corner, Spartans back infront 1-2, Gaffer Ian Hutchinson walked up for the next Gladiator penalty, sent the keeper the wrong way, all level again 2-2, Super Craig King was the 3rd taker for the Spartans and just like his penalty earlier, he slotted home to give the blues the lead again 2-3, Chariots of Fire, Dan Bonnick, was the Gladiators 4th taker, but he couldn’t beat, safe as houses, Kev Tye, a great safe from the Spartan keeper gave Ash Barber the chance to bring the Cup back to the blue side with the next kick, Ash strolled up confidently and he found the bottom left corner and gave the win to the Spartans 4-2.
After ecstatic celebrations from the Spartan players and fans, the trophies were presented by the events special guests, Gavin’s wife Natalie and his 4 boys Lucas, Evan, Miles and Oscar. Man of the Match went to Craig King and Spartan captain Jordan Hall lifted the Charity cup to a deafening cheer from the Blues fans.
So the Spartans take the bragging rights for the next 12 months and edge ahead with 5 wins to The Gladiators 4.
A great game and all for a fantastic cause, final total raised will be updated soon. Thank-you to everyone involved and see you all again next year ❤️⚽️🏆

Great news, our thoughts and prayers are with you and I hope we can do you proud a week on Sunday and help a little with as many donations as possible ⚽️🏆