Our u16’s got close last night, eventually losing 7-6 on penalties after a stirring comeback from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in normal time. Our parent match report is below and here’s our penalty taker in the 80th minute slotting in to take us to penalties!!
Cup final report
A gallant effort from everyone but it just wasn’t to be. A stirring finale, from 2-0 down with 13 minutes to go, against a clearly well skilled and physically powerful Stretford, showed all the heart, courage, bravery in the world to take the game to penalties.
In truth, the game wasn’t a cracker. In the first half, Stretford had a fair amount of ball but aimed it to 4-5 key players. When we did have the ball,we just couldn’t keep it long enough to set up either enough passes or get players into the parts of the pitch that would do the damage.
We set up to contain. Adam and Eddie did marvellous jobs, their man to man efforts on Stretford’s winger and forward meant those players were paid close attention to attempt to nullify Stretford’s main threats. Adam spent the best part of 80 minutes making the 19’s game difficult, no time to rest and play towards goal. Eddie did the same on the 14. A special mention to both players in a report of special mentions.
Archie tipped a shot round the post, Stretford lost a football with some dubious long range shooting, but we were having to make a lot of clearances and blocks.
With some hindsight, the defence were pretty solid and didn’t give many chances away. Adam and Eddie were backed up initially by Harry, Rayan and Dom. Some BIG tackles, blocks and headers were won throughout the game, against some tall and powerful players. They showed we were there to match Stretford.
Moving up the pitch, Nico and Gibril were doing their best to stem the tide coming forward as we were forced back. We struggled the first 20 minutes to link play further up the field, Edwin, Ritchie and Yusuf a bit more isolated. A very good through ball from Edwin put Yusuf through and we had a couple of corners but we were on the back foot.
The dam burst just before half time and a corner was bundled home past Archie when one of Stretford headed in. 1-0 HT.
The second half was a lot more of the same. Raif and Dylan were sent to give us some width and run at the full backs, a key area of opportunity. Elyas showed heart and was keen to get involved and Elliott and Oscar were drawn into the defensive duties. We had some dangerous corners flashing wide, however Stretford produced a carbon copy repeat of their first goal at another corner to make it 2-0. The cup looked further away than ever.
And then the kids decided they got to write their own story.
Harry was getting stuck in on the right, forcing corners and getting us more bodies forward. What was lovely was we started trusting team mates more, passes became firmer and started to stick. Dylan had an opportunity coming forward and started running them back. Confidence and belief were coming in. Harry set up Yusuf who finished straight into the corner to make it 2-1 on 67 minutes. We had a few more corners, we were talking to each other. With the clock ticking down too quickly we just needed one piece of magic. In a rare occassion where he wasn’t immediately faced with being crowded out, Edwin did one of those dribbles that have become a trademark in the last minute. In a small space, one, two players were jinked past. In slow motion you could see the foul coming, with Edwin taken out for a penalty.
Dusting himself off, in the last minute, and showing big “bravery”, he despatched the penalty to make it 2-2. The full time whistle went shortly after and we were off to penalties!!
What spirit and heart and togetherness to show a fight back. It’s been shown several times over the years but to produce that in a final, to a great crowd of parents just makes me so proud that they showed why we do this every week.
We went first on pens, Dylan’s penalty was saved but Dom evened it up with a save himself. Penalties from Elyas, Edwin, Ritchie, Rayan, Nico, Harry were all succesful as we started running out of players to take them!! And Dom, with pretty much little option, found himself with our 8th penalty which the keeper managed to palm onto the bar. At this point of the shootout it really is a lottery and down to such fine margins. A difficult task and thank you for being brave to take one. Stretford converted their penalty and that was it.
I’m just so proud we showed the qualities of resilience and courage and skill. We hung in there and showed we were not there to make up the numbers. It would have been easy at 2-0 to say “not our day”, “they were big lads”, but we didn’t stop. We took them on and I’m sure we are all proud of each and every one of them.
As always a big thank you to everyone who came and cheered and raised spirits. I hope the car journeys home weren’t too bad.
Whalley Range AFC Juniors
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Community junior football club open to all
29/04/2026
As the season starts coming to an end, we’ve three year groups preparing for cup finals!
First up tomorrow is our 16’s, taking a well earned break from GCSE revision and up against Stretford Victoria. Kick off is 6:30pm.
Free entry to all, Mersey Valley FC, Banky Lane, M33 5SL. It would be great to see all year groups supporting the teams in finals, add to the community spirit across the club!
Not to be outdone, last night our u15’s travelled away in their cup semi final and also secured their own cup final date at the end of May!! 🏆
That’s our three oldest age groups all having something to play for in April and May, everyone is so proud how the players have developed and grown together in each of the teams.
Fresh off the press match report from Coach Andrew below:
Salford Storm Hurricanes 1-2 Whalley Range u15s
A midweek outing for us in the final group game of the cup.
With a 100% record, the u15s advance to the final and get a chance to defend the trophy we won last year 🏆 !
Salford Storm match up against us very well and we've already lost to them 1-0 in the away fixture. That feels like a long time ago now.
We got off to a dream start tonight with Rio delivering a trademark corner onto Kayubs head and he made no mistake with a fine header.
The game was end to end for most of the first half, which was only 30 mins long to preserve what remained of the light.
Salford hit us over the top with a long ball time and time again, but Muhammad, Isaiah and Raihan dealt with most of it. When they did get through, Ayaan was quick off his line to tidy up.
We didn't create a lot of clear-cut chances in the first half and it was still all to play for.
We got much further up the pitch in the second with a switch from 3 at the back to 4-2-3-1, which allowed us to get more control in midfield and get the width we'd lacked in the first period.
Our second was a great team goal. Rio and Ali combined well on the wing to create a good opportunity and when the ball found it's way to Kayub he finished well.
With light fading rapidly, we were comfortable until a ridiculously poor penalty decision by the referee gave Salford a fighting chance.
We saw the game out though and booked our place on finals day in May.
I've said it before, but this has been a challenging season with so much change; we're very proud of the boys for showing great maturity and ability to get us over the line. A real team effort.
Lots of league matches left, but it's a great feeling to have another final to look forward to!
What an exciting end to the season for the club with so much cup action to come!
Well done everyone!
♥️🖤⚽👏🏻
It’s been cup fever for our Sunday teams in the Timperely & District Leagues this weekend and our u14’s and u16’s both traveled to higher placed opposition, battled horrendous conditions and both came out on top to reach their respective divisional finals 🏆
Our u14’s get the first match report and their travels to Urmston Meadowside.
We knew it would be a difficult game, 6th place in the league above us and, just like us, were unbeaten so far this year so we needed to be on top form to get a result
I’m very happy to announce the u14s are cup final bound coming away with a very deserved 2-3 victory!!
We started off the game quickly and after a great bit of play scored a goal after about 30 seconds, the ref disallowed it for offside however
Keeping our fast start going we then scored about 30 seconds - 1 minute after that. We won the ball from a goal kick, Charlie received the ball and played the ball into Sam who dinked the ball over the keeper making it 0-1.
We kept the pressure on them and kept getting forward and about 6 minutes after our first goal we made it 0-2. Again we won the ball in the midfield from a goal kick. Finn played a first time ball into Jude, who driving into the box saw his first shot blocked, but the ball found itself back at his feet and after getting the ball past the defender on the floor, he placed the ball into the bottom left corner with a left footed finish
Although we were dominating the game and most of the football was being played in their half, Urmston were starting to find their feet.
They made it 1-2, a bit of a positional mix up at the back allowed their winger to get a shot off going above the keepers head, game on!
Urmston were very much for it now and started winning battles and duels they weren’t previously, but we still held strong and eventually were getting back to our level shown at the start.
We then made it 1-3 before half time. Fantastic work rate shown by Oscar on the right hand side won us a throw in which he took quickly. Finn gathered the ball and played a neat pass through to Jude who finished first time with a brilliant left footed shot into the side netting
We knew the game was far from over and that the next goal was very important, we reminded the boys that they’d done well so far and to keep playing how they had been and they’d win the game.
It was a bit more of a battle in the 2nd half but we were still the dominant team and created plenty of chances to put the game to bed.
It then was about 6 minutes from time when Urmston scored to make it 2-3, giving us a nail biting ending to the semi final…
Again for the last 5 minutes we still attacked and had chances to get that 4th but we couldn’t seem to find the back of the net but we kept Urmston at bay and made sure we came away with the win, booking our place in the final!
Full time score: 2-3
Goal scorers:
Jude x2, Sam x1
Assists:
Charlie x1, Finn x1
We decided after the game that MOTM would go to Wilson who played his 1st full game this season after having injury setbacks. He defended resiliently and made some important blocks and interceptions stopping Urmston’s attacks before they became dangerous
I was really proud of all the boys today. We only had 1 sub so a lot of them played a full 70 minutes and they left it all out on the pitch with everyone looking knackered at full time. We were also without our usual keeper so 3 different people took turns in goal and put in good performances and we had at least 3 people carrying knocks/injuries who battled past the pain and made sure they did everything they could to help us get the win. A top performance from everyone, very happy with how they played and the result ⚽️
UpTheWhalley!! 🔴⚫️⚽️
06/03/2026
We are proud to say we’ve fulfilled all accreditation criteria with the FA for another year. This means all our coaches are FA qualified, our training and matchday venues provide a safe structured environment for your children and the welfare of your child is paramount. That’s the official recognition and there is about to be 100+ children with smiles this weekend with all pulling on the 🔴⚫️🔴⚫️ shirts!!
It’s Friday and just in time for another weekend of games, last but not least is our u16’s who played a friendly and shook off some ring rust as they’d only had one game since restarting. A commendable effort against a higher division opponent, enjoy!
Match report v Timperely Villa.
What a difference a week makes. After a very under par performance last Sunday, a hastily arranged practice match v a higher division Timperely Villa saw a much better performance to lay the building blocks for the rest of the campaign.
The pre match discussion was of zero concern for the scoreline, more changing the pattern of play and getting closer to goal, no wasted set pieces, balls down the wing or between the centre backs and fullbacks, making the opposition play more towards their own goal. I really felt we achieved a lot of this and also giving players a lot of game time and trying new positions.
Edwin and Elyas combined very well in the first 20 minutes. Elyas providing a forward target when Edwin dropped off and this led to several chances created, the goalkeeper saving very well in a 1-1, Dylan being played through on the right and we were very much on top in the match. We gave Archie a week off goalkeeping duties and he proved adept in defence with Rayan again commanding the defensive line superbly as he has all season. In truth, we looked comfortable and on top of the play, the goalkeeper making another good save from Elyas and Yusuf shooting over. From that goal kick, the clearance went directly to Edwin who had time to place the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 and the half time score.
Timperely made it 1-1 pretty quickly after half time with a looping shot over Rayan in the 43rd minute as we mixed things up but for the next 20 minutes we were in a very good balanced game. Raif was attacking down the right, getting the ball to the by-line and again, we were playing far better than last week. Ritchie shot narrowly over and we were 1-1 going into the final 15 minutes. Most players moved around several positions. Rayan, Dylan and Harry all played in three different positions during the game, we had 4 goalkeepers, Ritchie was at centre back for a spell. In truth, it had an impact on the game but the emphasis was on how we played football. As a workout we’d achieved what we needed and we were very much in the game. With our 4th goalkeeper of the game in Yusuf now in goal, Timperely took a bit more of a direct approach and we struggled to deal with communication, something we can work on in training. Sadly two direct balls caused confusion and Yusuf left exposed firstly 2-1 to Timperely and then with the last kick of the game 3-1 and the final score. A slightly glossy scoreline for Timperely but better for us than a week off and still stewing on last week.
Very honourable mention to Elyas who had his best game for us today. Always a threat, gave lots of options and even kept a clean sheet in his 20 minute spell in goal today. All the defence were solid, certainly for the best part of 70 minutes, Dom again showing his development this season in really not taking a backwards step but all the defence were strong and our goalkeepers had relatively little to do as we dealt with the danger until the end. Nico read the game so well, as always.
When we try and play football we look so much better and credit to the kids for adapting with the changes, and sticking with the attempt to play closer to the goal, even if it didn’t always come off. The score didn’t matter at all today, let’s hope we can continue in the same manner next week.
29/01/2026
It’s been a maximum of 4 degrees at training this week and with the wind it’s felt like below freezing 🥶 Despite this, we’ve had over 120 children out there, learning and enjoying and developing skills.
Our Thursday report is from our u10 Lions, and we learnt last week the parents have a fruit rota on the go to keep the kids topped up at the breaks. Full credit to Andy and the coaches for making this a deep spirited community, football is often more than just turning up at a weekend but they are leading the way! Enjoy!
U10 Lions v Bluestar
Another superb game this morning against Bluestar! They had some good players who gave us a headache at times, great to see!
Some might say we like a slow start. Whilst not lacking energy and commitment, we couldn't find our usual rythem at first. Bluestar had something to do with that! However, it was great to have Louis back who was tremendous and put us in front with a great calm finish. Shortly after Bobby with a drop of the shoulder and then back heel to Louis who curled it in the top bin, unstoppable! Goal of the season contender. Bluestar hit back shortly after with a top corner finish of their own. Exactly what we needed to light the fire and again, Louis with another fine finish for his hatrick (volley from a corner ⚽) sent us 3-1 up at the end of the first.
We were absolutely dominant in the second, playing wonderful fast flowing football with goals from Bobby, Mazin, Mohammed and another from Louis to go 7-1. Fair play to Bluestar who struck another top corner finish to end the second 7-2.
In the last third, we played continuously in Bluestar half, pressing, passing, tackling, communicating and showing unbelievable control. Fred yet again with a super performance from start to finish got 2 goals and then a final goal from Bodhi to make it 10-2.
A rifle free kick from Bobby in the final minute which smashed the bar, bounced in and then bounced out that quickly that it wasn't seen or counted (fair play to the ref who was excellent).
The game finished 10-2. A real team performance!
MOTM today went to Bobby who was all over the pitch. 2 goals and 4 assists. However, could easily have been Louis with a tremendous 4 goal haul!
3 wins from 3 in 2026!
We’re halfway through the week and we’ve still plenty of the weekends coaches reports to post!! As you can see, the energy from the coaches is nearly a match for the children’s passion for sport and team work!
Tonight is our high flying u14’s, who had a top of the table clash at the weekend. Coach Jack gave us his report:
U14s travelled away to Altrincham this morning, a team that had been unbeaten at home in the league so far this season. After a hard fought game we came away with a 1-2 win
We knew it would be a totally different game from our win 2 weeks ago. They had some players missing from that game that they had for the game this morning.
We started the game off slow. Although not really threatening the goal Alty had territory and more of the football was being played in our half. We struggled to get on the ball and it showed with us being under pressure a bit.
We did get more of handle on the game as the first half went on and it was around half way through when we made it 0-1. Finn collected the ball in midfield and punched the ball into Sam on the left. After beating the defender he drove towards the goal and slotted it into the bottom right, past the onrushing keeper.
After the goal it was more of an even half. We had a couple of chances where the GK made some decent saves, with them getting a few shots off.
Half time score: 0-1
Half time talk was about getting more control of the game and having a bit more bite in midfield. They were a team that had used long throws a lot so we needed to be wary of them too.
At the start of the 2nd half we were very much under pressure from Alty. They came firing out the blocks and looked intent on scoring. We had to defend a lot of corners and long throws in the first 5/10 mins of the 2nd half but we did so resolutely.
Alty continued to build on their pressure but again like the 1st half we battled and got better as the half went on.
Despite their strong start to the 2nd half it was us that got the next goal making it 0-2. After some great physicality and fighting spirit shown from Omar and Charlie, we managed to get the ball off of their defender. Sam then received the ball on the left and played a beautiful cross into the box with Oscar heading it past the keeper, 0-2.
Again that was roughly just before halfway in the 2nd half so we had a battle on our hands to see the game through.
Alty did then get a goal 10 mins away from FT. After initially defending a long ball, they collected the ball in the midfield after it was unchallenged.
They played the ball through into the forward who managed to put it past the keeper, 1-2. This gave them a bit of lift and they pushed the for the equaliser. They had a long range free kicked tipped over the bar, Sam making a good save.
Ultimately though we fought and battled and saw out the last minutes of the game in a professional way ensuring we came away with all 3 points.
Goal scorers:
Sam and Oscar, x1
Assisters:
Finn and Sam, x1
MOTM - although not selected at the game I think Maxim deserved it again. A strong defensive performance, fought and battled well and marshalled their rapid ST really well.
Credit has to go to the whole team too. Everyone fought and battled with intensity and effort. Considering the game had a lot of set pieces it was great defensive performance from the whole team. We made our attacks count so also credit due for being clinical with our chances, well done boys 👏🏼
With them being unbeaten at home in the league this season it was also nice to be the first team to beat them at home this season.
With this win we still are top of the league by 4 points, currently on a 5 game winning streak. We also now have an 8 point gap to Alty. It’s nice to still have a gap between us and the chasing pack something which we’re determined to keep for the season!
Also, thanks to @~Andy Parslow for coming down to watch us this morning. Was nice to see and hear you supporting the boys 👊🏼
Have a great Sunday everyone.
UpTheWhalley! 🔴⚫️⚽️
Our third round up of the weekend is from Andrew of our u15’s. The u15’s have had a number of player changes in recent months and it’s a credit to the coaching team integrating new players, getting them to gel and also working on a style of play. Enjoy.
Whalley Range u15s 4-4 Salford Lads and Girls
An epic encounter between two well matched teams as Whalley Range produced our best performance in months to win a hard earned point at Turn Moss.
We haven't played Salford since beating them in the cup final last season, but they've been doing well in the league and are always a tough opponent.
Having some key players back in the team meant we had a much better shape and structure on paper, and so it proved out on the pitch.
We asked the boys to play a bit more direct and utilise the pace we had in our side to turn the opposition around and get us up the pitch. This worked to great success as we created plenty of chances in the first half. Although we had to work hard in defence and midfield to keep Salford at bay, it felt like a matter of time before we got the breakthrough. The opening goal came from a lovely cross field ball from Rio, which found Kayub, whose pace took him past the defence and he finished well.
The second was similar as Ollie placed a well weighted pass into Kayub, who beat the offside trap to make it 2-0.
We were never going to pull away completely, though. Our back four was tested often, with Raihan and Muhammad standing up to Salford attacks.
We did well to get in 2-0 at halftime. The talk was about keeping standards high and the energy in our play.
Unfortunately, it didn't play out that way. We gave away a cheap free kick, which was headed in unchallenged. The Salford equaliser was another high ball that we didn't deal with and fell to the head of their attacker, who nodded in to make it 2-2.
Salford then took the lead when a ball that looked like it was going out of play was hit smartly by their winger and squeezed in at the near post. At 2-3, they had control of the game and were dominating midfield.
Fortunately, we managed to find our second wind and go again. Ollie hit a long-range effort that their keeper didn't deal with, which the defender could only put into his own goal.
With about 5 minutes left Salford took the lead again and we thought the game had gone.
We didn't give up though and, from a corner, Abdi grabbed his first for the team to make it 4-4.
We had 2 really good chances to win it right at the end, but it wasn't to be.
An exciting match, a terrific performance and display of character from our lads against a very good opponent. I particularly admired the way we kept our cool and showed maturity when things didn't go their way.
Lots to like about the game though and it's great to see a team emerging.
Several Man of the Match candidates; this week it goes to Raihan, who really showed how he's developing into a strong defender. Great awareness, fearless tackling and use of the ball.
Well Done everyone 🖤♥️⚽💪
Day 2 of our weekend match reports and this time it’s our u10 Lions and coach Neil’s report:
A very unfortunate game this morning for the Tigers ending up with a 3-2 defeat to Bluestar Cosmos.
We absolutely dominated the first third with Bluestar rarely out of their own half but we just couldn’t find the back of the net. On another day we’d have had a handful of goals.
The 2nd third started in a similar way until Bluestar scored against the run or play, the lead lasted just a few minutes though when Harrison got us back level with a nice finish. Bluestar grew into the game and then grabbed another to take a 2-1 lead into the final 3rd.
The final 3rd was evenly fought with Bluestar grabbing another after a long range shot wasn’t cleared. The Tigers pushed to get back into the game and were rewarded when Joshua converted from a corner kick. With time running out we continued to push for an equaliser but didn’t manage to unfortunately.
MOM today was Joshua who put a great shift in, setting the tempo in the first third and a lovely finish to get our 2nd goal.
Have a good weekend everyone.
We have a huge amount of coaches reports as we restart into 2026 - some great success stories of happy children across all age groups! We’ve had so many we’ll be sharing one a day this week to make sure the children get their dues!!
The U9's made it 3 for 3 in 2026 with a fine display against Rosehill Wanderers. We quickly took the lead after putting them under pressure straight from Kick Off and forcing 2 quick corners. Sami drilled in his cross hard and low and it took a flick off a Rosehill defender for an own goal. We kept the pressure on and started to play some lovely stuff across the pitch. Straight from a goal kick Thomas found Johnny in midfield who played it forward to Ibrahim who found Sami down the left wing whose accurate first time square across the goal found Rashaun unmarked in front of goal who duly applied the finishing touch. Rob and I agreed that was the slickest, most accomplished goal we have ever seen our team score. So proud.
Unfortunately straight from kick off a Rosehill defender played a straight ball up field from the edge of their own box which bounced a couple of times before skidding past a flummoxed Austin in goal. Unfortunate for the birthday boy, but that was the only blemish on an otherwise faultless and brave performance for him in goal.
We started the 2nd third with another fine team goal finished off by Rashaun again to make it 3-1. And although the scoreline didn't change again, we continued to dominate at both ends of the pitch. We continued to create chances and Sami, Ibrahim, Rayan, Tom and new boy Abdo were all unfortunate not to score. Especially with the final play of the game when diminutive Abdo twinkled around the towering Rosehill defenders before seeing his shot saved by their keeper.
At the back Thomas read the game beautifully, confidently sniffing out danger time and time again. Ably supported by Rayan and Elias who played spectacularly not giving the attackers a chance and always seeming to find a Whalley Range player when needed. His fabulous through balls were also causing constant pressure upfront. Johnny was a maestro in midfield, Tom his tigerish self and Austin commanded his box, making interceptions and saves whenever he was called into action.
In truth, we were very good value for our victory. POTM today went to Elias for his energetic and faultless defensive display.
Our u7’s and u15’s are looking for players to boost their squads. Both play on Saturdays. If your child is interested in starting football and is in Yrs 1 or 2 let us know and if you have a child in Yr 10, perhaps playing Sundays and wants more matches with our cup-winning u15’s again please do drop us a line!!!
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