Big congratulations to the Shipley College Ability Counts football team who reached the AoC Ability Cup National Finals Competition in June.

The event was held at the prestigious St. George’s Park, the English Football Association's national football centre which is the training ground for the England Team.

Around 150 students from across the country took part in the knockout cup finals to be crowned the best college team.

Shipley made an extraordinary debut in the competition to reach the final against Birmingham Metropolitan College. The teams were level at half-time but BMET proved the stronger team in the second half, the final score being 3-1.

Damian Butters, Essential Skills tutor explains, ‘Birmingham Met are the National Champions. The game was very tense and we kept them at bay before conceding a goal just before half-time. We continued to battle hard but the semi-final had taken a lot out of us.  The players could hardly walk off the pitch at the end of the match and had done Shipley College so proud.’

Sam Perks, AoC Sport’s disability development officer, said: ‘The quality of football was incredible with a real mix of experience – from those who are new to the sport, to those who play regularly – the event meant so much to both the students and staff.’