Ipswich Town Community Trust staged their own World Cup at Portman Road on Sunday with teams drawn from various locally-based communities representing the nations competing in South Africa this summer. Slovakia, represented by a team made up of English players, beat the Netherlands, represented by a Bangladeshi side, 3-0 to win the One Community Cup.
In total 15 teams from around the world took part in the adult male five-a-side tournament, including India, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Italy and the West Indies, each representing one of this summer’s finalists. The tournament lasted all day and saw over 100 players compete.
Australia, made up of players from Kurdistan, finished third with Argentina, whose players on the day were from Poland, came fourth. Players from the Albanian community, who played under the banner of New Zealand, won the Fair Play Award for their good sportsmanship throughout the competition.
Supported by Asda, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Police, Suffolk FA and Ipswich Borough Council, the competition built on the success of the 2007 and 2009 One Community Cup tournaments and is working to increase awareness and understanding of anti-racism messages and community cohesion.
Both Ipswich Town Football Club and the Community Trust are firm supporters of the anti-racism campaigns such as Kick it Out and Show Racism the Red Card and takes a zero tolerance stance on racism. The tournament aimed to bring players of all nationalities and ethnic groups living in our local community, together for a fun and diverse day of football.
Ipswich Town Community Trust coach Alan Dale, who has organised the competition, said: "Football has a universal language and has the power to bring people together. We organised the competition to unite the diverse communities of our region and enjoyed a really fantastic day of football.”
Steve Clarke, general store manager of Asda Stoke Park, added: "We were pleased to get the opportunity to work with Alan and Ipswich Town Community Trust to put on a fabulous community event which was a real success.”