Army FA Festival Of Football

Last updated : 09 May 2011 By The Shots Trust

The two main Army Cup Finals are being held on  Wednesday 18th May 2011 at the Aldershot Military Stadium. It will be the first football played at the historic stadium this season after it has been closed for the provision of a new athletics track and scoreboard.

The action will commence at 1430 hours when the Minor Units competition will conclude with 104 FS Bn REME competing against Catterick based 4 Mech Bde HQ and Sig Sqn.

The Army Challenge Cup, which is sponsored by Towergate Wilsons, is the showpiece of the Army Football Associations season.

The competition is in its 111th year with the first final being staged in 1889 at the Kennington Oval when the 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders defeated the 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment 2-0.

It has been held at the Aldershot Military Stadium since 1899. The competition is steeped in history and Her Majesty The Queen, the Patron of the Army FA, attended many finals in the past including the 1958 final with the Duke of Edinburgh.

This season’s final will be a repeat of the 2008 final with 9 Regiment AAC (from North Yorkshire) versus Warminster based 3 Yorkshire Regiment.  Kick off will be 1800hrs.

It has been a productive season for the Army FA with notable success throughout the campaign including the Womens representative team winning the Inter Services Tournament and it has also been a positive period for their Referees.  In addition to a healthy number of promotions at all levels there was a historic occasion in March when four soldiers were appointed as match officials for the Football League match between Notts County and Bristol Rovers.

It is also been encouraging that there has been an increase in entries to the two cup competitions this season despite ongoing overseas commitments.  Indeed last season’s Army Cup winners 2 PARA were unable to defend the trophy due to their tour of Afghanistan.

Admission is free for the two cup finals and refreshments are available throughout. There have been a number of initiatives added to the occasion including the involvement of the Aldershot Town FC Elite Centre who will be providing 24 Mascots for the Challenge Cup Final.

There will be further updates in the build up to the day on the Army FA website here.