Fundraising success sees Stanley Women compete in Dallas Cup

Accrington Stanley Women Under 18s are set to take part in the prestigious Dallas Texans International Girls Cup in the USA, following a monumental fundraising effort which has seen the club travel and take part in the competition.

Stanley Women will kick things off against Dallas Texans 2007 Girls Academy ECNL on Wednesday 27th March, before further games on the 28th and 29th March.

There has been significant support from businesses both local and further afield including main club sponsors Sundown Solutions, e.l.f. Cosmetics UK, Macron North West – who provided the kit for the tournament, award winning London-based PR agency PuRe PR, Farleys Solicitors, Intelligent Search Ltd, CL Travel who sponsored the water bottles, and Under 18 kit sponsor Filter Fabrications.

Accrington Stanley Women also raised over £2,000 via the club’s JustGiving page, while funds were also raised at the Mayor of Hyndburn’s Charity Ball, which was held at Accrington Stanley’s world class hospitality venue in February, as well as at the Clayton Amateur Boxing Club fundraising event, which took place back in October 2023.

The Dallas Texans International Girls Cup is held in Dallas, Texas, USA, and the host club Dallas Texans are ranked as one of the top youth soccer clubs in the United States with 18,000 players and 700 teams. Over 200 teams from around the world participate in the tournament taking place over a week, running up to Easter. This is an application-only event, and only the best teams are selected from hundreds of qualified applications the tournament receives each year.

Star performers representing Accrington Stanley Women include 16 year old college student Niamh Corrigan, who won Player of the Match on just her second call up with the first team. She was also last season’s Player’s Player of the Year and Parent’s Player of the Year for the club. Lily Metcalf, 17,  is another rising star who will represent Accrington Stanley Women on the world stage. Playing football since the age of 8, football is her passion and both players are currently studying sports to make it their career.

Sami Smithson, chair of Accrington Stanley Women, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and support of so many people and businesses in helping us reach our goal of taking part in The Dallas Texans International Girls Cup.

“This is a significant moment in the club’s history and what an unbelievable experience it is going to be for our young players, we can’t wait!

“To each and every individual and business that has supported us, we can’t thank you enough and we are looking forward to making you proud in Dallas.

“Unfortunately our youngest member of the squad, Ocean Flanagan, who received an England call up last season and went on to be honoured Captain, has broken her leg. We are all heartbroken for her and will be doing our best to make her proud too.”

Accrington Stanley Women U18s have already played two friendlies in Dallas, including a narrow 3-2 defeat against Sting Soutar which saw goals for Stanley Women from Melissa Adamson and Niamh Corrigan; while a 4-0 win was secured against Sting Wilson a day later, with goals from Millie Dooley, Savannah Neill, Melissa Adamson and Grace Hindley.

Back at home and the Accrington Stanley Women first team squad suffered a 3-1 defeat against Penrith AFC Ladies. Despite a late consolation from Loulou Newton and further good chances for Kristian Perry’s side, it was not enough to secure any points for Stanley Women.

To keep up with the team’s progress in Dallas, visit: https://www.facebook.com/AccringtonStanleyWomen, https://twitter.com/ASWFCofficial and https://www.instagram.com/accrington_stanley_womenfc/