Scenes at St Mary’s for The Southampton Cup
The weekend after our play-off win against West Bromwich Albion, we hosted The Southampton Cup, transforming our stadium into the best grassroots tournament venue on the South Coast. Across the weekend of the 18th and 19th May 2024. 123 teams from Under 7s to Under 13s, joined us for the first ever Southampton Cup.
Following in the footsteps of their footballing icons, the players got to experience the adrenaline of stepping out onto the beloved pitch at St Mary’s Stadium with a full matchday experience. As they walked out onto the pitch to matchday music, with their teams name on the big screen, thousands of spectators were also watching on. Here’s what the parents and coaches had to say about the tournament…
“Such a fantastic experience for the young players. Loved the format of all teams getting to play games right to the end instead of a knockout style”
“The whole experience for the children was fantastic”
“Great to be in the stadium and have the freedom of the ground to walk around”
If players were lucky enough to be in the winning team, they got to lift The Southampton Cup trophy in the stands. All teams that didn’t win also got to be presented with medals, creating an incredible memory for all players and their friends and family. The winning cup teams will also get to play a team from the prestigious Southampton FC academy in the coming weeks.
On top of playing football on the St Mary’s pitch, the day after a historic play-off win, participants also got a tour, seeing where the home and away changing rooms, player entrance, dug out and so much more.
Our staff already can’t wait for next years tournament, here’s what Tom Grevatt (Head of Football Programmes) had to say about the event…
"It was great to see so many players from so many different grassroots teams, come together to experience The Southampton Cup. The feedback has been fantastic, and we're so pleased to be able to offer this experience to so many players, coaches and spectators. There was some great football played over the weekend, and so many smiles! We can't wait to see everyone involved again next year"
If you can’t wait until next year and want to enquire about becoming a grassroots partner club of Southampton FC, please email [email protected].