The birth of the Liverpool-Knowsley International Youth Soccer Tournament.....
The Liverpool-Knowsley International Youth Soccer Tournament and its predecessor - "THE HALEWOOD FOUR NATIONS SOCCER TOURNAMENT" The Liverpool-Knowsley International Youth Soccer Tournament is now, after 13 years well and truly established as one of the top international youth soccer tournaments, thanks to the work of the late John Scott and former leader of Knowsley Council, Councillor James Keight OBE, JP [who is still the Honorary President today].
The success of the Halewood Junior Football League, (established in 1974 by a group of football enthusiasts) resulted in myself being approached in 1989 by Gerry Smith whose enthusiasm for football was unbounded, with the idea of organising a junior soccer tournament.
Having been recently retired as Secretary and founder of the Halewood & District J.F.L I was to consider a fresh challenge. Gerry’s idea was to create a National Tournament with teams competing from England, Scotland, Ireland & Wales. We decided to form a steering group made up of local football enthusiasts, with the result being that a competition was set up, which was called "The Halewood Four Nations Soccer tournament.
Support for the Tournament was strong in the local area. The Halewood Town Council agreed to allow us to use the Barncroft Playing Fields, the Dista Playing Fields and Hollies Road Recreation Field. It was agreed the Tournament be played over the Easter period starting on Good Friday and finishing on Easter Monday.
The founding committee consisted of Mr. G. Smith (Chairman), T. Lucock (Secretary), W. Conway (Treasurer), R.Cornfoot (Assistant Secretary), M.Joynson (Fixture Secretary), P.Heffernon (Referees Liaison). Other members Cllr. P.O,Hanlon, A.Stevens, J.Redmond, S.Best. C.Lewis G.Fairclough, W.Commerford. Councillor James Keight OBE, JP was (and still is today) the Honorary President.
Local sponsors of the event included Knowsley Borough Council, Burtonwood Brewery, Ford Motors Halewood and Merseybus.
The trophies were kindly donated by a number of generous sources, including Ford Motors, Mr & Mrs Commerford, Mr J.McGuiness, S.McMahon (Liverpool FC), Joan & Bunner Rugg and Mr T.Lucock.
In terms of the tournament format, the age groups were restricted to under 12s/ 14s/ 16s and entries were limited to twelve in each age group due to the limited facilities. In the first tournament we had twenty-six entries which included four teams from Scotland, four teams from Ireland and eighteen from england, alas none from Wales which was to remain the case for the five years the tournament ran. The highest number of entries was in 1992 when we had thirty entries. The teams from , and some parts of stayed at the excellent Liverpool University Halls of Residence in Allerton. An accommodation set up, which is continued even today.
