The late “football missionary’’ Johnny Warren would be smiling from ear to ear following another successful Johnny Warren Memorial Cup event.
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Tournament manager Jamie Warren expected “Uncle John’’ would be even more excited to know much bigger things were planned for next year to celebrate the 20th running of the increasingly popular Jamberoo event.
“It was a fantastic event,” Warren said. “A real community event. An event Johnny would have been proud of.
“He would have loved the fact of having the football family again gathering at Jamberoo for this much loved football tournament.’’
Organisers were expecting a big turnout on the weekend but were quite surprised when they had an extra 17 teams from last year participate in the 2016 event.
Some 76 teams competed in five divisions of the seven-a-side tournament at Kevin Walsh Oval on February 5-6.
Local outfit Jamberoo Pub won the Over-35s Mens, beating Wednesday Nighters in a penalty shootout after the game finished 1-1 after extra-time.
The high-quality game featured a number of former national and state league players. Former Young Socceroo Jay Lucas did well for Jamberoo, while Craig Moffatt, who played more than 200 National Soccer League games for St George, lead the Wednesday Nighters.
Tango FC from Sutherland won the men’s Over-45s, with Kiama FC crowned Over 50s-Mens champions.
Navy FFA from Cresswell won the Open Womens title and Shoalhaven-based SHBFC Goal Diggers took out the Over-30s women’s title.
The more than 750 players who took part not only had a great time, but also helped raise money for the Johnny Warren Football Foundation (JWFF).
The 19th annual Johnny Warren Memorial Cup also celebrated the formation this year of the Johnny Warren Community (#JWC).
Warren said it was very heartening to have people gathering to remember the contribution of the inspirational late Socceroos captain, coach, commentator and “football missionary’’.
“It is one of the main reason why we do it. One of the things with the JWFF is to have people learn about his role within the game because it was an important role.’’
Check out tournament photos on Page 30.