Youngsters to compete for second annual Rhys Jones Memorial Cup

May 28 2009 by Ben Rossington, Maghull and Aintree Star

YOUNG football teams will take to the pitch in memory of murdered Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones.

The second Rhys Jones Memorial Cup will take place on Friday, with 28 teams battling it out to be crowned this year’s champions.

Last year, the inaugural under-12s tournament was won by Poulton Victoria for the boys and Everton Girls for the girls, and they are both expected to send teams out this time round to defend the trophies.

This year, teams are also coming from Hull and Derbyshire to take part.

In a new one-day format, 16 boys’ teams and 12 girls’ teams will compete at the Walton Soccer Centre.

They will play matches in a group stage before the group winners advance to the semi-final and then the final.

The tournament – backed by Merseyside police, the Liverpool County FA and the Liverpool Weekly News Group’s sister paper, the Liverpool ECHO – was set up after 11-year-old Rhys was shot dead in August 2007.

The Everton-mad youngster was walking home from football practice when he was caught in the cross-fire between teenage gangs from Croxteth and Norris Green.

His football coach, Steve Geoghegan, is one of the driving forces behind the memorial cup.

He said: “We did not want last year’s tournament to be a one-off. The plan was always to keep it going in Rhys’ name.

“We’ve learned the lessons from last year and made some changes but the idea behind the tournament stays the same.

“We have invited teams from across Merseyside who may not be the best in their division so would ordinarily not get the chance to play in such a competition. We want this to be open to all. And we’ve been contacted by teams from across the country so some are coming to join us.

“We want to push our message to as many people as possible – kids should join a team, not a gang.”

Plans for a top local football star to help present the trophy and medals are being made, but his identity is being kept firmly under wraps.