About Us
Club History
Lightwoods Lions based in West
Birmingham are a FA Chartered Standard Football Club that was formed in
2005. The club selected the name Lightwoods because the coaching
sessions for the original under 7s mini-soccer team were held at
Lightwoods Park in Bearwood. The majority of the original under 7s also
attended the local Lightwoods Primary School. Unfortunately, Lightwoods
Primary School only has one class per year group so in order for the
team to progress players had to be recruited from other local schools.
Lightwoods Lions are proud to be
represented by players from a wide spectrum of the local community that
currently includes boys and girls from Bearwood, Halesowen, Oldbury,
Quinton, Harborne, Northfield and Handsworth Wood. The Under 10s Boys,
Under 11s Girls and the Under 13s Boys all have great sets of parents
and the most pleasing element is that most of the players in addition to
becoming team mates have become great friends outside of the football
club.
Current
Teams
Under 10s Boys
In the 2008/9 season the club started a
second team at under 7s with the majority of the players again from
Lightwoods Primary. The under 10s team who will be competing in the
Central Warwickshire Youth Football League (CWYFL) for the 2011/12
season will be playing their home matches on Sundays at Londonderry
Lane, Smethwick.
Under 11s Girls
Girls football is the fastest growing
sport in the UK and following the 2010 world cup the club decided to run
a Girls Soccer School during the summer for girls between the ages of 7
to 10. The soccer school was so successful the club decided to start a Girls team for the 2010/11 season with again a strong representation
from Lightwoods Primary School. The under 11s Girls team will be competing in
the Central Warwickshire Girls Football League for the 2011/12 season and will be
playing their home matches on Saturdays at Londonderry Lane, Smethwick.
Under 13s Boys
The under 13s still have four of the
original under 7s representing the club with the majority being part of
the team since under 9s. The team will be entering their seventh season
and will be competing in the Central Warwickshire Youth Football League
(CWYFL) for the 2011/12 season and will be playing their home matches on
Sundays at a Thimblemill Recreation Centre, Smethwick.
Club Philosophy
Lightwoods believe youth football should be
aspirational with all young players endeavoring to improve their
individual technical ability but without losing sight of the
importance of team play. The coaching concept is based on improving
technical skills with both feet, encourage ball retention by emphasising
long and short passing with movement off the ball and teaching tactical shape and
positional awareness.
The club do not look at how good the players is when they arrive but look at the potential for development with the two most important criteria being enthusiasm and the dedication to work hard to improve. The club ethic is for players to be competitive, to always try their best, but without a win at all cost mentality. Fair play and respect for all involved in the game is fundamentally important.
Coaching Sessions
The club holds the coaching sessions for all teams during the summer at Lightwoods Park (the Dog Pub side of Galton Road in the far corner). During the winter period the Girls Under 11s and Boys Under 10s teams use the gym facilities on Friday evenings at Four Dwellings School, Quinton. The Boys Under 13s during the winter period use the astro turf facilities at Four Dwellings School on Friday Evenings.
Club Colours
Lightwoods
Lions did not want to have club colours that were associated
with English football teams and instead looked to Italy's Serie A and chose Inter Milan's
blue and black stripes as Lightwoods Lions kit for all of their teams and
selected AC
Milan's red and black stripes as the club's second kit. The reason
for the choice
being that both clubs can trace their origins back to English expatriates and also the
fact that both clubs have had revolutionary coaches such as Helenio
Herrara and Arrigo Sacchi who both changed
football coaching philosophies.
Since its founding Inter have worn black and blue
stripes and it is rumored that black was chosen to represent night and
blue was chosen to represent the sky. Throughout their entire history
AC
Milan have been represented by the colours red and black. The colours
were chosen to represent the players fiery ardor (red) and the opponents
fear to challenge the team (black).
Inter Milan's History
Inter
Milan was founded in March of
1908, by a group of men who were tired that
A.C. Milan
was dominated by Italian players. These visionaries broke away from
AC Milan
and created a team in which international players and Italian players
could play wearing the same jerseys
and thus lived up to its founding name,
Internazionale Football Club Milano. In 1928, Inter's
name and philosophy made the ruling Fascist Party uneasy and the
20-year-old club was merged with
Unione Sportiva Milanese and
Inter was forced to
abandon their black and blue uniforms. After World War II when the
Fascists had fallen from power the club reverted to their original name
and colours
Visionary Coach
Helenio Herrara
often regarded as the revolutionary of the Catenaccio
style that was a defensive based soccer strategy that added a sweeper to
the back line. He was quite a strict coach, concerned with the game as
well as fitness, dieting and tactics.
He pioneered the use of psychological motivating skills – his pep-talk
phrases are still quoted today, e.g.
"who doesn't give it all, gives
nothing" and "Class + Preparation + Intelligence + Athleticism
= Championships".
These slogans were often plastered on billboards
around the ground. He suspended a player after he told the press
"we
came to play in Rome"
instead of
"we came to win in Rome".
While defensive in nature, Helenio's Catenaccio
was built around wingbacks launching fast counter-attacks.
A.C. Milan's History
Associazione
Calcio Milan,
commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan
was originally founded in 1899 as a cricket club by British expatriates
Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin. In honor of its English origins, the club has
retained the English spelling of its city's name, instead of changing it
to the Italian spelling Milano.
Although the
club was forced to
do so by Mussolini during the Fascist
regime.
Visionary Coach
Arrigo Sacchi
never played football professionally and was a shoe salesman before
becoming a coach.
At AC Milan, Arrigo Sacchi faced
problems of credibility with the press arguing that a player who had
never played the game could never be a successful coach, and that even
the chairman who had played football at amateur level was probably a
better player.
This led to his famous quote: "I never
realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse
first".
Sacchi let his coaching do the talking and quickly
constructed AC Milan into being one of the best club
sides to have ever graced European football, his personal pursuit of
perfection driving his team on to exceptional levels of performance.
Sacchi had
grown up watching attacking sides, such as Real Madrid, Brazil and
Holland which meant his coaching style would be different to the normal
Italian defensive mentality. Sacchi viewed the game as
a dynamic system rather than a collection of individuals, seeing every
member of the team unit – whether with or without the ball – as equally
significant at any given moment. Arrigo Sacchi will be
remembered, as one of the finest tacticians of the age and the man who
re-invented pressing and zonal marking for the modern game.
Club Officials
Club
Secretary Jackie Bridges
Email: jackie@lightwoodslions.co.uk Tel: 07805177531
Under 10s - Danielle Bridges FA Level 1 & Sam Smith FA Level 1
Email: danielle@lightwoodslions.co.uk Tel: 07969519160
Under 13s - Garry Bridges FA Level 2 & Louis Bridges FA Level 1
Email: garry@lightwoodslions.co.uk Tel: 07748 286150
Girls team & soccer school - Danielle Bridges
Email: danielle@lightwoodslions.co.uk Tel: 07969519160
Child Welfare Officer - Garry Bridges
Email: garry@lightwoodslions.co.uk Tel: 07748 286150