Whilst most supporters' interest in tournament football this summer was restricted to events in South Africa, two sets of Brentford supporters' interest was a little closer to home - Leeds, the venue for this year's WorldNET competition. WorldNET is a tournament open to supporters' teams in Britain, and some from much further afield, and is played over a weekend at the grounds of Leeds University on the outskirts of the City.

This year there were two tournaments. The main tournament was a competition for 64 teams, who played their 30-minute group games on Saturday prior to knockout competitions on Sunday (the Cup for teams finishing in the top halves of their group, and the Plate for those in the lower half). At the same time a Veterans competition comprising 16 teams took place, with group games on Saturday and a knockout competition on Sunday.

Brentford had representation in both tournaments from supporters' team Hey Jude. These were the two sides' respective results in both competitions.

Hey Jude 'A team' (Mr T et al were not available) on Saturday:
Hey Jude 0 Stockport 0
Watford 1 Hey Jude 1 (scorer: Matthew Chippendale)
Hey Jude 2 (scorers: Jacob Murtagh and Will Boye) St Johnstone 1

Hey Jude Veterans on Saturday:
Hey Jude Vets 1 (scorer: Dan Martin) Birmingham 1
Arsenal Nigeria 4 Hey Jude Vets 0
Hey Jude Vets 1 (scorer: Al Rawani) Ipswich 0

The 'A team' finished second and therefore, for the first time ever, qualified for the Cup rather than Plate - history had been made! The Vets also finished a highly creditable second in their group. On the final day both teams made early exits. The 'A team' dominated in a goalless draw against Telford only to crash out on penalties 3-1. The Veterans - who were unlucky to have been drawn to face a group winner - lost 3-0 to FC United of Manchester.

This is the eleventh year running that Brentford have been represented at this national competition and, whilst there were a number of sore limbs (and some sore heads, from 'non-footballing' activities) the weekend was a very enjoyable experience and most players have pencilled in next year's competition for what is, in several cases, their annual run out in competitive football.

The main competition itself was won by Bradford City who defeated RC Lens 1-0 in the final; whilst the Veterans Competition was won by Halifax who defeated Arsenal Nigeria with a "Golden Goal".

Next year's competition will again be at Leeds, over the weekend of 23rd and 24th July 2011, and players of all abilities will be welcome.

For more information, please contact Paul Stedman (stedders@mac.com).