Milton Rovers win Coalfields Cup and represent Scotland

Rovers were invited to participate in the annual Coalfields Community Cup which was played at Alloa Athletic’s Indodrill Stadium on Sunday, June 24 - eventually coming out as winners.

This prestigious five-a-side event was aimed at teams from Scotland’s coalfields for a day of competition and included sides from Lanarkshire, Fife and Glasgow.

After qualifying from the group phase as winners in glorious sunny conditions, winning four and drawing one of their qualifying matches, Milton Rovers 2003s successfully overcame local rivals Blantyre in the semi-final before facing the only 2002 team in the competition, Lochgelly Albert, in the final.

The prospects of victory looked bleak when the Milton boys trailed 2-0, but they overcame the deficit to win a thrilling final 3-2.

As well as winning the tournament, and receiving the Coalfields Community Cup, Milton Rovers won the chance to represent Scotland against teams from England and Wales in the UK final which took place on Sunday.

The Home Internationals took place at Kelty Hearts Football Club. As well as the football, the boys were treated to a full weekend of entertainment, staying at the University of Edinburgh halls of residence and having the opportunity to mix with the other teams against whom they were competing.

They also attended the Kelty Hearts match on Saturday where they were introduced to the supporters at half time.

This was the twelfth Coalfields Regeneration Trust Home International Tournament and it featured teams from Scotland, England and Wales.

Having won the qualification tournament in June, Milton Rovers were proud to be representing Scotland at the 2003 age group, and played against Kendray and Airedale from England,

Graigwen and Bacon Sane (Yes, that is their name!) from Wales, and Lochgelly FC, a 2002 team from Scotland.

Milton Rovers qualified for the final having scored a total of 23 goals and conceding only three in the group games, and played against Lochgelly in the final.

However, Milton Rovers lost out 2-1 to a Lochgelly side who are a full year older than them in what was a fantastic end-to-end match.