Charity 6 hour 'football-thon' for OCD UK

Along with colleagues from YHEC and former colleagues (and partners and former colleague's partners), we played a 6 hour football match made up of 12 individual games (including 2 penalty shootouts and 3 novelty games). This was to raise awareness of and funds for OCD UK in memory of friend and colleague Matthew Bunney - more details here including how to sponsor (if you're reading this in 2023):

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/yhecfootballthon 

Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious anxiety-related condition that affects 1.2% of the population, which is around three quarters of a million people here in the UK based on current estimates. Together with their families, who support people with OCD, and are frequently involved in their rituals, this means Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder is a part of daily life for over 1 million people every single day.

See more about OCD UK here: https://www.ocduk.org/

Also a thank you to Hopgrove Playing Fields Association and Mark Shields there. It's a great place on the East side of York near Monks Cross for football as well as other sports. Huntington Rovers FC are based there and have boys and girls teams at every age group with some great coaches.

You can see more about the venue here: Hopgrove Playing Fields Association 
 

Photos

If you want to see nice photos of the football-thon, jump to the bottom.

Summary of the day

The first hour started off like a rocket - the spectators (there were a handful!) wouldn't have guessed this was a marathon. Skill levels were pretty high - Errol excelled (but in goal due to injury) and Sam H nutmegged Cam with virtually his first touch. 

Goals came from all over the pitch. The first two games were pretty even but Nick's ICER Milan edged them both (4-2 then 3-1) to spring into an early 6-0 lead, points-wise. Errol's AFC QALitY came back stronger with a 4-1 thrashing at 11am.

Either side of the first penalty shootout game - a very low scoring affair (I don't think I've ever seen a 2-0 scoreline in a pen shootout) - the teams shared two thrilling 3-3 draws, one of which was a novelty game in which players were only allowed three consecutive touches at any one point. The only controversial point in this was Nick's alleged 4-touch assist for what would have been the winner, but the shot went wide. 

A slight change of personnel over lunchtime, the beginner's novelty game at 1pm meant regular players were restricted to 1 touch at a time, occasional players 2 and beginners and goalkeepers unlimited. Carie netted virtually on the goaline in an eventful game that involved quite a lot of players abandoning the ball as they realised they had had their allotted touches. Another draw: 2-2. 

Tiredness was certainly noticeable by this point in a few players, as well as a few knocks here and there. But there were smiles still (or were they grimaces?).

With 7 games down out of 12, the teams were tied with 9 points each, game on!

This is where QALitY showed their true....class. 

A 4-1 thrashing was followed by two clean sheets (1-0, 0-0). As fatigue set in, the only goal in two games came from a defensive error. This was also a novelty game where the conceding team were able to choose an opposition player to be sin-binned. This lead to a very defensive setup following the goal, and QALitY held out.  

Were ICER Milan to be in a chance of winning the OCD UK competition trophy they would need to win the final penalty shootout game. However a tight contest saw captain Errol seal the trophy with a string of fine blocks, 3-2.

The final matchup was a dead rubber but provided plenty of excitement as ICER showed their class to take a tight game 2-1. With Errol still arguing about the lack of added time (in the final game after a 360 minute footballthon - a true winner), he was handed the trophy and AFC QALitY held it aloft. Well done everyone.  

Rock paper scissors to decide kick off for each game...

ICER Milan:

AFC QALitY:

Teams photo with afternoon players too: