2 October 2007

 

Village Manchester FC's Stu Johnson wins the IGLFA World Championships' Golden Boot award.

 

by Jason McAuley

 

Village Manchester FC's Stu Johnson is on his way back home from the IGLFA World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the competition's Golden Boot award.

 

Terrific performances against Seattle, Dublin and Atlanta in the group stages saw the team finish 2nd in the group behind host team Argentina and a 3-0 victory against Uruguay in the knockout stages ensured that VMFC striker Stu Johnson also picked up the coveted Golden Boot award for being the competition top scorer, netting 14 goals in total, something everyone at the club is extremely proud of.

 

It was the first time the Championships have been held in South America and home advantage would ultimately prove to be the deciding factor on where the trophy would go with host nation Argentina winning the final 1-0 against London Stonewall FC who beat VMFC's quarter final opponents San Francisco in a close semi final.

 

The lads from VMFC did themselves proud only losing 2 games against the eventual winners in an earlier group match and the other in the quarter final against 3rd place runners up San Francisco.

 

Manager Stu Butters had nothing but praise for his players, he said "everyone played their part in a massive effort with some outstanding performances from players making their debuts for the club as well as playing in unfamiliar positions for the first time" he added "when you consider we also had injuries to Dan Shapiro in the first game and lost both centre halves Steve Clayton and Paul Taylor to injuries in the quarter final, the lads showed real grit and character to take us through to the knockout stages and everyone should be extremely proud of the effort which has been recognised through Stu Johnson's golden boot award".

 

The team will now return to the UK and pick up their domestic league season on Sunday which sees them defending their recent Manchester Sunday League title and will look forward to competing in next years IGLFA World Cup which is due to be held in London.