THE finals of The Riddiford five-a-side shield will take place at Inside Football, Brimscombe on Thursday, February 1, 3.30 pm.

This competition for Stroud District Primary Schools has been in existence for more than 40 years and during this time many of the players went on to play professional football, Ian Olney of Aston Villa and David Smith of Coventry City.

The competition has also been honoured to receive distinguished figures from the world of football with the late Sir Bobby Robson, the England manager attending, straight from the Gold Cup at Cheltenham in 1994, Ossie Ardiles and Terry Cooper, father of Mark Cooper of Forest Green Rovers, bringing their Swindon and Bristol Rovers teams to play an exhibition match.

More than 20 schools from the Stroud District have entered the competition with the preliminary rounds being held at Inside Football at Brimscombe from which the best five teams will go through to the finals evening.

In recognition of this excellent competition established in memory of Jack Riddiford, the former chairman of Stroud Primary Schools and head of Thrupp School.

Kick Off Stroud is delighted to welcome as sponsors of this season’s competition, Gardiners Construction Services. Rob Gardiner, the chairman and founder of Gardiners will be accompanied by players from Forest Green Rovers.