THE Riddiford five-a-side Shield final will take place at Inside Football, Brimscombe on Wednesday (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, including Ian Olney of Aston Villa and David Smith of Coventry City.

The competition has also been honoured to receive visits from distinguished figures from the world of football with the then England manager Bobby Robson, Spurs legend 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.

This year 23 schools from the Stroud District have entered the competition with preliminary rounds held last month.

The long-standing competition was established in memory of Jack Riddiford, the former chairman of Stroud Primary Schools and head of Thrupp School.

Thanks go to the organiser of the competition, Kick-Off Stroud for all the efforts that have been made to continue this football activity.

Kick-Off Stroud also organise the Forest Green Rovers Football funweeks during the school holidays with next one scheduled for the February half-term.

Rob Gardiner, chairman of Gardiners Construction Services is sponsoring the competition and a number of Forest Green players will attend the afternoon.