Lockdown 2.0 FIFA 21 Grassroots Football Tournament: All You Need to Know
Welcome aboard the home of The Hype Train Hype Train Football Club. A second national lockdown in the UK has paused grassroots football, with sixteen football clubs within England coming together to form and compete in the first Grassroots Football Lockdown FIFA Tournament. Read more about what this virtual cup has to offer and the effort we are making to make a charitable donation along the way. All aboard.
What is the Grassroots Lockdown Tournament all about?:
Grassroots Football has taken an absolute battering in 2020. The spread of the Coronavirus pandemic wiped local football off the face of the earth back in March 2020, condemning players and volunteers alike to watch elite level football behind closed doors. With the end of the year approaching, the UK has been in a second 'lockdown' of sorts in November, once again side-lining eager players and spectators alike indoors.
Football at its core is a community sport and this sense of like-mindedness has spawned 'virtual' competition to take centre stage during the several off-times during the season. Local to our team, the Football in Berkshire website are currently in the midst of their second Invitational Virtual Cup, with local teams battling out in a series of popularity polls on their Twitter account, so this isn't anything new.
Spearheaded by Stoke Poges Saints' Sunday side, and backed by several excellent sponsors and partners, a group of 16 teams have actually been able to organise a single knock-out tournament on Sony's PS4, with the Round of 16 set to take place on Thursday 19th November 2020, with the final currently scheduled for Sunday 22nd November 2020.
Best yet, the entire tournament is geared up towards charity, with the winning team having the honour of picking the eventual charity. Each of the 16 teams has already paid a £5 entry fee, and we here at Hype Train HQ have already stated that if our club representative prevails we will be donating another £50 towards the charity pot. If you would like to find out how to contribute to charity, please contact Stoke Poges on Twitter, or by emailing our team - contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
The grand final winner will also be presented with a bespoke trophy from the team at Awards FC, who are the title sponsor for this charity tournament, with the team at Awards specialists in delivering bespoke football awards, such as medals and Man of the Match and Player of the Month trophies, all designed to your club's likeness.
Additionally, the team here at The Hype Train will be reporting on each stage of the tournament and will be updating the bracket on our Twitter account as and when results come through on the night. Many of the teams will also be livestreaming their matches to YouTube and Twitch, so keep an eye on social media as the tournament develops throughout the rest of the week.
Event Details to Bookmark:
Last 16: Thursday 19th November 2020 (8-9pm)
Quarter-Finals: Friday 20th November 2020 (8pm)
Semi-Finals: Saturday 21st November 2020 (8pm)
Grand Final: Sunday 22nd November 2020 (8pm)
All matches will be taking place on PS4 and there is no limits to the teams that each club representative can choose. If a game finishes as a draw, there will be extra-time and penalties if necessary.
Watch the embedded tweet bloew as Stoke Poges made the draw on 17th November 2020:
Meet the teams involved in the Lockdown Tournament:
1) Stoke Poges Saints FC - @SPSaintsFC
2) Stoke Poges Saints FC Sunday - @PogesSunday
3) Caversham United - @CavershamUnited
4) Colchester Crusaders - @ColCrusaders
5) FC Lions - @OfficialFCLions
6) JK Silvertown FC - @JKSilvertownFC
7) Barton Rovers FC - @BartonRoversSat
8) Hype Train FC - @HypeTrainFC
9) Malt Shovel FC - @ClubMalt
10) Piccadilly FC - @PiccadillyFC
11) Foxhall United - @Foxhall United
12) Slough United FC - @Slough_Un1tedFc
13) Denham United FC - @DenhamUnitedFC
14) The Charitable FC - @TheCharitableFC
15) The Rose Athletic - @RoseAthletic
16) Windsor Corinthians - @CorinthiansSL4
Among the teams in the tournament, there are 3 representatives from the East Berkshire Football League (EBFL), with Stoke Poges Saints, and our native Hype Train FC from Division One featured, whilst Division Two outfit Barton Rovers are also in the pot, with Poges and Barton on a collision course in the quarter-finals should they both advance from the first round.
The High Wycombe Sunday Football Combination have two clubs in the mix, with Denham United and FC Lions flying their flag, whilst across the road in the Thames Valley Sunday Premier League, Slough United, Windsor Corinthians and Stoke Poges' Sunday team are all present and accounted for.
The last side playing their trade in the Berkshire area are the sole representative from the Reading & District Sunday League, with social media savvy, Caversham United, hoping that they can live up to their lofty social media expectations.
The Charitable FC are the only dedicated charity team to be part of the tournament, with the team invested in raising money across the Kent areas for several charities, and to date have raised more than £1000. They're not the only Kent based side though, as The Rose Athletic from North Kent Sunday Football League's Division Four will take on ourselves in the first round.
JK Silvertown FC, set up in the memory of a departed friend, James Kiely, play their trade in the Essex Sunday Combination take on Barton Rovers, and they'll be joined by another Essex Club, with Colchester Crusaders just down the road in the Colchester & District Sunday League.
Another county represented is Suffolk, with Ipswich based Foxhall United from the Ipswich Sunday Football League playing one of the host Stoke Poges sides in the first round!
Hailing from London, Piccadilly FC from the London Underground Football Championship will be hoping to bring the trophy to the capital, with the side squaring up against Windsor Corinthians.
Last but not least, Malt Shovel FC from Selby, Yorkshire are the most northerly team in the competition and have various age groups and adult clubs across Saturday and Sunday leagues. They'll be hoping to keep all their southern foes quiet.
Want to know more about The Hype Train?
The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in Fantasy sports reporting, starting with Fantasy Premier League (FPL), before expanding to MLS Fantasy coverage in 2018.
We pride ourselves in providing beautiful graphics, statistics, in-depth analytical reporting and free weekly insight for hopeful players attempting to climb rankings tables. We are also occasional media reviewers, with a keen interest to review games, live sport, and professional wrestling.
In 2019, Hype Train Football Club was formed, becoming the first Fantasy Football website to take to the field. HTFC is a socially active team across social and web channels, providing regular match highlights, match reports, comprehensive player statistics and unique player profiles.
The Hype Train were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Best Football Blog' in 2016 by the Football Bloggers Association at their annual Football Blogging Awards (The FBA's), and were again shortlisted as a finalist in 2019 in the 'Best Fantasy Football Blog' category.
You can follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, follow Hype Train FC on Instagram, subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content, or visit our website here at www.thehypetrain.co.uk
All aboard.
