SPAR Scotland’s hugely successful festival of football for Scottish school girls, called SPAR Future Stars, took place at Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld, Glasgow on 27th March 2024. The SPAR Future Stars finals day is in its third year and the overall winning schools, St Ninians High School and Ross High School were presented with the SPAR Future Stars Cup for their respective age groups.
In partnership with the Scottish Football Association since 2019, SPAR Scotland has given girls grassroots football a boost by introducing the SPAR Scotland Future Stars Cup with teams taking part from the Scottish Borders right up to Dingwall in the north of Scotland.
The finals day is the culmination of months of local and regional tournament games, which were played throughout the length and breadth of Scotland. The tournament is aimed at 12- to 16-year-old girls, who are invited to participate in the tournament through their school football teams.
A staggering 226 teams joined in this year’s tournament, which was the highest number yet – 20 more than last year. In total over 3,000 girls were involved in the tournament over the few months with 36 teams (350 girls) making it through to finals day at Broadwood Stadium.
Colin McLean, CEO of SPAR Scotland, said: “This is the third year we have supported the SPAR Future Stars footballing event for schoolgirls, and the tournament is going from strength to strength. We cannot believe that 3,000 girls from schools all over the country have taken part in the tournament this year – it’s a significant number.
“This year saw over 20 extra teams participating in the tournament with registrations and sign ups from some local schools starting as soon as last year’s finals day finished. It’s deeply satisfying to help create a platform that allows girls to come together and play in a fun, safe but highly competitive environment.
“We’re already planning for Future Stars 2025 with our objective to encourage even more young girls to get involved and have some fun at a local and national level.”
Also in attendance on the day were Scotland Women’s National Team (SWNT) Assistant Head Coach Leanne Ross alongside Scotland and Glasgow City winger Fiona Brown.
Shirley Martin, Head of Girls and Women’s’ Football added; “SPAR Future Stars is a great opportunity for girls to play in a fun and friendly environment, with their friends, whilst representing their school. We are delighted with the growth of this competition with schools from as far away as Ellon and Stranraer making the national finals. Having Fiona Brown and Leanne Ross attend from the national team is so important, it shows these girls’ the pathways that are now available to them in football.”
Results of the SPAR Scotland Future Stars national finals day were as follows:
S1/S2
Winner – St Ninians High School
Runner Up – Braidhurst Academy
S3/S4
Winner – Ross High School
Runner Up – Ellon Academy
