Safer Neighbourhood Tournament to take London by storm

Emdad Rahman: The Safer Neighbourhood Tournament (SNT), an exciting community grass roots football tournament has returned for 2012. Now in its tenth year, the celebrated tournament is the brainchild of Stepney & St Dunstan’s member, Councillor Abdal Ullah. 

As a contributory member of the London Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), Abdal Ullah was of the opinion that football was a medium that could be used to effectively unite masses, whilst improving relationships between young people and the police.

What started off as a small community event consisting of half a dozen teams has now grown to become one of London's biggest weekend one day knockout tournaments. This year 72 teams and thousands of spectators will be attending the April footballing bonanza.

The tournament is East London based but has traditionally attracted teams from all over London. This year, Hackney Marshes, the starting point for many of football’s icons will once again be the venue for the knock-out stage of the tournament.

Commenting on the upcoming football festival Abdal Ullah said: “We are very proud of the success of our tournament. This is our 10th year and we have now officially become one of the biggest grassroots football events in London. We gained support from FA and it was an honour to be one of the projects that were highlighted during England’s FIFA World Cup 2018 bid.

“The SNT Cup has support from the Met Police, NHS, TATA, McDonalds, Coco Cola, The Sun newspaper, Kick it Out, and many other local and national organisations, including London 2012.

“In previous years we have secured the FA Cup and Premier League trophy for display at our tournament. 

As a special surprise, on Sunday 29th April we will have the Olympic torch on display!

He added: “This being our 10th year and the year of the London Olympics, we are very keen to make the tournament even more special, we are keen to attract teams from all over the country.”

The date for the knock out section is Sunday 29th April at Hackney Marshes, and the final will be played at a Prestigious London Football ground.

Abdal Ullah has also exclusively confirmed that on the day (April 29th) Coca Cola will bring along the Olympic torch for 4 Hours, whilst McDonalds will provide support to the event. And FA Community Shield will be on display from 10 AM till 3 Pm on the day, and there will be a message of support and health tips from Dr Zaf Iqbal, Liverpool FC’s first team doctor.

There will be health promotion events from the East London NHS health team and Safer London Foundation will also be present addressing issues of Community Safety.

Abdal Ullah also confirmed that the “Man of the match” award will be named after 27 year Kelvin Brown, who recently died after collapsing playing football on Hackney Marshes. A veteran’s cup will be named after local MP Jim Fitzpatrick.

The tournament is divided into several age categories - under 16's, over 16s, veterans (over 35) and for the very first time a women’s tournament has also been scheduled with the only Muslim women’s football team taking part. The winning purse is £1000+. Prior to the start of the tournament a live TV show on Channel 9 17th April (SKY 834) 7 :15 PM will feature special guests announcing the tournament draw with the NPower Championship trophy in the studio.

Anyone interested should log on to www.sntcup.com or www.stepneyfc.com for further details, and highlights from previous tournaments.

Safer Neighbourhood Tournament (SNT) from Stepney on Vimeo.