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10^th Anniversary of the Pengelly Cup and the DTMA Plate

4^th Sep2004

Reported by Cpl Kirk Laird

In the winter of 1993, three Supply and Movements Officers suggested organising an annual Movements Trade 6-a-side football tournament based on the Supply Trade Skidmore Trophy held in RAFG (that’s Royal Air Force Germany-Wildenrath, Gutersloh etc-to those of you not old enough to remember).  Apart from making it a sporting fixture, Flt Lt’s Marshall, Valentine and Firth wanted also to make it a yearly meet and greet.  At the time the only gathering of Movers was the UKMAMS Association which had a limited membership.  The idea of the football competition was to bring the trade together in an informal setting.

Air Cdre Pengelly and Air Cdre Hargreaves were approached and they each generously provided the Cup and Plate respectively.  In September 1994, the first Pengelly Trophy and Hargreave Plate took place at RAF Brize Norton where it has been held since.  In 2002, the sponsorship of the Plate competition changed and was provided by the DTMA (Defence Transport Movements Agency).

So it was on the morning of Saturday September 4^th 2004. Eighteen teams from the Movements Trade based around the world converged at RAF Brize Norton for the tenth anniversary of the trade football competition.  All the players met at the Gateway pitches at 0900hrs to kick-off at 09303rs  The sky was overcast and the temperature was cool during the group stage of the competition which boded well for the players.

FS Gary Richards once again organised the group stages with Swiss watch accuracy.  The first game of the day was the Defence Movements School Vs DTMA.  The School won that game  1-0 and went on to win their group with all points secured.  Brize C lost two games and drew against DTMA, not bad for a bunch of old timers!  The Movs School and DTMA progressed to the Cup while Northolt A and Brize C went into the plate.

In group B, the new Movements students of the Basic Movements Training 6 (BMT6) and Lyneham B went into the Cup 1^st and 2^nd respectively while Brize A, Aldergrove and JATEU moved into the plate. Group C was a closely contested league with Lyneham A winning all their games with 9 points and the second students team, BMT7, nudging out Brize B from the Cup on goal difference.  Brize B was joined in the Plate by PJHQ who lost all their group games.

In Group D, Akrotiri Movers equalled the Movements School and Lyneham A by winning all their games.  They were joined by Brize D, amazingly the only Brize team to progress into the Cup.  Odiham, Lyneham C and Northolt B had to settle for trying to win the Plate.  At the cessation of the league format a half-an-hour break was taken by the teams while Gary Richards sorted out the knock-out-stages of both Cup and Plate.

In the Plate, Brize C was drawn against PJHQ and Aldergrove took on Northolt B in the preliminary knock-out.  PJHQ defeated Brize C 2-0 in a well played game, though the over-matured age of the Brize C players proved a prominent factor in the result.  If WO Martin Jones had been twenty years younger PJHQ might have been in trouble!  At this stage it must be mentioned that even though Brize C was beaten by all but one team, Sgt ‘Diddy’ Didcott put most of the younger goalies to shame with his feline like prowess of his goal area.  He also often took the ball out into open play and ran a merry dance round the opposing attackers.  Aldergrove overcame Northolt B 2-0 on penalties after the game finished even with a goal each

The Plate games carried on into the Quarter Finals with victory for Brize B over PJHQ 3-1 after penalties.  Northolt A defeated Brize A 1-0, JATEU lost to Lyneham C 1-0 and Odiham beat Aldergrove 3-0.  The Quarter Finals of the Cup started immediately with an outstanding first game between BMT6 and Lyneham B only to be decided again on penalties, BMT6 winning a tense shoot-out 8-7.  Lyneham A and the Movements Schools game also went to penalties after finishing 2-2 (it is rumoured Lyneham A fielded a seventh player in the referee!).  The Movements School finally ran out winners 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out.  BMT7 knocked out Brize D, again with a helping hand from an eagle eyed referee who saw an infringement in the Brize penalty area from seventy yards away where the goalie pulled down the attacking player.  It was a brave decision because the surrounding crowd saw the attacker perfect his Klinsman dive.  Still, what is football if not controversial? 

The Plate produced two excellent semi-finals.  Northolt A overcame Brize B 2-1 while Lyneham C where thumped 3-0 by Odiham.  The Plate took a breather again while the Cup cooked up two tense semis.  The staff of the Movements School crushed their students from BMT 6, 5-2 (the kids of BMT6 will go far).  In the other semi, the experience of DTMA got the better of the youth of BMT7 as they won 1-0.

Another short break was taken while everyone topped up with liquid refreshments and the referees where barracked with the usual abuse (and not necessarily because they were referees).  After an exciting and well played Plate tournament, Northolt A played Odiham for the honours of being the Plate winners.  Both teams played with a lot of spirit and determination, chasing balls down and making full blooded tackles.  The crowd, made, up of exhausted players and cheerful wives, cheered on both teams with equal gusto.  It was to be Northolt A’s afternoon though with a 1-0 victory.

With no rest, the Movements School played DTMA for the Cup.  A partisan crowd cheered loudly for the School, booing almost every touch of the ball DTMA had.  It was DTMA who scored early on in the game with a well taken goal, then doubling their lead just before half time.  In the second half, the School pulled one back only for DTMA to secure the win moments later.  Cramp was taking its toll on most of the players from both teams by this time in the searing sunshine.

The final whistle was blown and DTMA started their celebrations in earnest.  Cpl Mike Atkinson received the Cup as captain of DTMA from Air Cdre Pengelly after a well received speech by OC LSW, Wing Cdr Stevens.  Once all was said and done, most of the players and their wives, girlfriends and boyfriends cleaned-up and met at the Movements bar, The Vent, for a few rounds of well earned beers.  Let us hope that next year is just as successful as this year: Thanks must go to Fg Off Pete Brierley, Oi/c, and FS Gary Richards for his hard work with the league and knockout stages.  Cpl Clive Chick for making sure the visiting players had somewhere to stay for the night and to Kirsty Allen of 4624 Sqn for supplying the rooms.  Thank you also to the referees for giving their time freely so the games could be played in a responsible and proper manner.  They were Sqn Ldr’s Andy Marshall and Neil Jones, WO John McCarthy, FS Mark Haining and Mr John ‘Lenny’ Biggerstaff.  Last but not least, thanks to the girls of the Sqn for being continental style waitresses (and I must say they looked very nice) at The Vent all night and to all the wives and girlfriends for giving their support to all the players of the day.  Your support helped the day be more fun.

Pengelly Cup Champions 2004 - DTMA.

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