Orthotic Technicians Cup 2001

On Saturday 23rd June www.orthotictechnicians.com sponsored the first 5 a side tournament for Techinians at Sheffield Aurora FC. 10 teams were enterd from 7 Orthopaedic companies in the Yorkshire and Merseyside areas and all involved had a great day, with a friendly family atmosphere all day.

Teams: Halo Healthcare, the Medicare Group, Tyco Healthcare, Taylor and Higgins, Blatchford Exolite Products, MAG Shoe Service and Algeos.

The idea came from friendly rivalry between Liverpool and Sheffield and came to fruition through the efforts of Francis Barrett, Algeo's delivery driver, who did all the hard work by organising the venue with Dean Maxwell from Tyco and the making sure all the teams knew the details.

All the teams made an effort with looking smart with matching kits and printed TShirts, but the more professional they looked didn't guarantee the standard of play, some of the teams even held training sessions, which some felt was a bit unsporting. I am told a training regime has been put down by some companies already for next year. We did try to book referees but the sportsmanship was superb and lads from all the teams refereed fairly. The referees fees being spent on some extra beer

The tournament was split into 2 groups, playing on the 5 a side pitch and the organisation went smoothly aided by big Paul Carney from Halo shouting instructions to the teams and making sure they played all their matches in the right order. Well nearly anyway. The Group winners and the runners up went through, Medicare A unlucky to lose out on goal difference to Blatchfords. Algeo's and Taylor Higgins taking an early but well deserved trip to the bar with the Tyco B and Medicare B teams

The Semi Finalists were Halo and Tyco A. Tyco going through after a penalty shoot out, Halo's Mick Mcgann's shot bouncing wickedly off the post to put Tyco through. Blatchfords were knocked out by MAG who eventually lost 1-0 to a goal scored with 40 seconds to go to the Sunday League team of Tyco A in the final.

A cup was presented to Dean Maxwell (above) by Jamie Sheridan from Orthotic Technicians.com and everybody stayed behind for a couple of beers and to enjoy the sunshine it was a really great day and one which we have already been asked to repeated on a wider scale next year. Orthotic Technicians do not usually meet up and it was tremendous to see friendly rivalry between companies and a sense of community and camaraderie between the technicians.

Winners: Tyco Ltd - Gallery