Dearne Valley schools football champions receive prize from ex-England skipper Karen Walker

Karen Walker travelled from Hull to witness Brampton Ellis go undefeated with five wins out of their seven matches to win the Karen Walker Shield.

The shield is the prize in a new second-tier competition for the schools which have not qualified for the Don & Dearne Cup.

Swinton Queen pipped Kaz's old school, Goldthorpe, to second place in what was a low-scoring tournament – incredibly the other five schools got all their points through 0-0 draws.

Rawmarsh Thorogate finished ahead of the rest by a point.

The other schools were Rawmarsh Ashwood Road, Bolton Lacewood, Thurnscoe Hill and Kilnhurst St. Thomas.

Meanwhile, Carrfield Primary Academy won the Don & Dearne Girls Cup, becoming the fourth different school to raise the cup in its four-year history.

Back in 2022, Carrfield's Vice Principal, Andy Morton, started the girls-only competition for the schools competing in the historic Totty Cup.

This year, Morton's girls went undefeated in the seven-team league for primary schools wedged in between Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley.

The stand-out players for Carrfield were Lydia Ludlam and Jessie Green.

Runners-up were Wath Our Lady & St. Josephs thanks in no small part to an amazing nine goals from Frankie Jeffries.

Wath C of E came third ahead of Swinton Fitzwilliam, Thurnscoe Gooseacre, Mexborough Windhill and Goldthorpe Sacred Heart.

The matches were held at Mexborough Athletic's Fireparts Stadium and both competitions had medals kindly provided by Kev Silverwood's ABC Landscaping: [email protected]​