Aberdeen Ladies U14s coach Neil Adam hopes his side will be inspired to reach for the stars after winning their first competitive youth football trophy.
The young Dons beat Turriff 4-0 in the North 14s League Cup final at Balmoral Stadium, the home of Aberdeen Women’s senior team.
Aberdeen U14s, who were only formed as an 11-a-side team in January, overcame Westdyke Girls and Inverness Caledonian Thistle on their route to the final.
Aberdeen head coach Adam said of the trophy-winning game: “It was amazing, probably one of my favourite days ever as a coach.
“It was such a great experience for the girls coming out at Balmoral Stadium, there was a really big crowd and the noise was incredible.
“There were elements of nerves, but we settled down and were 1-0 up at half-time.
“We took control of the game and it was probably tough for Turriff because they had chances in the game, but we certainly deserved it.”
Tasting trophy success for the first time
Adam hopes that winning the league cup will inspire the young girls – some of whom were only born in 2010 – to carry on playing football for many years to come.
He believes that because Aberdeen Ladies boast a successful youth pathway to the senior team, the club is a great place to develop local talent.
Adam said: “Every player who played in the cup run and the final will remember it forever.
“It’s their first ever trophy in competitive football, it’s an incredible achievement. Hopefully it can inspire them all to go and do really well.
Congrats to…GRAMPIAN! The winners of the 14s plate! Well done girls 💪💪⚽️😍😍 pic.twitter.com/1sce8OkPl0
— Scottish Women’s Football (@ScotWFootball) May 28, 2022
“The players are all loving and enjoying their football – training is such a happy place. They come in willing to learn, it’s such a good environment.
“Our objective is to keep that going to the best of our ability and keep the girls developing. The set-up we have at Aberdeen is brilliant.
“We want to give them a great chance to go and have long careers in women’s football.”
Aberdeen Ladies were not the only north youth team to get their hands on silverware at the weekend, as Grampian U14s and Donside U18s also won their respective finals.
Grampian beat Westdyke Girls 4-0 to lift the North League Cup plate, while Donside U18’s beat Aberdeen 3-1 to win the North League cup in their age group.