Saturday 12th April 2025
As is Royal Wootton Bassett Town tradition, the Easter holidays mean it's time for the annual youth section Holland Tour, with the Under 14 Blue, 13 Girls and 12 Blue sides heading off to the continent for an action-packed few days.
A day-by-day account of the tour is below.
The traditional early start meant at 4.30am meet at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground for the tour party. While bleary-eyed, there was nonetheless plenty of excitement - particularly with two of the teams taking part in their ever trip to Holland. The Under 14 Bluee, meanwhile, were on their third trip.
Efficient organisation meant that the tour party were able to set off at 4.50 and good conditions on the roads meant they were ahead of schedule reaching Dover.
Passport checks were as smooth as they could be and it was on to the 10.15 ferry, which meant the tour party reached the continent just after midday.
It was smooth sailing through northern France and Belgium - where there was a short stop at Kruibeke Services - before crossing into the Netherlands and reaching the final destination, the StayOkay Hostel in Dordrecht, shortly after 5pm local time.
Rooms were assigned and beds hastily made before the tour party relaxed around the hostel ahead of dinner at 7.30pm.
As much as everybody would have preferred a bit of a lie in after the very early start on Saturday, there was no time for such a luxury on Sunday as the teams met for a walk around the hostel grounds at 7.15 prior to breakfast.
After breakfast the party then set off west for Sportclub Monster for the opening games of the tour.
Three closely fought games were played out.
The Under 12 Blues triumphed 3-1 courtesy of goals from Cam Greaney, Marvy Mason and Adam Trowbridge.
Aoife O'Brien netted a brace for the Under 13 Girls as they won 3-1.
Despite a Felix Garnett goal, the Under 14 Blues lost by the odd goal in three.
Under 12 Blue: Won 3-1 (Player of the Match: Cam Greaney)
Under 13 Girls: Won 2-0 (Player of the Match: Aoife O'Brien)
Under 14 Blue: Lost 1-2 (Player of the Match: Lawrence Abijo)
After some time in the SC Monster clubhouse, it was back to the hostel for a relaxing afternoon - including the obligatory cake break. The more adventurous went out on boats and canoes in the lake of the Biesbosch National Park.
Dinner at 6 was then followed by the presentation of Player of the Match awards for the earlier games and an exciting, interactive quiz.
After breakfast the tour party headed west again, this time to Scheveningen where they spent the morning at the beach.
The sun was out - which everyone made the most of, visiting the pier and playing beach football, with some dipping their toes in the sea.
Mid-afternoon saw the tour party on the move again, with the short hop to the Juliana Sportpark - home of FC 's-Gravenzande for the second round of games.
The Friendship Trophy, which the hosts claimed last year, was on the line.
The Under 14 Blues bounced back from their defeat on day one, triumphing 2-1 thanks to goals from Lawrence Abijo and Dexter Brown.
Marvy Mason made it three goals for the tour, but that was not enough for the Under 13 Blues who lost 3-2 after leading 2-0 at half time.
The Under 13 Girls fell to a 4-0 defeat.
Under 12 Blue: Lost 2-3 (Player of the Match: Marvy Mason)
Under 13 Girls: Lost 0-4 (Player of the Match: Sienna Matthews)
Under 14 Blue: Won 2-1 (Player of the Match: Corey Cooper)
Following the fixtures, the tour party enjoyed a social in the FC 's-Gravenzande clubhouse where the hosts were presented with the Friendship Trophy.
The final full day saw the tour party travel to Rotterdam where they enjoyed a fascinating visit to Feyenoord's De Kuip Stadion. They received an all access tour of the Dutch giants' ground, which also serves as the national stadium for the Netherlands.
The tour party then came back to Dordrecht for lunch in the players' lounge of Eerste Divisie side FC Dordrecht before it was on to local side EBOH for the final round of games.
The Under 14 Blues made it two wins for the tour as they triumphed 3-1 with goals from Corey Cooper, Lachie Lye Owens and Alfie Stewart.
There were defeats though for the other two teams.
The Under 13 Girls were beaten 3-0.
Meanwhile the Under 12 Blues lost by the odd goal in three with Mikey Spencer on target.
Under 12 Blue: Lost 1-2 (Player of the Match: Jack Saunders)
Under 13 Girls: Lost 0-3 (Player of the Match: Elsie Goringe)
Under 14 Blue: Won 3-1 (Player of the Match: Edward Bennett)
After the matches it was back to the hostel where an evening meal was followed by presentations.
Player of the match prizes were presented for the games against EBOH before the overall Player of the Tour awards were handed out.
Under 12 Blue: Josh Wright
Under 13 Girls: Elise Dart
Under 14 Blue: Jack Candy
The prestigious Chris Kirkland Outstanding Contribution Award went to the Under 14 Blue team's Lawrence Abijo.
Commenting on the award, Tour lead organiser Pete Yeardley said: " Another successful and enjoyable trip with an excellent tour party, made the choice of recipient of this years award particularly difficult."
"Special mention should be made to the Under 13 Girls who made their inaugural tour as part of the club. This was an outstanding success and each girl should be proud of the part they played."
"However the winner of this award was on his third tour. Lawrence is a quiet, unassuming character with a calm, casual manner."
" His uncanny aptitude to be "just on time" made my life easy. Once you saw Laurence with his beaming smile arriving with seconds to spare, you knew everyone else was present and accounted for."
"An immensely talented footballer coupled with his diminutive stature made him the target for special "attention" from all opposition players. But despite this, he never responds or reacts and allows his natural talent to overcome."
"Lawrence was scorer of an outstanding goal on this trip and was our leader of the now legendary "Lawrence" early morning walks."
"He is popular with everyone on the tour, players and coaches alike. Having known Chris Kirkland well, I know that he would acknowledge the courteous, respectful but talented nature Lawrence possesses. A worthy winner of the award - well done Lawrence."
After an early breakfast and the clearing of rooms, the coach was loaded and ready to leave the hostel shortly before 8am.
Just as was the case on the outward journey, that home went smoothly with the tour party arriving back at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground to bring a close to another hugely successful trip.
The club now looks forward to welcoming our friends from FC 's-Gravenzande at the end of the month.
Last modified on Saturday 19th April 2025 at 18:23.