ORGANISERS of the fifth Worcestershire FA's Female Festival of Football hailed the event a "huge success".

Over 500 players from 55 teams took part in the two-day weekend festival held at the state-of-the-art Per-diswell Soccer Skills Cen-tre off Bilford Road, in Worcester.

It was open to teams aged U10, U12, U14 and U16, along with an open age category.

Using four pitches last Saturday and three on Sunday, around 140 games were played in front of more than 1,500 touchline spectators.

A group of more than 15 U8 children also received two-and-a-half hours of free tutoring from senior qualified FA coach Julie Whittingam.

England and Birming-ham City player Karen Carney was the festival's guest of honour and she signed hundreds of autographs for youngsters.

Tournament organisers Warndon Villages FC were delighted with the overall success.

"It could not have gone any better. It was excellent," said Andy Maynard, manager of Warndon Villages Girls section.

"The weather was sweltering and there was a lot of very good football. Everybody enjoyed themselves and the support from local Perdiswell people was fantastic.

"Karen Carney came on the Saturday and was gracious. She signed over 300 autographs for the youngsters, signing football boots, shirts and all sorts of things. She was utterly charming."

There were five finals overall.

In the U10 final, Bromsgrove Town Girls beat Worcester Raiders Girls, in the U12 final, Redditch United 'A' Girls defeated Redditch United 'B' Girls, and in the U14 final, Pershore Town Girls beat Ferndale Flyers.

In the U16 final, Redditch United triumphed over Worcester City Ladies, while in the open age final, Kidderminster Harriers beat Fairfield Villa.

The tournament was in its fifth year and held for the first time in Worcester.

Warndon Villages FC are looking to host next year's festival and have bigger plans in store.

Maynard added: "Our hope is to have between 80 to 100 teams playing over two days on six pitches. We will seek to keep the same venue because the facilities are excellent."

Meanwhile, Warndon Villages are encouraging more girls to join their club for the new season.

Next year, the club will have separate U13 and U15 sides, along with a new U11 set-up. They also run a development centre for U9's every Saturday.

For more information, contact Andy Maynard on 07966-150498.