Delton Francis As this was one of the biggest games in the club’s history I had mixed emotions about it all.  On the one hand I was nervous, as I wanted the players to show how much they have developed as a team and as individuals.  The other side was a strange emotion of joy and feeling very proud of my achievements of the last two and a half years.

In my few years at the club I have experienced many highs and lows and the moment we found out we were playing Birmingham City FC was a moment full of joy and happiness; as it was the day that Birmingham City FC became my employer once again.  How strange, but amazing that was.  A couple of minutes after receiving a call from Birmingham City FC’s Academy Manager, informing me that I had just earned myself a job at the academy, came the call from Continental Star’s chairman: Keith John, letting me know the draw for the next round of the Birmingham Senior Cup.
It was great to test myself and my players up against some the best players and coaches in the country.  The players did the club and myself proud with a great performance matching the professional footballers with their football at times, and the score line wasn’t a true reflection of the game. It was a reflection of the quality of forward players Blues had in their young team.

The night left me feeling proud of how far the club has come, and made me reflect on all the hard work put in by everyone behind the scenes, to ensure that we are in a position to play in such prestigious cup competition.  At the end of the game I was left full of emotion, as I could see in the people’s eyes the look of pride and approval of the level of performance shown by the team.  That performance was for Lincoln Moses, Keith John, Deno, Diane, Gary, Earl and all the other volunteers who have given the club the support it has always needed.

Delton Francis: Head Coach



Vauxhall sponsorship 2Season 2012/2013 – has seen Continental Star’s under 11s being given the opportunity to be sponsored by Lookers Vauxhall Yardley in Birmingham.  This sponsorship has been done through under 11s coach: Mark Judd – through the Vauxhall Youth Programme and mark is Co-ordinator for the Yardley site.  This has seen the lads being given a full new kit and an Umbro Match ball, plus many opportunities.

Recently, the club received tickets to the ladies England cup qualifier v Croatia. The under 11s and some of the under 9s were given VIP passes and had their photo taken at Walsall’s, Bescot Stadium on the pitch at half time.  This was circulated in the Vauxhall magazine across the country.  Owen Judd, Melanie and Mark’s son was given the opportunity to represent Vauxhall and Continental Star at Wembley stadium, as a England flag bearer in the game for England v San Marino.  And more recently tickets were supplied for some of the lads to go to the England under 21s v Sweden game, at Bescot Stadium.Vauxhall sponsorship 3

As part of the Vauxhall Youth Programme we are given tickets to local youth games involving England and England ladies; more opportunities in the future will arise to ensure all age groups of the Continental Youth teams can enjoy. DIGITAL CAMERA

Vauxhall gave Mark the opportunity to complete his level one course recently at St Georges Park, where he was given the opportunity to stay on site and learn from the likes of Sir Trevor Brooking and Hope Powell.  These opportunities have enabled us to bond as a team and make an excellent start to the season.  Myself and Mark are looking forward to the rest of the season and working closely with Vauxhall, to gain any opportunities for the club that we can.

Under 11s Manager and Head coach: Melanie Judd





Congratulations Carly…

Carly Whitehouse

Congratulations go out to U10 Assistant Coach: Carly whitehouse for picking up yet another qualification.  Here’s what Carly thought:

“Another to add to the collection…6 months at Continental and I’ve gained my Sports Leadership level 2, my Level 2 FA Coaching badge; redone my first aid and Child Protection and now Adult Mentoring.”

Carly whitehouse certificate


The following report was written by CSFC u16s Centre Back, Joshua Wilson.

Today saw Continental Star under 16’s play Cadbury Athletic.  What a marvellous game to be a part of, but it had a down beat nonchalant casual beginning; as we underestimated the effects that the festive period would bring.  The game went under way; the poor beginning put the Star behind due to a wonderful floated ball from the opposing centre midfielder, that deceived the defence, and the cool calm collective Cadbury striker, casually put the ball into the bottom left corner.

As the game restarted we noticed that there was a problem with our lack lustre performance, and noted our errors and promptly corrected them. Mistakes eradicated, we then managed to play the ball out from the back, to Shaquille, he skilfully cut inside and played a Messi ‘look-away’ through ball to Kieron, who was making a cross field run behind the opposing back line; he has a striker’s instinct and calmly slotted the ball home to level the game.  Ironically, the roles were reversed as we scored our next goal: Kieron played Shaquille through and he smartly sent the keeper the other way, before slotting the ball home to put Star into the lead; sealing off the first half.

As the second half got back underway, we had an inspiring team talk from Daniel and Casey (Coaches) which motivated us to shine like stars, and put the game to bed; their wish is our command, so we did our duties.  The third goal was tremendous in my opinion, Man of the match, Shaquille took the game by the scruff of the neck, and showed everyone his talent by producing an indescribable piece of skill, cutting in from the left wing, committing two defenders along the by-line and finishing home underneath the Cadbury keeper.

Then for the final goal to settle the game, the athletic Joshua Wilson (Me) had taken the ball the whole length of the pitch, breaking through tackles, beating players at will, to finally get fouled at the edge 18 yard box; resulting in a player being red carded for the losing team, just to rub salt into the wounds.  The resulting free kick was taken by the confident Shy who had the audacity to stroke the ball into the top right corner, to end the game 4 – 1.

Report by Joshua Wilson – future First Team Captain! (6/01/13)


Sunday saw the Continental Star U13s return to league action against Astwood Colts. Our League form this season has been exceptional and it was important that we carried last year’s form into the New Year.

As the game got under way it was clear to see that the majority of our starting eleven was feeling the strain, as they had not played for three weeks. The boys were second to every ball, pulling out of 50/50’s and missing clear cut opportunities. We were very scrappy in the middle of the park and continually allowed our opposition space and time on the ball. At times the boys showed glimpses of their previous form and played some good football. Most of our positive play came down the left side. We broke down the left on three occasions within ten minutes but were unable to capitalise due to wanting to much time on the ball and forcing the play. Astwood Colts rarely ever threatened in the first half as they found it difficult to overcome the power and pace of our defence. As the first half came to an end, the game remained scoreless; it was a very disappointing half of football from both sides and neither side really got out of the blocks.

After a quick half time talk and a tactical change the boys went back out in a new formation. For the first time this season we played 4-6-0, that’s right, we played with no striker simply six across the middle. This change immediately changed the game as Astwood Colts found it near impossible to get the ball past our midfield line, never mind our defence. We soon began playing the football the earned us so many positive results in games previous. We were playing football from the back to the front and defending as a unit. With fifteen minutes played in the second half we quickly broke down the middle. An impressive pass by Hameedh Hassan was latched onto by Ross Reid. Reid went one on one with the opposing goalkeeper but had his shot saved. Kehnan Williamson then put in the rebound from close range; it was now 1-0 to Stars. Ten minutes later a commanding run by Lekarri Moses, down the left hand side, saw him score an impressive solo effort to make it 2-0 to Stars. After this goal it was all one way traffic. Stars completely ran away with the game and became unplayable. With this being said they continued to miss chance after change. According to my count, if they converted all missed chances they would of ran out 13-0 winners as Astwood failed to create any clean cut chances throughout the game.

Even though our finishing was something to be desired, the boys continued to play some decent football and fought on for what can only be described as a scrappy 3 points. Well done Stars.

Man of The Match: Likkle Snm Christian Lukoki

Goal Scorers: Lekarri Moses (1) Kehnan Williamson (1)

Ras Matthew

 

 

 

 

 

Report By: Ras Matthew 6/01/13