Our Guard of Honour on Saturday when we welcome Grimsby Town in the FA Cup will be Wheatley under 9s
The teams being represented are Wheatley Blacks (Under 9s) coached by Jake Durbin and Wheatley Whites (Under 9s) coached by Etienne Letellier.
All teams play across the Oxfordshire FA Youth Leagues.
There’s a strong football community in Wheatley, which is in the OX33 area of Oxford, and the club continues to evolve with the youth set up increasing from seven teams to 12 in recent years. All the teams are coached by Wheatley parents which epitomises the community spirit of the club.
The players are passionate about their football, highly competitive and very keen to play the game in the right spirit, with sporting behaviour at the heart of their approach.
Etienne Letellier, coach of Wheatley Whites Under 9s, said “Wheatley FC is a fantastic place to play, have fun and be part of a brilliant community club. We are currently exploring further opportunities to get more children involved at Wheatley which, we hope, will lead to new teams being formed at various age groups. Watch this space!
"The excitement of being involved in our local flagship club’s matchday experience has been clearly visible on the children’s faces and we think this sort of initiative will reinforce their love for the game and inspire them to develop further.”
"Wheatley are thrilled to be cheering on Oxford United in the FA Cup against Grimsby Town. The Wheatley teams have really enjoyed playing in their own cup competitions and would love to see the U’s go on a good run in the FA Cup, an event which has such a proud heritage and history".