£13,000+ raised in 2025!
Thank you, everyone, for all your help and support in completing our mission to send FC Pidshypnyk (B15) and 2 teams from FC Amazonka, the Girls u12 and Girls u14 teams, to this year’s edition of the Gothia Cup (2025). Gothia Cup is an international grassroots competition that runs mid-July, bringing together the best talent from across the world and providing unforgettable memories and experiences for all teams and players involved. The kids had an amazing experience and were extremely thankful for all your support in bringing them to Gothenburg! Luckily, some of their fun was documented on camera! Click here to see the collection of photos from their week in Sweden!
As alluded to above, for the third year in a row, thanks to everyone’s donations, we were fortunate enough to send our most teams ever, 3, to the Gothia Cup. Thanks to the £13,500 raised this year across GoFundMe and other means, we were able to cover all expenses to ensure these kids had the week of their lives!
To start their journey, the players and coaches set out on a day-long bus ride from Lutsk, Ukraine, to Gdynia, Poland. They then crossed the Baltic Sea to Karlskrona, Sweden, on an overnight ferry. Once in Sweden, it was another five hours on the bus to Gothenburg, the home ground of the Gothia Cup. Once the exhausting journey was over, the teams set up at their accommodation before making the most of the Gothia experience, starting with the world-renowned Gothia Cup opening ceremony, a colourful and exciting presentation of all of the countries in attendance at the tournament with dancing, music, and fireworks. The kids’ fun continued off the pitch, enjoying time in and around Gothenburg, while a lot of fun was still had on the pitch! The boys' team from FC Pidshypnyk reached the top 64 in a very competitive age group. Their campaign started fantastically as they topped their group, scoring 13 goals while conceding 0 (4-0,4-0,5-0). They then continued this dominant run, winning in the round of 128 by 12 goals to 2. This amazing run was cut short, however, in a 1-0 loss to eventual semi-finalists Skouted FC from England. Overall, an amazing campaign that could have seen them make it all the way to the semi-final if it were just for a little bit of luck. Our two girls’ teams from FC Amazonka saw similar success, with the G12 team reaching the round of 32 after finishing 2nd in their group, winning 2/3 games. In the round of 32, the girls came out on the losing end, losing narrowly in a thrilling 3-4 game. The G12 team went even further, reaching the round of 16 (2-0 loss) after topping their group with 4 smashing performances, scoring 13 goals and conceding only 2. All three teams shone in their own right, making the most of the stellar opportunity you all made happen!
For the final time, thanks for all your support, help, and donations that made this Summer 2025 for these kids so incredibly special. Once again, you all helped make dreams come true, and we hope you see how far your donations actually went, and how much of an impact in had on these kids’ lives. We can’t wait to see what Summer 2026 has in store for Youth Football Aid, and we hope to fulfill dozens of more dreams with your generosity!
Thank you again for another awesome year,
Markus Algard, Matty Shulman, Adrian Caillaux Diaz