CURZON ASHTON FC CLUB NEWS - FEBRUARY

SEE ENGLAND IN EURO 2008 ACTION - AT CURZON ASHTON 

This summer between 20 July - 2 August, The FA are hosting the 2008 European Learning Disability Championship in the North West of England, with Curzon Ashton playing host to seven fixtures, including a Semi-Final. 

England, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Portugal, Hungary and Poland will be drawn into two groups of four, with England's first group game to be played at Sport City on Sunday 20 July.
Oldham Athletic, Hyde United, Springhill (Rochdale) and Stalybridge Celtic will also host fixtures during the tournament, with Curzon Ashton set to host England's second group game on Wednesday 23 July, and a semi final on Wednesday 30 July. The final will be played at Boundary Park on Saturday 2 August.
The captain of the England team is 26 year old Ronnie Watson. A painter and decorator, he was a trainee at Spurs for six years, playing alongside Ledley King, Peter Crouch and Jonny Jackson (Colchester United).
After he was released at 16, he played for a number of Non League teams in the South East, and in 2002, he was part of the England team which won the Learning Disability World Cup in Yokohama in front of over 25,000 spectators, where only three months before, a Ronaldo-inspired Brazil had beaten Germany in the mainstream World Cup.
Recently Ronnie moved to Cheshire, and to help him get fit and ready for the tournament, he will train with the Latics' first team on Thursday 28 February. John Sheridan and Lee Duxbury will then assess Ronnie's fitness and ability with a view to helping him obtain a short-term contract to the end of the season. 
The FA, Manchester FA, Cheshire FA and the five participating clubs will be working to provide local youngsters and volunteers across the North West with the chance to try get involved in a variety of capacities during the tournament.
Organisations such as The Regard Partnership, Mencap, Tameside MBC, Link4Life, Salford Community Leisure & Manchester City Council are also going to be heavily involved.
With the senior England team missing out on the UEFA 2008 European Championship in Austria and Switzerland, why not come along to Boundary Park, and any of the other  2008 venues, and get behind an England team bidding to win some silverware on home soil this summer.

Curzon Ashton secretary Graham Shuttleworth said "It's a great honour for the club to be offered the opportunity to host so many of the group games, of which England is one, as well as the second Semi Final. 

"It speaks volumes for the Borough of Tameside that the vast bulk of the games are to be held in the area and that the council is giving so much support to the competition. 

"This is a tremendous opportunity for people in Tameside and the north west in general to watch an international tournament and I hope that they take the opportunity to attend all the games, and of course cheer England along to victory."