Valpak claims Waste World Cup glory

Compliance and consultancy company Valpak claimed Waste World Cup glory after narrowly beating recycling firm Greenstar on penalties to win this year's football tournament at the University of Northampton on Friday (September 10).

The Stratford-upon-Avon-based company emerged victorious in the six-a-side mixed gender tournament, following a keenly-fought final which saw the match being settled by spot-kicks after it ended scoreless after extra-time.

Greenstar had their chances to pull off victory in the final, in particular Chris Doherty sending a low shot wide of the post. And, on the Valpak side, Josh Remi also came close to scoring with a couple of tantalising near-misses.

But, the match went to penalties, in a good natured-tussle which saw handshakes after extra time and neither side looking keen on the penalty shoot-out.

It was a case of three penalties each – one to be taken by a female member of the team – and Danielle Fletcher struck a crisp drive into the top of the net, helping Valpak to clinch the final for the first time since 2006.

Neither team had experienced an easy route to the final, with 22 teams sizing up at the start of the day for a tilt at Waste World Cup glory, although Valpak got their day off to the best possible start with a 5-0 victory over the letsrecycle.comets in their first group game.

Greenstar are no strangers to the Waste World Cup final, having reached it last year, only to fall at the final hurdle when beaten by Eunomia. But, this year was likely to be the last time the tournament saw their purple shirts, with the company currently merging with Biffa.

And, the quarter-finals threw up an intriguing clash as Greenstar found themselves having to beat Biffa to reach the semi-finals – a task they proved to be up to, as they continued a path to the final that saw them concede no goals in open play throughout the tournament.

Crossbar Challenge

The always-popular Crossbar Challenge, sponsored by Qurius, saw players from all teams competing in the tournament get their chance to attempt to hit the crossbar with a shot from the halfway line – and claim their share of £100 donated by the sponsors in the process.

This year saw three players hit the bar – Phillip Mossop of The Greenhouse, Andrew Gilbert of the Waste & Resources Action Programme and Tim Rainborg of Valpak.

As the day came to a close, with Valpak celebrating their hard-won victory in the final, the editor of letsrecycle.com, Steve Eminton, thanked the organisers – the University of Northampton and letsrecycle.com's events team – Crossbar Challenge sponsor Quriusand the referees, Dominic, Stuart, Rob and Rick, for helping to make this year's Waste World Cup football tournament such a success.