A team of football mad volunteers from The Boys’ Brigade Scotland are celebrating after officially becoming the Guinness World Record holders for the longest 5-a-side game (55 hours) with Gordon Strachan the first to congratulate them.
Former BB member and current national football team manager, Gordon Strachan OBE, spent time with the group earlier this week to celebrate their success.
The group of 16 players have smashed the current Guinness World Record held by Sodexo Ireland who managed a total of 53 hours playing time. They will now be recognised in the Guinness Book of Records.
Congratulating the team on their achievement, Gordon Strachan, Scotland Manager said: “It’s my pleasure to congratulate this group of exceptional young people on their Guinness World Record as 55 hours consistent playing is no easy task!
“As a former Boys’ Brigade member myself, I am aware of how important football is within the organisation so it’s great to see the values of fitness and determination remain strong amongst the younger generations.
“Being part of The Boys’ Brigade is a great starting point, as many of Scotland’s top footballers will testify, as it teaches members great team working and leadership skills which are paramount to the success of any team.”
The group completed the challenge at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld, playing non-stop between Thursday, 11 September and Sunday, 14 September 2014.
Each squad was made up of eight players all pitch side for the duration, sleeping only in designated rest breaks.
The event was the brain child of Cameron Gray, Leader with 1st Cumbernauld Company, The Boys’ Brigade. Cameron has recently been named as a finalist in the Youth Worker of the Year Awards (uniformed organisations category) for his work including this challenge.
Cameron said: “I am delighted to have received official notification that we are now Guinness World Record holders and our success will go down in history.
“It’s incredible to have our success recognised by Gordon Strachan as he’s a real hero to us all, especially as a former BB man himself. It’s an honour to have met him.
“I came up with the idea to attempt the world record attempt because I wanted to do something outrageous to demonstrate how fantastic The Boys’ Brigade is.
“Our success is a great testament to the determination and talents cultivated amongst young people within The Boys’ Brigade and most importantly we all had a great time doing it.
“I hope our achievement will help us inspire some of the younger member’s that nothing is impossible!”
Commenting on the success of setting up the event, Bill Stevenson, Director for The Boys’ Brigade in Scotland said: “This is fantastic news for the boys’ who worked incredibly hard from start to finish on this challenge. I am so proud of them, to have been recognised in this way is an outstanding accomplishment.
“Over the last few years, we have been encouraging young leaders to get involved in organising activities at local level. The initiative shown by this group of young people is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when we give people the opportunity to set their own limits.”
The teams were made up of volunteers from groups from in Kirkintilloch, Cumbernauld, Torrance, Bothwell, Stewarton and Greenock.
Picture Caption: The Boys’ Brigade team with Gordon Strachan OBE at Hampden. Back Row (L-R) Martin Jenkins, Greig Bradley, Cameron Gray, Cameron Blake, Calum McDougall, Kenneth Scott, David Clark, Craig Hennen and Jennifer Green Front Row (L-R) Alex Edwardson, Cliona Ferguson, Claire Spence, Gordon Strachan, Ryan Conway, Kris Wales, Scott Corbett and Stuart Rankin.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
