Sun, goals and a lot of fun 🤩
Coupe de Zap made a triumphant return for its second year running, and we were treated to a scorcher of a day.
Hosted at Snows Stadium, home of our pals at AFC Totton, this wasn’t just any charity football tournament — it was a full-blown family fun day – packed with bounce, bakes, and big-time football drama.
We were joined by two mammoth local businesses: Softcat Southampton and Esso ExxonMobil.
Game On: The Matches
Three businesses. One trophy. Bragging rights on the line. Here’s how it went down:
Game 1: Zappie vs Esso ExxonMobil
Esso came in with the pundits’ pick as favourites, but Zappie had other plans. We hit the ground running and pulled off a slick 2-1 win, knocking the ball about really well in the heat.
Game 2: Softcat vs Esso ExxonMobil
Esso started the game well and took an early lead but the younger legs of Softcat took over, with their striker dribbling past 4 players and slotting it in the corner to give Softcat the win. The stage was set for a cracking decider.
Game 3: Zappie vs Softcat
Usually, a final of this magnitude ends up in a cagey, tight affair. And despite this arguably being the biggest moments of their lives, the lads managed to overcome the nerves and put on an incredible spectacle.
Softcat came out of the blocks flying and went 1-0 up early, cutting through the Zappie defence and slotting it home nicely. Zappie fought back quickly though, and managed to find an equaliser just before the break.
There was pandemonium in the stands when Zappie took the lead after a great header from a corner to make it 2-1. Just as the Zappie ultras were about to invade the pitch with flares to celebrate the Coupe de Zap win, disaster struck as a cheap giveaway resulted in a last-minute Softcat equaliser.
Zappie so nearly stole it at the death as MD, Jamie Pidgley got played clean through 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper. But the big moment was spurned as Jamie very kindly passed it back to the keeper. Sportmanship 👏
So the game headed to penalties.
Penalties: Zappie 4-2 Softcat
Pressure? What pressure? Pressure’s for tyres.
Zappie win the Coupe de Zap 2025 after a heroic display from their goalkeeper, Jake, who saves not one, but two Softcat penalties.
A truly historic win. And it means that Zappie have more trophies than Arsenal this year 🤭
A great family day out 🎁
While the football was great entertainment, the sidelines were where the real magic happened.
A bake sale where the wonderful Yasmine made some unbelievably goodies
A bouncy castle for the little ones (and a few inebriated grown-ups)
A raffle packed with top-notch prizes from local businesses
A massive shout out to these amazing businesses for their generosity:
💜 Prive Southampton
💜 Fine Brownie Company
💜 Cakes by Lauren
💜 Skippy’s Cakes
💜 Revs Southampton
💜 Titchfield Mill
💜 Vintage Inns
💜 The Gyros Guyz
All for a bigger goal ❤️
Best of all, through everyone’s generosity and support, we raised an amazing… drum roll…
£1,100 for the Zappie Foundation
Our mission with the Foundation: building classrooms in Sub-Saharan Africa to create safe, inspiring learning spaces for kids who deserve a brighter future.
Learn more about what we’re building here: The Zappie Foundation
A massive thank you 🙏
A huge shout-out to
Softcat and Esso ExxonMobil for joining us on the pitch with good spirits and cracking footy
AFC Totton for letting us host at the Snows Stadium
Everyone who came, cheered, baked, bounced, donated or played a part in making the day so special
See you same time next year 🫡
