So today I made my way to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The reason.....well here is an explanation:-
This season sees the return of The FA Futsal Cup, pitching local grassroots teams against the best clubs in the country for the opportunity to be crowned national Cup champions at the iconic Copper Box Arena in London.
The National Finals will be held over the weekend of 20 and 21 June, and will be an atmospheric demonstration of Futsal with an assortment of the best male and female teams in the country competing for the Cup.
Over 600 teams have competed in the qualifying stages to win the right to challenge for the FA Futsal Cup and with 20 privileged finalists getting the opportunity to test their skills over two days of tough competition to be crowned Male and Female cup winners.
Well I'd never seen Futsal before and I'd also never been to the Copper Box Arena either so I thought why not and headed over for my Saturday afternoon/evening's entertainment, and with it being free entry on the Saturday as well it was even more of a reason to take advantage!!!
After a fairly long ish walk from Stratford Stadion to the Copper Box arena through the Olympic Park I took my seat and sat down for a feast of Futsal. Here is how the Group Stages went:-
Group A (Mens)
London Zappsport 6-2 Birmingham Tigers
Manchester 5-1 FC Salisbury United
Birmingham Tigers 6-6 FC Salisbury United
London Zappsport 2-7 Manchester
Birmingham Tigers 2-6 Manchester
London Zappsport 3-4 FC Salisbury United
Table P W D L F A GD Pts
1.Manchester 3 3 0 0 18 5 13 9
2.FC Salisbury Utd 3 1 1 1 11 14 -3 4
3.London Zappsport 3 1 0 2 11 13 -2 3
4.Birmingham Tigers 3 0 1 2 10 18 -8 1
So Manchester win all three games to qualify for Sunday's Semi Finals
Group B (Mens)
Helvecia 2-4 Birmingham
Stockport 4-7 Genesis
Birmingham 3-8 Genesis
Helvecia 9-1 Stockport
Birmingham 11-6 Stockport
Helvecia 4-2 Genesis
Table P W D L F A GD Pts
1.Helvecia 3 2 0 1 15 7 8 6
2.Genesis 3 2 0 1 17 11 6 6
3.Birmingham 3 2 0 1 18 16 2 6
4.Stockport 3 0 0 3 11 27 -16 0
Helvecia, whose Chairman Nurul Hoque also is the Chairman of ESL side Tower Hamlets, squeezed through as group winners after their opening defeat. Genesis, who come from Newham, qualified as best runners up and Birmingham missed out on goal difference which is agonising for them.
Group C (Mens)
Reading 4-5 Oxford City Lions
Baku United 5-0 Fourstar
Baku United 5-0 Reading
Fourstar 2-3 Oxford City Lions
Baku United 3-1 Oxford City Lions
Fourstar 4-5 Reading
Table P W D L F A GD Pts
1.Baku United 3 3 0 0 13 1 12 9
2.Oxford City Lions 3 2 0 1 9 9 0 6
3.Reading 3 1 0 2 9 14 -5 3
4.Fourstar 3 0 0 3 6 13 -7 0
Baku United, the only professional side in the competition, qualified for the Semis as group winners. The London outfit, whose players earn a reported £5,000 a week, breezed through their opening two games before being made to work hard against a spirited Oxford side in their last game.
Group D (Womens)
Docklands Ladies 4-2 Loughborough
Norton & Stockton Ancients 2-5 Bristol City
Bristol City 4-1 Loughborough
Norton & Stockton Ancients 2-0 Docklands Ladies
Bristol City 6-2 Docklands Ladies
Norton & Stockton Ancients 0-4 Loughborough
Table P W D L F A GD Pts
1.Bristol City 3 3 0 0 15 5 10 9
2.Loughborough 3 1 0 2 7 8 -1 3
3.Docklands Ladies 3 1 0 2 6 10 -4 3
4.Norton & Stock 3 1 0 2 4 9 -5 3
So Bristol City qualify for Semi Finals as group winners whilst Loughbrough qualified on goal difference after a three way tie with Docklands Ladies and Norton & Stockton Ancients.
Group E (Womens)
Feds Fives 6-3 FC Enfield
University Of Gloucs 4-0 Just A Ball Game
Just A Ball Game 4-4 FC Enfield
University Of Gloucs 7-2 Feds Fives
Just A Ball Game 4-3 Feds Fives
University Of Gloucs 7-2 FC Enfield
Table P W D L F A GD Pts
1.University Of Glo 3 3 0 0 18 4 14 9
2.Just A Ball Game 3 1 1 1 8 11 -3 4
3.Feds Fives 3 1 0 2 11 14 -3 3
4.FC Enfield 3 0 1 2 9 17 -8 1
So University Of Gloucestershire breezed through winning three out of three whilst Just A Ball Game, from just outside Manchester, qualified in second place
So the semi final line ups are as follows:-
10.30am - Womens Semi Final One Bristol City Vs Just A Ball Game
11.30am - Womens Semi Final Two University Of Gloucs Vs Loughborough
12.30pm - Mens Semi Final One Manchester Vs Genesis
1.30pm - Mens Semi Final Two Helvecia Vs Baku United
That is then followed by the Womens Final at 3pm and then the Mens Final at 4.30pm to round off the tournament.
Should be a decent day in store if today is anything to go by. Futsal is a thoroughly enjoyable sport to watch and no doubt participate in too and I urge anyone who hasn't seen it to go and give it a watch as its end to end action for the duration I can tell you!!!
So a thoroughly enjoyable day and as I walked back through the Olympic Park and once again was amazed by its sheer size and beauty. Us Brit's should be thoroughly proud of this place.
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