Manchester Futsal Club Champions League Event: A Chance for Unity and Renewal Amidst Uncertainty

Historic Treble, European Debut, and a Crucial Opportunity for English Futsal’s Future

Manchester Futsal Club dominated national competitions this season, qualifying for Europe for the first time.

The senior men’s team achieved an Football Association (FA) National Futsal Series treble – clinching the league, the League Cup, and the Grand Final – and will represent England in the UEFA Futsal Champions League starting in August. In recognition of these achievements, Manchester was named the league’s club of the year, and individual players received national accolades.

(Main image source: Manchester Futsal Club Facebook page)

Captain Jordan Edge, the league’s top scorer, was voted player of the season, while Sam Richardson was honoured as head coach of the year. The season also saw the women’s team finish as runners-up in the FA National Women’s Super Series Tier 2 North.

Additionally, Manchester Met Futsal, supported by Manchester Futsal Club, won the British Universities and Colleges Sport Men’s Northern League Tier Two, earning promotion to Tier One.

Upcoming UEFA Futsal Champions League Group Stage

Now, the club is precisely five weeks and four days away from hosting the first UEFA Futsal Champions League group stage in England, with their first group fixtures kicking off on the 22nd of August. The last English club to host a European club competition group was Futsal Club White Bear in 2006, they hosted the previous version of the competition called the UEFA Futsal Cup, at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in South London.

Source of the image: Manchester Futsal Club Facebook page

Formidable Competitors in Manchester

Coming to Manchester to contest the group stage and vie for a coveted spot in the next round are several formidable teams. From the Netherlands’ Tigers Roermond, who recently signed Moroccan International Sufyan El-Shaarawy, a talented player bound for this year’s World Cup, will be among the competitors. The club, in our opinion, would be seen as the group favourites by most commentators. Yerevan Futsal Club from Armenia, participants in the competition for the last two years, will also compete. Last year, they finished bottom of their group, which included group winners AEL Futsal (Cyprus), Futsal Minerva (Switzerland), and FC Fiorentino (San Marino). The season before that, Yerevan hosted the competition, facing Latvian champions Petrow (now know as Riga Futsal Club), English champions London Helvecia, and Gibraltar champions Europa FC, finishing third due to goal difference.

UEFA Head of Futsal Competitions, Laurent Morel, draws Manchester into Group D – Source of the image: Manchester Futsal Club Facebook page.

The last team in Manchester Futsal Club’s group is Istanbul Şişli Sports Club, the Turkish champions. They secured their place in the Champions League by winning three matches in their final series against 1981 Büyük Bingöl SK, triumphing 3-2. The decisive fifth match, played at Bingöl Karşıyaka Sports Hall, saw Istanbul Şişli SK prevail with a 4-3 advantage, earning their spot in the 2024-2025 UEFA Futsal Champions League.

The Importance of the Manchester Event

Why is this occasion so important to English futsal? English futsal has come a long way since 2006 when Futsal White Bears hosted the pinnacle of European club futsal. England didn’t launch a national league until 2008, evolving over the years, it is now known as the FA National Futsal Series, which began to be televised by BT Sport in 2021, helping to increase awareness in England significantly of the sport. The channel broadcasted select matches from the men’s and women’s leagues, but Warner Bros. Discovery, a media conglomerate that also owns Eurosport, acquired BT Sport and rebranded it as TNT Sports on July 18, 2023 and this summer saw the three-year agreement come to an end. Even when it kicked off it was already a fragile agreement as it nearly came to an end after the first season. While sources have provided reasons for the contract not being extended beyond the 3 years, we are unable to confirm and share this information. Now, clubs are returning to home and away fixtures rather than a central venue. The future direction of the league is uncertain.

Governance Reforms and Futsal Representation

The Futsal Committee, which operated on behalf of the FA, has been dissolved without clear reasons announced, leading to varied opinions on why this occurred. Futsal will now be managed by the Football Development Committee, a sub-committee of the FA’s National Game Board. The committee has yet to recruit any futsal representatives to its membership although the National Game Board also has the power to appoint two futsal representatives onto the main FA Council. Currently, Graeme Dell is the sole voice for futsal on the FA Council, and the absence of a second representative remains unexplained.

When considering the nationwide progress made by neighbouring countries such as France and Germany over the past 10-20 years, many in the futsal community are hopeful that previous mistakes will not be repeated. They aspire to see self-interests set aside, open and fearless dialogue encouraged, and the selection of the right individuals to represent them across the board.

This hope is particularly relevant in light of the FA’s governance reforms announced in October 2023. The Football Association Board, Council, and Shareholders have collectively agreed to introduce one of the most extensive sets of governance reforms to the FA Council in its 160-year history. The new reforms aim to ensure that the FA Council’s membership fully reflects the modern and diverse game, better serving the interests of English football at “all levels”

FA Chair, Debbie Hewitt MBE, emphasized the transformative nature of these reforms: “This is a transformative moment for the governance of the FA and one that will benefit every level of English football. These reforms also follow the important steps we took in July to restructure our FA Board to ensure that it has a majority of independent members.”

However, not everyone is optimistic about the FA’s support for futsal. Andy Walsh, Head of Community-Ownership and National Game at The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), recently expressed strong criticism of the FA as a comment on a LinkedIn post: “The FA support for futsal has been extremely poor. The FA’s national futsal committee have failed to fight futsal’s corner for more resources. The committee has marginalised clubs and consistently refused to engage with clubs in the strategic development of futsal. The success of clubs like Manchester Futsal and the impact clubs can have on the development of talent like Kobbie Mainoo is despite the FA. What more could be achieved if the FA took futsal seriously.”

A Chance for Unity and Renewal

In this time of uncertainty, the event in Manchester provides an opportunity for unity within the futsal community, to mend relationships that have been damaged over the years, and to demonstrate to the English media how engaged the futsal community is. It’s a chance to create a spectacle for the wider football family to take notice, fostering interest beyond self-interest. This sentiment was shared by former Chair of the FA Futsal Committee Graeme Dell via Twitter, highlighting the potential for setting a positive example. A positive example that we hope could influence future events such as the potential re-visit of the 5-time FIFA Futsal World Cup winners, the Brazilian national futsal team to England should they fulfil their promise to return. Although their previous visit was deemed a success, if they didn’t return any time soon, you would understand due to the lack of a formal welcome from the FA and related bodies which was disappointing. If you are unaware of this, you can read our article about the occasion via this link: https://www.futsalfocus.net/a-look-back-at-brazil-national-futsal-teams-visit-to-england/

We hope to see clubs at all levels attend this group stage, giving their own players, parents, and supporters the chance to experience club futsal at a European club level. This exposure can only benefit their clubs by showing what is possible with community support. Additionally, though we reached out to these individuals and their organisations for comment but received no reply, we hope to see organisations represented at the Manchester Futsal Club Champions League group stage event, including FA’s CEO Mark Bullingham, England Futsal’s Chair Stephen Mitchell, and the Chair of the Football Development Committee, Jo Maher, along with Vice Chair Jonathan Leese. While it may be optimistic, their presence would signify strong support for the futsal community and its future.

Source of the image: Manchester Futsal Club Twitter

Organ Donation

Futsal Focus is a supporter of Dáithí Mac Gabhann and his family’s campaign to raise awareness of Organ Donation. We encourage our readers to learn more about Organ Donation: https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

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