National Futsal Series officially launched in England

At the weekend, English Futsal took another development step with the official launch of the National Futsal Series (NFS) which took place during England’s two international futsal friendly fixtures against Germany. This marked an exciting new era with 25 men’s teams participating in one national (Tier 1) and two regional (Tier 2 North & South) leagues. The first round of fixtures will take place on Saturday 29 September and the clubs taking part in the NFS are:

Tier One

• London Helvecia Futsal Club
• Manchester Futsal Club
• Kent United Futsal Club
• Loughborough Students Futsal Club
• Team United Birmingham
• ProFutsal London
• Worcester Futsal Club
• Bolton Futsal Club

Tier Two (North)

• Derby Futsal Club
• Cheshire Futsal Club
• University of Nottingham Futsal Club
• Washington Futsal Club
• Durham Palatinates
• Sunderland University – Team Sunderland
• Loughborough Students Futsal Club (Development Team)
• Birmingham Tigers Futsal

Tier Two (South)

• Bedford Futsal Club
• London Genesis Futsal Club
• Sussex Futsal Club
• MK Mavericks Futsal Club
• Chelsea FC Foundation Futsal
• London Escolla
• Kent UTD Futsal Club (Development Team)
• London Baku United

You can see below footage of the presentation and launch of the National Futsal Series below:

Men’s club presentation

Women’s club presentation

The women’s clubs taking part in the FA Futsal Women’s Super Series are:

North

• Cheshire Futsal Club
• Liverbird Futsal Open Aged
• Liverpool Futsal Club
• Manchester Futsal Club Women’s Team
• University of Liverpool Futsal Club

South

• London Helvecia Futsal Club
• Kent United Futsal Club
• Bedford Futsal Club
• Team United Birmingham
• Loughborough Students Futsal Club
• Derby Futsal Club

Along with the National Futsal Series being launched, last Friday the FA approved/ sanctioned the National Futsal League which will give people across England the opportunity to play Futsal. Plus, if your city or town etc doesn’t have a team, for those interested to start one, the NFL provides you with the opportunity to develop your club and players before thinking to apply to the National Futsal Series.

Thanks for the amazing support over the last few days @StGeorgesPark. It’s great to see the #futsalfamily growing all the time. Well done also to all the team behind the team to make it such a great event for @FA & @BBCSport #nextstop ? ??????????????????????????? https://t.co/jwmeHGHExh

— Eng Futsal Coach (@mskubala) September 22, 2019

The whole weekend for English futsal promotion was a success, two great international level performances from Germany and England, fantastic commentary by Graeme Dell who explained Futsal along with many topics related to the sport to help educate novices who were watching via BBC Sport.

Thoroughly enjoyed working with @BBCSport today for the @FA @England #futsal international v @DFB_Team_EN @StGeorgesPark and chatting all things @FA_NFS and progress @mskubala ?? pic.twitter.com/LykiIPGHCH

— Graeme Dell (@graeme_dell) September 21, 2019

It was great to see BBC Sport support the event and the launch of the National Futsal Series, hopefully, we will see Wales get the same coverage for their next international fixtures as they too were playing international friendly matches over the same weekend against Estonia.

Official launch of @FA_NFS yesterday with over 90 of our club officials and players in attendance. Looking forward to working closely with you all this season. Proud to be part of it and can’t wait for the season to start ⚽️ #1weektogo #countdown #FANFS pic.twitter.com/t21ON323aD

— Tina Reed (@tinareed40) September 22, 2019

The future is bright for Futsal, to quote Graeme Dell, Futsal in England is where women’s football was ten years ago so these are exciting times to know that Futsal is getting growing support within the FA. Plus, it was recently announced that due to the efforts of the FA to develop Futsal have gone even further. The Department for Education added Futsal to an approved activity list for GCSE, AS and A-Level PE meaning more students across the country will have the opportunity/ option to play and experience Futsal at schools from 2020 increasing participation and awareness across England. This is a fantastic achievement for Graeme Dell (Futsal representative on the FA Council) and Michael Skubala(Head Coach of England’s National Futsal team & the FA’s Futsal Technical Director) who tweeted his own thanks to Donna McIvor (Women’s Development Manager), John Folwell (National Participation Manager) and Steve Day (Head of Development at The FA) for their support.

? A big thank you to everybody that made yesterday a fantastic day as we launched the #FANFS at @StGeorgesPark!

Lots of information offered, lots of feedback received. We have an exciting season ahead ? pic.twitter.com/iIHaF6pj8F

— FA National Futsal Series (@FA_NFS) September 22, 2019

Looking ahead the organizing structure released so far includes Paul Szumilewicz as Chair for the National Futsal Series League Management Committee (LMC)

“This is an exciting time as the start of the season draws closer and I am looking forward to the launch of the first NFS campaign”

“I am delighted that we have been able to establish a very strong LMC with, importantly, a diverse set of relevant experiences”.

The National Futsal Series League Management Committee in full:

• Chair – Paul Szumilewicz
• Competition Secretary – Tina Reed
• Treasurer – Tarun Patel
• Governance Officer – Adam Jones
• Referee Appointments Officer – Ian Vaines
• Fixtures Secretary – Stuart Smith
• Player Registrations & WGS Support – Jason Haywood
• Marketing & Communications – Catherine Rees

“We hope that everybody can join us in making this first season an enjoyable and successful one”.

Sources of pictures and video: The National Futsal Series Twitter which you can also follow via this link: http://bit.ly/2mrUVp2

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