The final of The FA Umbro Fives tournament took place on Saturday so here is a quick round-up..

Men’s

The 2009 crown was won by Ballers.com from London. They beat 2007 winners MDU (also from London) in the final with the game going all the way to penalties after the sides could not be separated following a 2-2 extra time draw.

Ballers.com battled through a semi final victory over 2008 Champions Real Balers and perennial Fives qualifiers Galacticos in the quarter finals. Earlier in the day Ballers.com thrashed Nike 5’s champions FC Fodder 5-1 in the group stages but stumbled against Maidstone team Sons of a Pitch losing 3-1. Ballers.com also recorded victories over Nike 5’s finalists Harlem and Lucky Break before lifting the rather impressive and heavy UMBRO Fives trophy in the glorious Wembley sunshine.

The only consolation for losing finalists MDU came when their star player Rob Ursell was voted player of the tournament.

Women’s

The women’s competition saw The FA Premier League’s Watford Ladies lifting the trophy for the second time following their inaugural win in 2007. Watford were made to battle all the way in the final which went to extra time before they finally overcame TNS Shrewsbury Town 2-1 with a late goal in a match which looked destined to go to penalties. Neither Watford nor TNS won their group after both teams had been beaten in the group games by NE Danger and Curzon Ashton Ladies respectively.

Lucky 8

Luton team Daily Stars triumphed in the Lucky 8 competition – after previously going out of the 2009 FA UMBRO Fives. Daily Stars were one of those drawn at random, to take part in the Lucky 8 event and they didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. The side won every one of their matches on the hallowed turf – recording a double over Thorney Bay, who they beat 1-0 in the group stage and then 2-0 in the final.

Last weekend saw the conclusion of this year’s regional finals in the Midlands. All successful teams will now be looking forward to this weekend’s national finals at Wembley.

This week will also see the draw for the Lucky 8s competition. This will involve 8 teams, who failed to make this year’s final but participated in the event at local heat level randomly being drawn for their shot at Wembley glory.

Has anyone played in any of the matches or going to the Final?  If so we would love to hear from you!

This weekend sees the South West regional final taking place in Plymouth. The weather is set to be fantastic which should add to what promises to be a great day of football. Over 30 teams will battle it out for their chance of a dream spot at Wembley.

Last weekend we held the South East and London regional finals, where another 10 lucky teams booked their spots at the Wembley grand final on Saturday 20th June. Among the qualifiers were year one Champions MDU who have qualified for the third year in a row!

You can check out some of the action from the London final here

If you would like to come to watch the competitions you can find directions to all the regional final venues here

Play will begin from 11:00, with team registrations open from 9:00. As well as the football there are activities to take part in with a chance to win UMBRO merchandise.

Next week we will draw the Lucky 8 winners, eight men’s teams will be picked at random from across the whole competition, one from each region plus one random team to play at Wembley.

Last weekend witnessed the start of this year’s FA Umbro Fives regional finals, with both the North West and North events taking place in Bury and Leeds respectively. The regional heats will continue to run over the next three weeks as the elite five-a-side teams from each region battle for their chance of glory, in the national finals at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 20th June.

Below is the footage of last weekend’s action at PlayFootball, Bury.

Umbro loves five-a-side with a huge portion of us playing regularly after work. Three years ago we realised that the only thing five-a-side lacked was the ultimate dream! Something big. Something we could all aspire to and could take us from a dodgy astroturf in the wilderness all the way to Wembley’s pristine pitch.

And it is that time again – the Country’s biggest and best Five a Side Tournament is back, bigger and better than ever.

Twenty-four men’s teams and eight women’s teams will earn the chance to play at Wembley where they can expect a day like no other with the England Bus, Dressing Rooms, New Umbro Kit, Wembley Tunnel, the Royal Box and most of all a chance to play on one of the World’s most famous pitches!

However, before the glory of the Wembley finals, we have over 200 local heats involving approximately 2000 teams…which we are still recruiting for!

HOW IT WORKS…

Local qualifying heats are still very much happening around the country and will continue through into May.

Each qualifying heat will send their top teams through to one of eight regional finals, which will be contested during May and June 2009:

Teams will battle it out during the regional finals for a place in the Wembley Finals event in the summer where 24 men’s teams and 8 women’s teams will compete for the FA UMBRO Fives title on the hallowed turf of Wembley!

FEAR NOT…

Even if you don’t fancy your team’s chances to win through you still have the chance to get to Wembley through the ‘Lucky Eights’ competition. We randomly select eight teams that were eliminated in their local qualifier and invite them to Wembley to contest their own tournament.

For regular news on who is winning (and losing) the qualifiers check out the news page.

For all other info including how to enter, check out the Fives Webpage.

Five-a-side is now bigger, in men’s participation numbers at least, than traditional 11-a-side football in the UK.

We know this to be true. We can’t show you in-depth statistical data or seven-year studies to prove this, no-one can. You can take my word for it though, it’s true nonetheless.

We know it’s true because five-a-side fits perfectly with our modern lifestyle. It’s quick, exciting, snack-size football, served up on a week night somewhere in between seeing your Gran and going sofa shopping! (Maybe that’s just me!)

It gives you that awesome football fix when and how you need it and more than 500,000 of us, along with our mates, turn out every week to get our latest installment. 

We’re just the same here at Umbro. We love five-a-side for exactly the same reasons as you and three years ago we realised that the only thing five-a-side lacked was the ultimate dream! Something big. Something we could all aspire to and could take us from a dodgy astroturf in the wilderness all the way to Wembley’s pristine pitch.

We wanted to know who were the best fives teams and then play against them. And so, with a little help from our friends, we made it happen and The FA UMBRO Fives was born.

Since then, more than 4,000 teams have taken part in the ultimate five-a-side challenge and, of which, around a hundred of the best have lived out their dream under that massive arch.

We think we’ve done something pretty special for five-a-side football and made what was already pretty much 99% perfect just that little bit better.

We’ve started recruiting for the 2009 UMBRO Fives so visit www.thefa.com/umbrofives to find your local heats (they’re happening pretty much everywhere in England) and make your own stories for the grandkids!

The FA UMBRO Fives 2009 launches in just under two weeks with a month of ramp up activity to bring this flagship five-a-side competition to life. Much noise will be made via UMBRO’s latest player signings, who will all be backing the 2009 tournament, as we tour the cities of England to find the best five-a-side teams to join us at Wembley in the Summer for the finals.

We’ll also be using much more video this year to tell some of the great stories of the competition – much like the this one of Newcastle’s self-proclaimed kings of five-a-side ‘O.Ds’.

More news to follow over the coming weeks.

Ed