Over the past week or so, we’ve been talking about the new range of products we’ve designed for the Umbro Vs range, where we’ve clashed the world of five-a-side football here in England with Californian surf and beach soccer. But what’s it actually like to play on the beach? Luckily for us, regular Umbro blog contributor Jeff Maysh has recently moved out to LA, so he’s been able to try it out first hand. Here’s a report from the man himself on just what it’s like…

“Beach soccer is a ridiculous idea. Like playing snooker underwater or croquet on the moon. Mixing soccer with sand is like pouring sugar into the petrol tank of a supercar: you ain’t going nowhere fast. I’m used to playing football on good old British mud, not sand, so when I moved to Los Angeles I was truly unprepared for the barefoot beach action the locals enjoy. But this week I made my sandy debut after receiving the following email: ‘Pre-season beach tournament, $5 entry,’ wrote coach Jay Hotch of the famous Hollywood Allstars, ‘bring suntan lotion.’

I’m a fair-weather member of the Allstars squad, a team that includes Hollywood actor Mr Vinnie Jones as captain and world class porn stars as centre-forwards. I’ve got the team jacket, but zero appearances, so I thought I’d pop along to the beach tournament, pay my five bucks and try and impress in the sunshine. The game was at a stunning beauty spot between Santa Monica and Malibu, with two goals hastily sprung up on the beach and flags marking the pitch. It was also a roasting hot 85 degrees- another cruel winter’s day here in LA.

So I was exhausted before I’d even run into the semi-circle for kick off. Running on dry, thick, fluffy sand is a nightmare (I can feel your hearts bleeding), like swimming in treacle, or cycling in syrup. It was suggested I try to shoot, direct from kick off. ‘Fifty dollars if you get this in,’ mocked the goalkeeper. Who just so happened to be FA Cup winner Jones. I was up for the challenge, but if you’ve ever seen a golfer miss a bunker shot, that was how I’d describe my first kick of beach soccer. I caused a small sandstorm but the ball moved two inches. Jones and the Allstars were in pieces, and I wanted to go home.

‘Just mark the Brazilian boys,’ I was told, and stuck in defence watching a quite brilliant display of beach football. The foreign lads had grown up playing on the beach. Playing on sand to them was like playing in puddles to me, and I was beginning to pick up some tips. When they get a freekick, their tanned, Pele-like players would wipe the ball in a circle on the sand, leaving a perfect mound in the middle. Then, they’d place the ball down and hit it with their instep. It was amazing to watch. They’d also carry the ball by flicking it along so it didn’t get stuck in the sand, and I saw one ten-pass move where the ball didn’t touch the sand once. The bloke who scored an overhead kick had a can of beer on. And I’m not even joking.

‘I think we’ve found a position for you on the team,’ said Hotch, during my second match. ‘You can run over the ball at free kicks.’ I was pretty good at dummies on sand, because it’s quite hard to actually take the ball with you. My team lost the tournament, losing 3-0, 5-2, and drawing 1-1. In that last game, I did one thing I’ll never forget. The last kick of the game, I placed the ball on a little mound, Brazil-beach style, and I hit it like I’ve hit nothing else. As it flew in off the post I realised the best part of playing on sand: the Klinsmann celebration doesn’t hurt as much.”

Jeff Maysh has still not made the reserve team of the Hollywood Allstars.

For more details on the Umbro Vs range – designed with beach football in mind – take a look at Umbro.com.

We’ve already unveiled the idea behind our latest Umbro Vs product range earlier this week, where we’ve travelled to Huntington Beach, California to gain inspiration from surf and beach soccer. Here, we’re taking a closer look at the products that we’ve created as a result of this culture clash, tailored by Umbro for both on the pitch and off.

Umbro Vs Football Wind Jacket

The Umbro VS Wind Jacket is crafted from a high performance fabric designed to keep you warm and dry on the football pitch. Keeping you warm and dry, the Umbro Vs wind jacket keeps you looking good but allows you to concentrate on your game. Umbro has removed the shoulder and side seams on this football jacket, offering improved comfort and movement, while vents on the rear and back seams provide breathability and a product ergonomically shaped to the wearer. The Umbro Vs wind jacket is the ultimate in football outerwear, and features our unique vision hood which keeps the rain off without disrupting your view of the match, and the Umbro Vs graphic embossed in an all over design.

Umbro Vs Mens Over Knee Short

With a bright graphic design, the Umbro Vs over knee shorts are designed to get you noticed, whether you’re wearing them on the pitch or on the beach. With no side seam to disrupt the graphic, we’ve ensured that these football shorts look great, and with a tailored fit and a special comfort waistband, the Umbro Vs over knee shorts are sure to feel great as well.

Umbro Vs Training Jersey

Designed to keep you looking good whether you’re playing on a beach or a five-a-side pitch, the Umbro Vs training jersey is made from a durable polyester fabric, with a straight raglan seam and darting on the shoulder for increased comfort. With a flash of colour on the rib corded channel, this football training jersey also features a mesh seam on the back for increased breathability.

Umbro Vs Icon Short

Inspired by two iconic products, the Umbro Vs icon shorts are perhaps the most finely crafted item in the collection. Combining the best assets of both the England 2009 football shorts and Hurley’s Phantom boardshorts, the Umbro Vs Icon football shorts are crafted to be as comfortable and durable as possible, made from a high-performance quick dry fabric which is also able to stretch in any direction to aid movement.
Umbro’s designers have also reduced friction by removing the centre seam on these football shorts, and offer added protection through the cover welt on the zip pocket, all of which helps to ensure that the Umbro Vs Icon Shorts will become a firm favourite in your footballing wardrobe.

Umbro Vs Shower Jacket

Whether you’re on a five-a-side pitch or the beach, you always want to be prepared for all conditions, which is why the Umbro Vs shower jacket is crafted to help you concentrate on your football game. With a shaped vision hood keeping the rain off but not disrupting your view of the match, the football shower jacket can be kept safe and dry when not in use thanks to the graphic embossed pocket bag and clip hidden discretely on the front of the garment.

For more information on all the Umbro Vs products, be sure to check out Umbro.com

Singer Ian Brown famously once said that Manchester has everything apart from a beach, so for the latest range from the Umbro Vs collection we’ve decided to head to sunnier climes. Clashing Manchester’s five-a-side culture with Californian surf and beach soccer, Umbro Vs is heading to Huntington Beach.

After exploring Sao Paulo and the world of futsal, we headed over to California for the latest colourful Umbro Vs range. Working with top surf dudes Hurley and examining the demands of beach soccer, we’ve created a small range of items that are designed to work perfectly on the beach and on the small sided game pitches we play on here in the UK. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll examine these fantastic items in closer detail, showcasing the insight and design that makes them ideal for playing or watching the game.

For the video above, which has again been animated by top artist Todd James, we also sent a team of five-a-siders from Manchester over to California to see how they would react to being thrown into the deep end. You can imagine just how burnt they got under that famous California sun!

Keep an eye right here and on Umbro.com to find out all you can about the latest from the Umbro Vs range, designed for the small sided game.

We’ve already told you about Roll Deep’s recent tour in partnership with Umbro Vs, but we thought you might also like to see some clips of the London grime collective in action. On a recent mini-tour of some English universities, the guys not only played a gig each night, but also took on a team of students in a 5-a-side match beforehand.

Unfortunately, Roll Deep lost all three of their matches against the student squads, but they at least looked sharp as they tested the Umbro Vs collection, a range designed specifically with the small sided game in mind. Inspired by 5-a-side in Manchester and futsal in Sao Paolo, Umbro Vs is a bright, colourful range perfect for both on and off the pitch – as Roll Deep are modelling.

Here’s some clips from Roll Deep’s fixtures, starting off in Reading…

Before moving up north to Leeds…

And finishing off at Brunel University….

If you want to know more about the Umbro Vs range, take a look at Umbro.com. The range is available exclusively at JJB – check it out now!

On the eve of the release of their fourth album, London grime collective Roll Deep recently partnered with Umbro for a special mini-tour of some UK universities. Playing a gig in the evening, the crew spiced things up beforehand by taking on a team of students in a five-a-side football match beforehand. Unfortunately, Roll Deep played well but lost their three games against Reading, Leeds and Brunel – but they still managed to pull off a fantastic gig in the evening!

Ahead of the release of ‘Winners Stays On’ and their performance at the MOBOs last night, we spoke to Roll Deep producer Target about the tour, their football skills and the new record…

Have you recovered from the football yet?

“Yeah! I think we needed a few days off to recover! We’re just about back to being fighting fit, it took a lot out of us, but we’re alright now. We really enjoyed it though, it was great fun, to go out and do something a little bit differAnt to what we normally do. Going and playing football against these different teams and being on tour for a few days was great.”

You can’t be pleased with the results though?

“No! I think it was more to do with us trying to be lenient, we didn

They may be a regular fixture at the top of the charts, but it seems that grime collective Roll Deep have some work to do if they’re to reach the top of the league for their football skills!

That’s the result we discovered after we partnered with Roll Deep on a recent mini-tour of universities, in which the collective took on a team in a five-a-side game before playing a gig the same night. Despite their best efforts, Roll Deep lost out to teams from Reading, Leeds and Brunel, but can be confident that they won out in the end after their headline gigs kicked up a storm in the evening.

To be fair to Roll Deep, they put in some great performances in the games, and looked great in our new Umbro Vs range, so we won’t be too harsh on them. As Flow Deep from the London collective pointed out: “To be fair to the university teams they were much fitter than us so were able to last the pace. We’ve had a great time on the Umbro Vs tour and whilst our performances on the stage were better than on the pitch we’d be well up for a rematch against the universities sometime. It was a great experience.”

Roll Deep were playing the Umbro Vs mini-tour in support of their new album ‘Winner Stays On’, which is out next month. We’ll be having a full chat with Roll Deep later today about the Umbro Vs tour, the latest from the band and their new record, so if you’ve any questions you’d like us to ask, just let us know!

To take a closer look at the Umbro Vs range, which is available exclusively through JJB, take a look at the Umbro website.

Stirring up some fine football, fierce rivalry and some fantastic fashion, Umbro recently staged two special 5-a-side tournaments in London and Manchester to celebrate the release of our new Umbro Vs range. Designed specifically with the small sided game in mind, the range is inspired by both 5-a-side here in the UK and futsal in places such as Sao Paolo. There wasn’t much samba football on offer at these events however, as you’ll see in these two videos capturing the action in both Manchester and London.

If you think you could do the Umbro Vs range justice, head over to Umbro.com to get a closer look at the items in the Umbro Vs range, and to find out wher its available in your area.

Here’s some highlights from our Manchester tournament:

And here’s how it went down in London:

Thanks again to everyone who took part on the day or provided a fantastic soundtrack, and congratulations to High Voltage and The Actors who were our two winners!

Celebrating the launch of our Umbro Vs range – clothes designed specifically with the small sided game in mind – we recently hosted two 5-a-side tournaments in London and Manchester, showcasing these great new designs in their natural habitat. However, instead of getting some fine athletes to put the clothes through their paces, we invited our musical mates down to show off their footy skills – or lack of!

Bringing together Manchester’s musical talent, our first event saw teams including radio stars XFM Manchester, clothes retailer Oi Polloi, influential festival organisers In The City, music collective Murkage Cartel, fanziners High Voltage and two of our favourite bands combined – The Heartbreaks and Orphan Boy, going under the inspired name of ‘The Hearts Of MidlOrphan’. Sadly, their name would prove to be the highlight of the team’s performance!

Much more impressive were High Voltage, who ran out winners of our Manchester tournament, coming out on top in a final against the XFM team down at the Power League in Ardwick. They now go down in the annals of history as our first ever champions, an achievement that we’re sure will live long in their memories. Thanks again to Murkage for supplying all the music at our Manchester tournament.

Travelling down to London the following weekend, Umbro pitched up at the Power League near Shoreditch High Street to watch the likes of Cassette Playa, XFM London, Domino Records, Rampage 1Xtra, Interwood Academy, Dazed & Confused, a bunch of music biz managers calling themselves The Hangovers and a team of thespians going by the name of Actors FC going up against each other. We also had Yeah, Maybe, MC Chunky, Eliphino, Fife and Lex Darker in charge of the music for the day, providing a suitable soundtrack as the action unfolded.

In a tense and occasionally fiery tournament, Actors FC came out on top, beating Rampage in the final to become our London champions. Again, we’re sure that the championship trophy will take pride of place on their mantlepiece, until next time, when we’re sure the competition will be just as tough…

For more information on the products in the Umbro Vs range and where you can get your hands on them, take a look at Umbro.com. And to see more of the action from our games in Manchester and London, take a look at the mammoth collection of pictures we’ve got over on our Flickr stream.

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been exploring the different worlds of five-a-side and futsal, as part of our Umbro Vs campaign, but today we get to hear about it from one of the finest futsal players on the planet. You’ve already seen his skills in action in the video above, and here’s a quick chat we had with futsal superstar Falcão about the game and why he thinks it’s the finest form of football…

Futsal isn’t that well known at the moment over here in the UK. For anyone who hasn’t played it before, how would you describe it?

‘Futsal is a team sport and very simple to play. For a fun game between friends, you just need 10 players, a ball and a pitch to start the game. I guess futsal nowadays is played by many children and adults without distinction of age or gender. The rules are very clear and straight to the point so any child will be able to learn. It’s no wonder that futsal is the most practiced sport all over the world.’

What’s the main difference between futsal and 11-a-side football?

‘The difference is not just the 11 players but also the space and the thinking during the game, because futsal is more dynamic than 11-a-side football. I’ve had the experience of playing football, and I can assure you that playing football is easier than futsal. In football, the bigger space provides a privileged view, making it easier. In futsal spaces are smaller and decisions have to be made in a matter of seconds.’

There seems to be a strong idea of fun and humour when playing futsal, is that important?

‘Yes, this is very important. Since I was a kid I like to have fun when playing futsal and if there was ever a time when I didn’t have fun while playing, maybe it would be time to quit. Happiness and fun are central to the idea behind futsal. I can say that, although I do have fun while working, it’s always with objectivity and determination.’

What could the world of football learn from futsal?

‘Futsal is the place where many future football stars players started out. There’s lots of great Brazilian players that have played futsal and gone on to become famous in football. Some examples are: Ronaldo Fenomeno, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Rivaldo, Ricardinho, Rivelino, Robinho, Neymar, Paulo Ganso, Alex, and many more. If you analyse the technical skills of these players, you’ll see that they all have skills from futsal. It helps them to process information and tricks in small sided games, making them outstanding players in comparison to others.’

And vice-versa – what could futsal learn from football?

‘Both follow the same way of thinking, but with different dimensions. Football and futsal are complementary. They will always be together both in tactics and in technical ideas. ‘

How did you get into playing futsal?

‘My dad used to play “várzea” football and futsal and I was always following him to the games. I always had a special relationship with the ball, and I realised that I would be able to find success through this relationship. My family always supported me in terms of practicing sports, and then I started to play for “Clube Guapira” and began in the world of futsal. Some time passed, and then I went to Corinthians, where I learned the tactics and technical side of the game, improving my skills and fulfilling my dream to be a professional player. ‘

When did you realise that you were a great player, and that futsal rather than regular football was for you?

‘When I went to Corinthians and used to play really well in the games, the coach always directed me to train for football, but that was not what I was looking for, so I always went back to futsal. My life is futsal, the dynamic provided by futsal is beautiful, and that’s what inspires me to practice and play futsal every day.’

What kind of skills does a futsal player need to succeed?

‘Skill is not a prime factor for a futsal player. The technical, the tactical and, most of all, loving the sport are most important.’

Who were your footballing heroes when you were growing up?

‘There were so many. But I really liked Vander Iacovino, Douglas and Jackson, all of them used to play futsal and I learned so much with them.’

Futsal could be seen as quite a South American thing, do you think that European players can excel at the game?

‘Futsal is a global sport, for example Spain have twice been world champions, while Russia, Portugal and Italy are recognised as great teams. Europe really excels at futsal, but I still think the Europeans need to evolve their youth ranks for players, like Brazil who do it very well.’

It seems like part of the culture in Brazil, where you’re from. Do you think it fits with Brazilian music and dancing? Would you ever listen to music whilst playing? If so, what would you listen to?

‘Yes, futsal combines with music and dancing, if you analyse the futsal tricks you’ll see an artist, a wizard or even a dancer, because the “ginga” is about us Brazilians. I really like music and I’m very eclectic with my tastes, I like listening to good music, as I like to do good tricks !’

Do you think that futsal could ever be as popular, or more popular, than football?

‘Futsal is very popular and practiced all over the world. May be the great difference is about the marketing and advertisement work, which is not explored globally. In Brazil it is not this way, we have great sponsors and media in general that support futsal. The unique difference between football and futsal is we are not an Olympic sport as football is.’

Thanks to Falcão for taking the time to answer our questions, and for showcasing his skills in our video! For more information on our Umbro Vs range, take a look at Umbro.com, and remember that if you’re in a 5-a-side team and want to be in with a chance of playing at Wembley, the FA Umbro Fives is now open for applicants – click here to sign up.

With our Umbro Vs collection, we’ve been exploring the worlds of five-a-side and futsal, aiming to gain a glimpse into the distinct worlds of each. But what does it actually look like on the pitch? There’s no one better placed to offer us a glimpse into the world of futsal than Brazilian superstar Falcão. We’ve got an interview with Falcão that we’ll be able to unveil tomorrow, but for now here’s a look at the Brazilian magician showcasing his skills on the pitch. Providing a unique director’s commentary are our Manchester 5-a-side players, listen closely to hear what they think of Falcão’s silky skills!