We spoke with the University of Gloucester’s Head of Futsal, Alex Cheal, after their recent FA Futsal Cup success.
SK: How did you qualify for the Futsal Finals?
AC: We actually ran our own Futsal League, led by UNIversal Futsal (our own Futsal brand that encompasses all of our Futsal delivery). Originally the league was only due to have one qualifying team, however, midway through we were offered the chance of two teams. Luckily this opportunity was available because we subsequently lost twice against Hartpury, meaning we finished second in the league.
We then progressed to the semi-final stage at the Sporthouse in London. We were handed a tough group due to our ‘second seed’ status, however we won our first two games which meant we qualified heading into our final match. We needed to win our final semi-final match to go through to a seedings ‘Final’ against Hartpury but we ended up losing against Eastbourne DGH.
SK: How often do your players play Futsal (and are they all students at Uni of Glos)?
AC: Our Futsal set-up at the University is thriving at the moment with two female teams. The ladies currently compete in the British Universities (BUCS) competitions, which are generally two weekends per month. As a result, the girls are in training once or twice a week depending on if there are games at the weekend. We hope to extend this provision further as of September with acceptance into the Football League Trust Futsal League (national competition), and playing in a local female league regularly. This will allow more players to experience the game at the University of Gloucestershire.
In terms of players, the majority of the squad that won the FA Cup was part of the British Universities team from season 2013/14. In the lead up to the semi-finals however, we also identified some individuals from the local community to come and train with the team. The vast majority were ‘alumni’ or recent graduate students but we also selected two players from Swindon Town’s scholarship programme who were enrolling onto degrees for the 2014 academic year. So we had a nice mix of players from when the female futsal club was formed, the current crop of players that have been so successful in recent years and a couple of new players that will be part of the set up for the next three years.
SK: What were you expecting in terms of performance of the team and how competitive the tournament would be?
AC: Because we had always qualified as a second seed, I guess we had agreed to take each game as it came and not put too much pressure on ourselves. We always believed in the squad because of the previous experiences they had gained in British Universities, however we took each game as it came.
Female futsal is quickly advancing and therefore we always knew it would be a competitive competition. If you look at the line up you had the current British Universities champions in Team Northumbria, while Hartpury Futsal who were made up from a vast majority of Team Bath players that were runners up in the BUCS competition. There is also an element of surprise in these competitions because teams can have anyone playing for them and that reflects on Norton and Stockton’s relative unknown status in the game, yet they were excellent over the weekend and culminating in them reaching the final.
SK: And then you triumphed in the final too, what was the game like and what gave you the edge?
AC: To be honest we recognised what we did wrong in the first fixture against Norton and Stockton and set that right. We drew 4.4 with them in the first league game and they caused us problems with their direct approach and skillful number 7, Bianca Owens. We nullified that threat in the final and once we scored the opening goal we did not look back. I think it is also important to recognise that Norton only had 6 players all weekend and therefore they maybe hit a bit of a wall with fatigue, none the less it is a huge achievement for them as a club.
SK: What next for the team?
AC: I have set goals for next season already with the incoming captains and that is ultimately to challenge for the British Universities competition. We are also looking forward to defending the FA Cup crown in a competition that is only going to get more competitive.
As a University and Club we are also looking to develop our futsal set up further and that will be to raise awareness of what we are doing both locally and nationally. As we play in more competitions like the FA Cup, hopefully players will think of Gloucestershire as a destination to develop their futsal skills.
Photos: The FA via Getty Images
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