Dave's Blog

by Dave

Hi all

Not a lot of footy going on these days so I thought I would start a little blog as the Covid has pretty much knackered so much of our sporting activity so it’s a good time to reach out to our many football breatharians sharing thoughts.

Firstly, like many I guess, I was really surprised to learn the FA has dropped Futsal as part of its remit, due to cost cutting, blaming the Covid as the reason. The recent growth of the Futsal game in England has been great. It’s not as if we were inventing the wheel with its introduction, because across South America, and Europe (particularly Spain) it is seen by so many coaches as one of the best ball/skill developers. Never understood why the FA have never really seen the benefits of indoor football. I cannot think of another major sport that can be enjoyed by so many, so competitively both indoors and outdoors.

I recall in the early days the FA were so against ‘private’ football operations opening up many magnificent indoor soccer venues – The Pitz Soccer Centre, Goals, Power Leagues, Leisure Leagues etc. The only reason Futsal has not grown even quicker is simply because of the lack of available suitable indoor facilities. I understand many Futsal leagues will still carry on independently as there are many committed number of coaches who still see its benefits. The game will survive despite the lack of support from the FA.

Futsal, was first developed in the 1930s, and was seen as essential to youth football development in nations such as Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Russia and Greece, where it is the dominant game in schools. Gareth Southgate, along with other FA executives, declared their support for futsal in their 2018 strategy launch. The sport is acclaimed by many of the best footballers in the world, including Messi, Ronaldo, Brazilians Neymar and Philippe Coutinho, and Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne.