Courtesy: Wiltshire Times


Chippenham ready for kick-off

CHIPPENHAM Futsal club kick-off their first-ever season in the FA National League this weekend.

Futsal, a form of indoor football originating in South America, has only had a national league in this country for three years and Chippenham will now compete as one of the top 24 teams in the country.

The Wiltshire club travel to take on Birmingham Tigers on Sunday and chairman Chris Ballinger believes that Chippenham’s involvement is a step forward for the sport in the local area. “I see this as a great way of promoting Futsal locally and leading the club forward,” said Ballinger.

”This is where we need to be to develop players and raise awareness of the sport and we’re lucky to have a place in the league.”

Chippenham have a number of local footballers among their ranks, including current England Futsal captain and Frome Town top-scorer Luke Ballinger, from Seend (pictured), as well as Corsham Town’s Danny Baker and George Nash.

Chairman Ballinger believes his side are well equipped to do succeed in the national league.

“We’ve had a terrific six months,” he said, “It gives the players the opportunity to play amongst the best in the country and we want to establish ourselves in the league.

“This will be the highest level we’ve ever played at but it’s exactly where we need to be and I think we’ll acquit ourselves well.”

Chippenham will compete in the Midlands section of the National League, which runs parallel to Southern and Northern sections.

The top two teams in each section go through to the Grand play-off finals on the July 10-11.

Play-off winners are then given the opportunity to be the England representatives in the UEFA Futsal Cup.

Chippenham warmed up for the first game of the season by beating Brentford 9-3 in a friendly last weekend.


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com