TEESSIDE PREPARE FOR EUROPEAN FINALS

Teesside University Futsal Club are getting ready to take on 15 other national champions in the European Universities Futsal Championship in Zagreb next week, after only finding out they were in the tournament on Wednesday!

After qualifying by winning the British Championship in March, Teesside were given a place in the European finals, but due to funding issues the deadline was missed and the chance of a lifetime was all but gone. Until on Wednesday last week, Teesside were given the opportunity after the Turkish champions pulled out and in two days, everything was finalised and Teesside were back in the championship.

The Futsal Club are the first ever sports team at Teesside to reach the EUSA (European Universities Sports Association) championships and only the second British Futsal team after Team Bath last year to play in the Futsal Championship.

It’s a welcome opportunity for the players who missed out on the national playoffs with Middlesbrough, won on Sunday by Helvecia, but manager Damon Shaw says he wouldn’t swap the place in the European finals for anything.

“We’d have loved to have been in the playoffs and fully aim to be there next year, but the European Championship has been a personal target of mine since I founded the futsal club. It will also help us gain the experience we need for our title challenge next season.”

When asked about their chances, Damon Shaw was coy, knowing the quality that they will come up against. “We’re going into this tournament as underdogs, but we could surprise a few people. It’s hard to say how we compare as we’ve not been abroad for three years and in that time English Futsal has come a long way.”

Teesside University Futsal Club was founded in 2005 and formed the basis of Middlesbrough Futsal Club. The two clubs still have extremely close ties. All of the travelling squad have played for Middlesbrough this season. Peter Bulmer, Shane Capell, Jason Kilbride, Immy Rashid, Robbie Bettson, Sean O’Brien, Mikey Roberts and Jon Prosser will be representing Teesside, Middlesbrough and Great Britain in Croatia.

For more information about futsal, including how to get involved with Middlesbrough Futsal Club and Teesside University Futsal Club, visit www.BoroFutsal.com.


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