Courtesy: This is Wiltshire


Luke's on the ball

Friday 7th January 2011

by Dan Barnes

THE role of England captain has taken a few knocks in recent years – bans for missing drugs tests or lurid headlines regarding off-field indiscretions just some of the misfortunes to afflict the post’s holder.

But life is a lot different for Melksham footballer Luke Ballinger – captain of the England futsal team.

The 22 year-old became his country’s all-time leading goalscorer with his 25th international strike in a 5-0 victory over Andorra last November, his second of the game adding to a goal against the same opponents the day before.

Ballinger, who began playing the small-sided variation of the beautiful game for Chippenham Futsal Club, under uncle Chris Ballinger, gained the England armband in 2008 and hasn’t looked back since.

“I got spotted for England when I got to the national finals with Chippenham (in 2007),” said Ballinger, who has 34 England caps.

“In 2008, we were staying in London before a trip to France and the new manager (Pete Sturgess) asked me if I wanted to be captain for the trip – it all went on from there.

“It’s a great achievement to be the top-scorer and also fun to take the record off my team-mate Alex Sykes because he’s was going on about it a lot! It was also great to do it in England because there were a few people watching, like my uncle.”

As a pupil at The George Ward School, Ballinger earned a place in Bristol City’s academy as a winner in the Shooting Stars competition but his main focus soon switched to futsal.

“Unlike in football, there’s nowhere to really hide on the court and you have to always keep the ball moving,” said the England captain, who lives in Bowerhill and coaches Bristol City’s U12s.

“I’m not sure if I’ve got the ability on the ball that some of the other lads have got but I’ve got a lot of energy and if there’s space to run into then I’ll do that.

“The England team hasn’t been going that long but if you look at other countries, you realise just how big the sport is – teams like Italy, Spain and Portugal get 20,000 people watching them.”

Ballinger gets his dose of 11-a-side football for Darren Perrin’s Frome Town and despite feeling that he’s found a good balance between the two games, admits that a lengthy suspension picked up for a red card for England last year didn’t impress his Frome boss.

England’s next outing is the preliminary qualifying round of the 2012 European championships in Macedonia on January 20, where they take on the hosts, Georgia and Estonia.

Ballinger’s love for international competition remains strong and the England skipper dreams of representing his country at the home of futsal.

“They’re looking to add futsal to the Olympics and it’d be an honour to play for England in Brazil (in 2016) – it’s the home of the sport and most people don’t get the chance to do something like that.”


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