Courtesy: UEFA.com


Scotland set for Futsal festival

Friday, 16 June 2006

Scotland are one of six nations joining the UEFA Futsal family in 2006/07 by supplying a team to the leading European club tournament - and the competition to be that lucky team begins this weekend when the FPL Scotland Serie A launches.

Eight compete
Eight sides - Aberdeen Cosmos, Dundee Dynamos, Edinburgh United, Fair City Santos, Glasgow City, Glasgow Maccabi, Inverness Wanderers and Perth New Muirton - will compete between now and 5 August in venues in Glasgow, Perth and Edinburgh. The eventual winners will enter September's UEFA Futsal Cup preliminary round, in which Austria, Germany, Malta, Sweden and Switzerland will also have representatives for the first time.

Schedule
The Scottish tournament has gained sponsorship from Tennents beer and is also scheduled to be covered by a digital television station. Fixtures start with matches this Saturday and Sunday at Gorbals Leisure Centre, Glasgow, and continue on 15/16 July at Bells Leisure Centre, Perth, before finishing three weeks later at Edinburgh's Jack Kane Centre.

Santos hopes
Mark Potter is player-manager of the Perth-based Santos, who were formed in 2000 and have dominated their local competitions. He told uefa.com: "The team are thrilled to be involved in the inaugural National Futsal Premier League and have high hopes of making a challenge for the title, although we are well aware of the difficult matches ahead. The toughest games are expected from Glasgow City, winners of the national cup event last year, Inverness Wanderers and Edinburgh United. The average age of our side is around 23, so the players are on a steep learning curve, but experience from tournaments in Belgium, Spain and England will hopefully stand us in good stead."




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