FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Announcing the UK's 'Futsal Premier League'
Discover why the Brazilian's are so good?

Jan 2004 -- For years the rest of the world has known about the the magic ball. It really does make a difference. Futsal. With origins in Uruguay, and made famous by Brazil over the past 70 years, the UK is finally waking up to the magic ball of Futsal.

5-a-side as we know it is set for a revolution. After a decade in 5-a-side darkness in the UK, the FPL is proud to announce that the top teams have got together finally and will compete in the UK's first Futsal Premier League.

Many of the teams competing have been in existence for several years now, but shadowed by the massive presence of walls and fuzzy balls here in the UK. But FIFA and UEFA have finally taken up the challenge to break down the final frontier in the UK. The Home Nation Football Associations are also making a much stronger push on Futsal. So all the ingredients are now there. With regional leagues growing fast, and national teams being formed, a few Futsal lovers got together and decided that it was time to form a league where the top teams could compete on a regular bases and at the same time help each other improve to compete harder with on the European and World stage.

FPL Academy & Futsal4All™

The league teams know that they need to compete with each other improve. They also know that they need to work together to help develop the sport. Hence, The FPL Academy has been formed to improve coaching and team development. There's also a grass roots development effort, under the banner of Futsal4All™, to help proliferate the game through school, university and community programs.

There are already great steps being made by others working in Futsal throughout the country, The Academy and Futsal4All initiatives are just our way of adding value to these efforts. We are looking to build partnerships with service providers and leagues. We hope our resources can add value to these initiatives in promoting greater adoption of the sport.

Girls Futsal

High up on the priorities at The FPL Academy is the women's game, championed through an early partnership with Girls4Sport, 'dedicated to the Performance and Style for active girls of all ages'.

QPR and Chelsea Ladies have been the first to really jump on board the sport. Graham Parker, coach with Chelsea Ladies FC commented, "Our coaches and some of our players went through the FPL Kick-Start session. It was obvious to me within minutes of playing with the ball that this would be an amazing way to help develop skills and greater confidence in our players!." Martino Chevannes, team coach with QPR Ladies added, "It's a fantastic new source for competition and development for us. It also provides an alternative path for some of our players. Some are already expressing interest in helping with the Futsal4All schools and community effort."

The FPL on Sponsorship

Mark Potter of the FPL has been playing and coaching Futsal for over 7 years. Mark's been running one of the UK's largest Futsal clubs, with 250 registered players, adult and youth. "Events at present are sponsored at a local level. By taking the vision of the FPL to a national level, and combining an elite league, academy, and grass roots model, our hope is that a large sponsor will see a tremendous opportunity at hand that can make a real difference in the development of Futsal and in Football in this country. The FPL welcomes any enquiries by potential sponsors."
(Mark Potter, Head Coach FPL)

For More Information Contact:

The Futsal Premier League
On Email: info@thefpl.com

Send mail to info@thefpl.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004 The Futsal Premier League