Boro seal their place in The Finals

Middlesbrough will be represented in the last 16 of The FA Futsal Cup for the second time in three seasons after securing a place with a 9-4 win over Grimsby YMCA in The FA Futsal League North.  Boro are now guaranteed to be in the top two of their league at the halfway stage, securing direct passage to the national Finals in July.

The win keeps Boro top, two points ahead of Sheffield & Hallamshire FC, and they remain on course for a place in The FA Futsal League Play-Offs at the end of the season – the English Championship deciders.

The FA Futsal Cup is open to all Futsal teams in England who qualify by winning regional competitions, then a play-off against other regional winners and national league teams who didn’t gain direct qualification. Over 400 teams play in regional competitions and, like The FA Cup, it can throw up some surprises.

The Cup is now in its seventh season, and only two years ago, the winners were crowned English Champions and awarded a place in the UEFA Futsal Cup.  Now The FA Futsal League is the number one competition in England, but The Cup remains a prestigious trophy to win and a spectacular event to be part of.

Middlesbrough will go into this season’s Finals directly and seeded by virtue of their league position, and while the league remains a priority at the moment, when The Cup comes around all energies will be on success against the best 15 teams in England.

Chairman and manager Damon Shaw is delighted to have secured a place in The Finals after missing out last year. “We were in a stage of transition last year but after enjoying our first experience of The Finals in 2007 we were naturally disappointed not to be there," he said. 

“It made us all the more determined this year though and with a lot of hard work on and off the pitch we now have the chance to pit ourselves against top teams from all over the country.”