Ahead of the Emirates FA Cup Final at Wembley – which will see Crystal Palace and Manchester City go head-to-head to lift the trophy after progressing from the semi-final at the weekend – Emirates are hosting a five-a-side tournament at St. George’s Park, home to the England teams.
Teams competing in the Emirates 5’s will be made up of influencers, non-league players who represented their club in the Emirates FA Cup and individuals making a positive change in their local communities.
The competing teams will represent the Emirates Flight Hubs in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle. The four legends – Ben Foster, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Jermain Defoe and Shola Ameobi – will lead the sides.
Foster, also known by his YouTube alias as ‘The Cycling GK’, made over 500 career appearances, with 266 of those coming for Birmingham-based clubs, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion.
Two-time FA Cup winner Wright-Phillips, son of Ian Wright, clocked 217 appearances for Manchester City during his playing days before hanging up his boots and pursuing a career in punditry.
Former West Ham United and Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe, meanwhile, made a total of 467 appearances for London-based teams, scoring 22 goals in 39 FA Cup appearances.
And, completing the line-up, Ameobi bagged 53 goals in 398 appearances for Newcastle United, where he established himself as a cult hero, featuring 23 times in the FA Cup.
And with each city linked to an Emirates flight path international destination, the tournament’s top scorer and the player of the tournament are in with a chance of winning a flight to their city's corresponding country.
London is linked to Indonesia, Birmingham is linked to Dubai, Manchester is linked to Thailand while Newcastle is linked to Cambodia.
The tournament will also be streamed live via the official Emirates FA Cup YouTube channel, presented by Abbie McCarthy, with commentary and in-game analysis from founder and CEO of Hashtag United, Spencer Owen, and co-commentator and pitch side reporter, Morf.
