Last year’s EMF Champions League saw 68 teams competing for the gold in Maribor, coming from 23 different countries. With minifootball constantly gaining popularity in Europe, in this year’s edition of ECL several countries will be represented for the first time at the event. One of these national associations will be Ireland, sending two teams to Terme Catez, Slovenia.
Current President of the Minifootball Association of Ireland (MAI), Emmet Switzer, was appointed this year and now is in charge of developing minifootball in Ireland. After learning about the EMF Champions League, MAI invited the top 15 minifootball teams of Ireland to participate. At the end two teams decided to be part of the Champions League this September.
Transylvania FC of Dublin has numerous teams, including an 11-a-side football team that plays in the LSL (Leinster Senior League), an over-35 team playing in the AFL (Amateur Football League) and a futsal team that plays in the AUL Futsal league. Transylvania FC represented Ireland in the UEFA Futsal Cup as well, having played in the preliminary round in Switzerland this weekend.
For an amateur club, Transylvania FC have had massive success in Ireland winning many of the main titles, and also representing Ireland in the Football 5s World Championship for the past three years. Last year they came third at the F5WC, and this September, in Slovenia they are about to try their strength in minifootball as well.
Other team representing Ireland will be WhoYaPlayin’ FC, the team that won the Irish leg of Neymar Jr’s 5-a-side Tournament and advanced to the World Finals this July, in Brazil. WhoYaPlayin’ FC is made of friends knowing each other from university, who put the team together in 2015, and play mainly for fun.
Their record in the Neymar 5-a-side Tournament was impressive, with no goals scored against them in the Irish competition. They are now up for the challenge to take the step up, and see how they will perform at an EMF Champions League level.
As MAI is involved with nearly all of the leagues in Ireland, they are confident that they will have more teams participating and sponsored for the 2018 EMF Champions League, said President Mr. Switzer. The association’s main goal is to put Ireland on the minifootball map this year, and to start a massive program to compete strongly for both the EMF EURO and WMF World Cup next year.