The biggest challenges facing the first year intake of 14 BTEC scholars was adjusting to a new education regime coupled with a game that was new to nearly all of them: Futsal.
Futsal is the only official worldwide version of five-a-side football that is recognised by FIFA, UEFA and The FA.
The game - played on a basketball court sized pitch using a lower bounce size four football - places great emphasis on technique, skill and decision-making.
Futsal is physically very demanding, with players operating at close to 90 per cent of their maximum heart rate at any given time.
Futsal is a growing sport in the UK, players such as Lionel Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi and Iniesta not forgetting Brentford’s very own Jota and Marcos Tébar all grew up playing the game.
The Brentford Futsal squad consists of students/players who were recruited via the Trust’s football programme and those that were keen to be educated in a different environment with the chance to train three times a week and play against other professional club’s representing Brentford FC in The Football League Trusts Futsal League.
The opening Festival took place at Birmingham International Futsal Arena in early September.
The Brentford ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams combined to win eight, draw one and lose one.
The players were challenged to ‘think’ Futsal with their movement, which is far more dynamic and less positional than traditional five-a-side football.
The Futsal Bees were placed in the South East Division along with Peterborough United, Southend United, Leyton Orient, Crawley Town, Brighton and Hove Albion, Norwich City plus Premier League Chelsea.
All the matches are played at SportHouse in Barking, which is a new facility built from Olympic regeneration funds and provides all the teams with a world-class facility to perform in.
Opening day wins for both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams against Peterborough got the scholars off to a good start in the league.
Better news was to follow with The FA Futsal Centre of Excellence inviting in three Brentford players (Abas Ali, Brad Scott and Louis Dailey) for trials.
A reality check for the ‘A’ team as they conceded six first half goals against a very good Brighton side and despite a better second half performance saw them lose 9-1.
The ‘B’ team also lost against Norwich 4-2 but wasted numerous chances in a game that they should have taken at least a point from.
The ‘A’ team playing a West London derby in East London lost a very competitive game against Chelsea 2-1 despite leading and our first year scholars playing against second years could look back on that performance with much pride.
The ‘B’ team ran out easy 7-1 winners against Southend.
It was the ‘B’ team who were involved in the league’s match of the day with a fascinating contest against Brighton’s well-established Futsal programme.
Brentford conceded a goal in the very first minute but from then on it was the TW8 scholars who took the game to The Seagulls and came away with a draw – taking a big step in establishing themselves as a team to be reckoned with.
The ‘A’ team cruised past Crawley with a comprehensive 6-1 win to keep the pressure on the top two teams in the league, Chelsea and Brighton.
The ‘A’s went head to head with familiar Football League rivals Leyton Orient and were made to work extremely hard in their 4-3 win.
In a hugely entertaining contest (this fixture is turning into a keen rivalry between Brentford and Chelsea) the ‘B’ team suffered a 3-2 defeat in the very last second of the game.
It was The Bees who took the game to their second year rivals taking the lead.
Brentford suffered two injuries, which meant that they had to play the last 12 minutes without any substitutes.
Chelsea piled on the pressure and equalised with 90 seconds to go and then devastatingly for The Bees, The Blues got the winner just before the buzzer sounded to end the game.
In the final set of fixtures prior to the Christmas period, the ‘A’ team scraped a draw against Southend.
The Bees were trailing 3-1 and were lucky it wasn’t more.
A Frankie Finn hat-trick though put Brentford 4-3 up but a defensive lapse allowed The Shrimpers to take a point.
The ‘B’ team put in a workmanlike performance in their 3-1 win over Peterborough.
Overall, the biggest challenge for our squad is that they are playing against second year scholars.
As the table shows we have competed well and are in a good position to challenge for the end of season play-offs.
The league resumes action tomorrow, Wednesday January 7, with an ‘A’ and ‘B’ team double header against Norwich.
Brentford Futsal is also now looking forward to playing in The SoccerAM Cup First Round, with the draw on Thursday, January 8.
Match previews, reports will appear on the Trust and Brentford FC website.
There is a dedicated Brentford FC Futsal page on the Football League Trust website so that you can follow the team more closely: