National Five-a-Sides (England)

National Five-a-Sides
Founded1968[1]
Abolished1986[1]
RegionEngland (The FA)
Teams16 (1972–82)[2]
Last championsNorwich City (1st title)
Most championshipsWolverhampton Wanderers, Southampton (2 titles)
BroadcasterBBC (1972–83)[2][3]

The Daily Express National Five-a-Sides was an annual indoor football tournament for Football League clubs across England, with Scottish League clubs invited on occasions.[4] The competition was contested between 1968 and 1986 (and televised up to 1983).[1]

History

The Daily Express sponsored competition was held at Wembley Arena to packed crowds of between 8,000 and 10,000.[1] The competition was a covered by the BBC and highlighted on their Wednesday Sportsnight programme.[1][5] The last televised edition was in 1983.[1]

There was no coverage of the 1985 edition because of the TV blackout on football in England at the time.[6]

Scottish football teams received invites.[7] Other indoor tournaments popular around this time included Evening Standard London Five-a-Sides (around since 1954) and Guinness Soccer Six (inspired by MISL) competitions.[7] Both the national and London fives tournaments shared a home at the Wembley Arena between 1968 and 1986.[8]

Matches were split in two four minute halves.[1] Time limits for matches increased as the tournament progressed.[1] Though match lengths altered over the years.[1] Any drawn matches were resolved with a penalty shoot-out.[1] The rules included no passbacks to the goalkeeper and the ball must remain below shoulder height.[1]

Competing teams

  • 1974–75: Ipswich Town, Luton Town (East); Chelsea, Leyton Orient, QPR, Tottenham (London) Derby County, Leicester City, Stoke City, Wolves (Midlands); Middlesbrough (North East); Everton, Man City, Man United (North West); Celtic, Rangers (Scotland)[2][9]
  • 1975–76: Leyton Orient, Tottenham (London); Derby County (Midlands) Man City, Man United (North West)[2]
  • 1977–78: Ipswich Town (East), Arsenal, Chelsea, QPR, Tottenham, West Ham (London); Aston Villa, Coventry City, Derby County, Notts Forest, Wolves (Midlands); Newcastle United (North East); Everton, Man City, Man United (North West); Celtic (Scotland)[2]
  • 1978–79: Ipswich Town (East); Derby County, Wolves (Midlands); Man City, Man United (North West), Southampton (South East)[2]
  • 1980–81: Ipswich Town (East); Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, QPR, Tottenham (London); Aston Villa, Coventry, Notts Forest, WBA (Midlands); Newcastle United, Sunderland (North East); Man City, Man United (North West); Brighton (South East); Aberdeen (Scotland)[2]
  • 1981–82: Ipswich Town (East); Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, QPR, Watford, West Ham (London); Birmingham City, Coventry City, WBA (Midlands); Everton, Man United (North West); Southampton (South East); Celtic, Rangers (Scotland), Swansea City (Wales)[2]
  • 1982–83: Ipswich Town, Luton Town (East); Arsenal, QPR, Watford, West Ham (London); Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Notts Forest (Midlands), Sunderland, Newcastle United (North East), Man City, Man United (North West), Southampton (South East); Celtic (Scotland)[2]
  • 1986–87: Luton Town, Norwich City (East); Arsenal, Charlton, Tottenham, Watford, West Ham (London); Aston Villa, Coventry City, Notts Forest (Midlands); Man City, Man United (North West); Oxford United, Reading, Southampton (South East); Sheffield United (Yorkshire)[10]

List of Finals

Season Winners Score Runners up Final scorers[a] Ref[1]
1967–68 Charlton Athletic 1–0 Gillingham Peacock [11][12]
1968–69 No competition. Tournament moved from May to November.
1969–70 Manchester City 2–1 Swindon Town Bell, Young; Rodgers [13][14]
1970–71 Manchester United 2–1 Tottenham Hotspur Best (2); Knowles [15][16]
1971–72 Southampton 0–0
(1–0 p)		 Leicester City [17][18]
1972–73 Tottenham Hotspur 2– 2
(4–3 p)		 Ipswich Town Holder (2), Pratt, Pearce; Hamilton (2), Viljoen [15][19]
1973–74 Derby County 3–1 Celtic [20][21]
1974–75 Leyton Orient 2–0 Tottenham Hotspur Hoadley (2) [15][22][23]
1975–76 Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–1 Tottenham Hotspur Bailey, Hibbitt, Carr; McNab [24][25]
1976–77 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–1 Stoke City Daley, Hibbitt; Lumsdon [24][26]
1977–78 Ipswich Town 3–1 Coventry City ; Oakey [27]
1978–79 Crystal Palace 2–2
Penalties		 Chelsea [28]
1979–80 Sunderland 2–0 Brighton & Hove Albion Arnott, Buckley [29][30]
1980–81 Aston Villa 3–0 Chelsea Evans, Swain, Bremner [31]
1981–82 Celtic 1–0 Southampton Nicholas [20][32]
1982–83 Arsenal 2–0 Aston Villa McDermott, Talbot [33]
1983–84 Southampton 3–0 Aston Villa Wallace, Moran, Holmes [34][17]
1984–85 Watford 1–0 Aston Villa Sterling [35][36]
1985–86 Oxford United 2–2
(1–0 p)		 Arsenal ; Sansom (2) [37]
1986–87 Norwich City 5–0 Manchester City Putney (2), Culverhouse (2), Gordon [38]

Finalists by

League

League Winners Runners up
Football League First Division 13 14
Football League Second Division 5 2
Football League Third Division 0 1
Scottish Premier Division 1 1

Country

Country Winners Runners up
England England 18 17
Scotland Scotland 1 1

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Scorers from the winning team are listed first. The scorers from penalty shoot-outs were not included.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Football Nostalgia: National Daily Express 5-A-Side Competition". comicus.co.uk. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Results 1 to 13 of 13 for Five-a-Side National Championship". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  3. ↑ "TV CENTRE : BBC 1 & CENTRAL". Sandwell Evening Mail. 23 November 1983. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "Welcome to Issue 26". Nutmeg. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Subbuteo Football Express Set & Accessories". Little Plastic Men. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "BANNED". The People. 24 November 1985. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. 1 2 "Famous Fives". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
    "The glory days of televised indoor tournaments". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Football Nostalgia: London Evening Standard 5-A-Side Tournament". comicus.co.uk. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "Pick of the Night". Aberdeen Evening Express. 6 November 1974. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ "WEMBLEY DATE FOR ROYALS". Reading Evening Post. 19 July 1986. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "The 1960s". Gillingham FC Scrapbook. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Gills lose by the only goal". Kentish Express. 17 May 1968. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ↑ "National Daily Express 5 A Side Trophy 1969/70". City Till I Die. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "Wembley alp Number Two for Man. City". Acton Gazette. 13 November 1969. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. 1 2 3 "Other Activities". My Eyes Have Seen The Glory. Retrieved 19 July 2024. (new version)
    "Other Activities". My Eyes Have Seen the Glory. Retrieved 14 July 2020. (archived version)
  16. ↑ "Best turns on fives' magic". Belfast News Letter. 5 November 1970. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. 1 2 "WHEN SAINTS WENT TO WEMBLEY IN 1971". Saints Players. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  18. ↑ "Saints Players: Eric Martin". Saints Players. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  19. ↑ "Spurs take fives title". Western Daily Press. 16 November 1972. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. 1 2 "Daily Express Five-a-Side Challenge Cup". Retrieved 14 July 2020 – via The Celtic Wiki.
  21. ↑ "How much did Derby County legend John McGovern's medals net him at auction?". Derby Telegraph. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  22. ↑ "Phil Hoadley". leytonorient.com. Leyton Orient FC. 5 May 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  23. ↑ "Match: England 2–0 France, 7 November 1974, Plough Lane". Women's Football Archive. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  24. 1 2 "Bailey & co were five-a-side kings". Black & Country Bugle. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via pressreader.com.
    "The Days Of Five-A-Side!". Wolves Former Players Association. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  25. ↑ "Wolves lift fives trophy". Express & Star. 6 November 1975. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. ↑ "Wolves double". Belfast News Letter. 4 November 1976. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  27. ↑ "Famous five so close". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 10 November 1977. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  28. ↑ "National Daily Express 5-A-Side Competition - Penalty Shoot-out". comicus.co.uk. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  29. ↑ "Sunderland AFC; Daily Express 5 A Side Winners 1979/80". ryehillfootball.co.uk. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
    "Fever Pitch (Vol 1, Issue 1): August 2016" (PDF). safcnasa.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  30. ↑ "BRIGHTON FINISH SECOND IN FIVE-A-SIDE TOURNAMENT". thegoldstonewrap.com. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  31. ↑ "Villa take fives title". Express & Star. 27 November 1980. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  32. ↑ "25th November 1981- National Five-A-Side Football Championship (at Wembley Arena)". oldwatford.com. 25 November 1981. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  33. ↑ "Villa beaten in final". Express & Star. 25 November 1982. Retrieved 14 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  34. ↑ "Football Nostalgia: National Daily Express 5-A-Side Competition - Southampton". comicus.co.uk. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  35. ↑ "21st November 1984- Five-a-side Football National Championship (at Wembley Arena)". oldwatford.com. 21 November 1984. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  36. ↑ "Oddities: Sunderland's odyssey through a variety of weird & wonderful cup competitions". Roker Report. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  37. ↑ "Arsenal Programme (v Liverpool, Dec 14, 1985)" (PDF). eastlower.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
    "DAILY EXPRESS FIVE-A-SIDE". worthpoint.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  38. ↑ "INDOOR FOOTBALL". Late Tackle Football. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
    "Chris Goreham: Rolling with the punches is underpinning City and Farke's promotion assault". EDP. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
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