Five-A-Side Boom - 08/09/2007

A rise in the number of people playing five-a-side football sent profits shooting up at Goals Soccer Centres. The company, which is building a chain of five-a-side centres across Britain, said pre-tax profits were up 47 per cent from £2.1m to £3.1m in the first six months of the year on a 31 per cent rise in sales from £7.5m to £9.7m. The centres, which attract around 80,000 footballers a week, typically include floodlit artificial pitches, changing rooms, car parking and a bar. Managing director Keith Rogers claimed that the increase in sales had in part been driven by the fact that more people are now playing five-a-side which is the most popular form of participation football in Britain. There was a time when companies would sponsor a works eleven-a-side team, but these days are largely over. Now groups of work colleagues (or friends) can get together to play five-a-side. Mr Rogers said the company was looking to accelerate the rate of openings from 2008 to between five and 10 sites in the UK a year. He said there was room for growth as Goals and Powerleague, the other main player in the five-a-side football market, had only 58 sites between them.