Author: Mike Birchall

by Mike Birchall

CrowdScores Trial Starting Now!

We are delighted to announce the start of our partnership with CrowdScores! We are currently running live scores as a trial this season from our Wednesday League!

In partnership with SK Ballers, CrowdScores are giving you the opportunity to view your performances alongside the professional players! Compare yourself with your rivals and your teammates in the CrowdScores app to check up on the latest scores, goalscorers and where your team stands.

Within the app, you can also favourite your own 6-a-side team, as well as the team you support. You can then set up alerts for your own games, as well as Premier League teams.

So you can get a notification for Aguero scoring and then five minutes later an alert for your own team scoring.

Referees are able to use the app to input the scores as the goals go in. This means that you will receive goal notifications instantaneously to your phone. So you can keep track of your team, even when you are not playing!

Why not contribute to your own player? Add to your profile, view your statistics and compare yourself to your teammates and the superstars for the elite leagues.

Download today and try out CrowdScores: https://crwd.sc/SkBallers

by Mike Birchall

Weekly Round Up – 5th April 2019

LEAGUE NEWS

So our being completely and totally full was never going to last forever, so here’s where we have spaces:

SUNDAY LEAGUE: PREMIERSHIP

MONDAY LEAGUE: PREMIERSHIP

And that’s it! We’re obviously hopeful these spaces won’t be around long, so if you’re wanting to get going you best get in touch.

We’re still running our Ballers survey and would really appreciate as many players as possible taking part. It’ll take no time at all, so just click on the link and quickly answer the questions. Thanks!

https://bit.ly/2uuXpE5

SUNDAY LEAGUE

Mother’s Day gave us a minor kicking this week as very few teams were able to play the early games due to other commitments, but we had a full house in the later scheduled games to make up for it.

PREMIERSHIP

We finally had a full turnout in the top division for the first time this season, and there was a battle between current and former champions as Beercalona took on Duno. Duno struck first through Ste Nevins early goal, but Beercalona were in control at 4-1 at the break. Tykio Williams top scored with three as they made it three wins from three to start their title defence with a 6-2 victory. Kipsta Cobras finally made their first start of the season against an impressive looking Morning Glory. An even first half turned into a one sided second period as Morning Glory turned 1-1 into 6-1 with Jack Taylor grabbing 4, as the Glory pick up their second win. This week marks Sevilla Lacatalent‘s second and final Premiership game, as Demell Cumberbatch scored 8 of Gangs Of Dwight Yorke‘s 18 goals in an 18-4 win. We’ll find Sevilla a space in the Championship for next week…..

CHAMPIONSHIP

The only Championship game saw a repeat of last week’s game as FC AOTS took on Stockport Eagles. Last week’s game finished as a draw, and this one looked to be heading the same way before Paul Buckley’s 5th of the game in the final minute gave AOTS a very hard fought 8-7 win, meaning Paul Waugh’s 4 goals for Eagles counted for nothing.

LEAGUE ONE

The game between Team Tom and Pique Blinders wasn’t as close as we were anticipating, as two teams who we’d expect to be in the top 4 at the split were miles apart on the score card this week. Chris Philpott’s finishing was the key difference, as he scored 9 of Team Tom’s 10 as they ran out 10-2 winners. Polish Army have bounced back from an opening night defeat to win their last three, with Step Brothers their latest victims as Dawid scored half of their goals in an 8-4 win. FC Stront Bakken won a mini classic against Inter Your Sister this week, and while Lukas Voveris might have topped the scoring list with 4 of their goals in a 6-4 win, it was Shaun Jemison’s goal in his final Ballers game before he joins the Navy that caught the eye, described by some (one) as the best goal ever scored at Ballers…..

LEAGUE TWO

SK Six made it three wins from 4 to start their season, with Steve Blunsten scoring a brace in a hard fought win over CA FC, who are slowly becoming more competitive at this level. There were more goals in the other game from this division this week, as ManTun FC returned after missing the last couple of weeks to claim a point as they shard 16 goals with Pathetico Madrid. Michael Winn with 5 and Adam Norton with three scored all of Pathetico’s goals, while Sabri Salemi scored three as ManTun shared the goals around a little more.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE NOW HAS ONE SPACE IN THE TOP DIVISION – GET IN TOUCH TO REGISTER YOUR TEAM TODAY!

MONDAY LEAGUE

As we approached the mid point of the Monday season, we had a little reshuffle of the divisions to ensure that everyone was getting the kind of game they would want, so Kinky Slipper and Diva Fever switched positions for the remainder of the campaign. Unfortunately, and a little out of the blue, we lost Pathetico Madrid which was a tough one to take as they were proving to be a decent side in a decent top division. Hopefully at some point they will be back.

PREMIERSHIP

Netsix & Chill bounced back to form with a shock victory over league leaders Expected Toulouse last week, but they were unable to build on that win against Grand Street Wanderers this week as GSW moved into second place in the table with a fairly comfortable 8-3 win. Joe Bowden grabbed three of their goals and Mark Harrision a brace as Grand Street always kept this game at arms length. Kinky Slipper went kicking and screaming into the top division, claiming they were too old and too fat to be able to compete at the top level, but they lead 3-0 at the break against Nice Buns, and Rob Cresswell’s second of the game in the final few minutes helped them to see out a 5-2 win that confirms they will be staying right where they are. At least Buns had their nice new shirts to celebrate…..

CHAMPIONSHIP

After a period of time to settle, Ruby Kazam looked destined for a place in the Premiership next season, and they ended Unprotected Cesc‘s recent improved form in some style as Josh Welsh, Howie Thomas-Leech and Jahid Hussain all scored trebles in a comfortable 13-3 win. Delph & Safety looked to have their game with Athletico Pathetico wrapped up by half time last night as two goals each from Mitch Massa and Aaron Widdowson saw them take a 5-1 lead into the break. They ended up hanging on though as Chris Brown’s double meant Pathetico had 10 minutes to nick a draw, but they couldn’t find the leveler as Delph return to winning ways to stay second. Diva Fever‘s return to the Championship showed that they have potential to become a bit of a yo-yo side, as they picked up an 11-8 win over Phantom Brazilians in a game that they were always in reasonable control of. Shane Bridges pipped Joe Dodd in the scoring efforts, scoring 4 to Joe’s three, while Matt Barton’s 4 for Phantom were in a losing effort.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE NOW HAS ONE SPACE IN THE TOP DIVISION – GET IN TOUCH TO REGISTER YOUR TEAM TODAY!

TUESDAY LEAGUE

Three games survived this week while United were stuttering at Wolves, but the top two at the start of play were both in action this week. Club Tropicana were in action first, and took the chance to go 4 points clear at the top as they eventually saw off a spirited effort from Ballotellitubbies. Three goals from Danny Moss and two from Ben Cunliffe were enough to help them turn a two goal half time lead into an 8-3 victory. On paper the game of the night involved two teams who were unbeaten since joining as Gud Vybz took on For Fuch’s Sake. A topsy turvy first half saw Vybz lead 4-2 at the break after a couple of late goals, and they proved to be the stronger team in the second period as doubles from Jack Clayton, Danny Hargreaves, Jordan Young and Harry Partridge eased them to a 9-3 win. Bandit Athletic and Michu At De Gea Ba were involved in the most closely fought game of the week, with Connor Harding scoring the only goal of the opening period for Bandit. His second in the second period ended up being the decisive goal as Bandit held on for a 3-2 win that sees them jump to third.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL – SUNDAY OR MONDAY ARE THE NIGHTS FOR NEW TEAMS!

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

The opening night of the new Wednesday league saw us having to turn Wellspring away as all 7 teams were ready to go, despite City being at home. With the champs absent, the still relatively new team, New Team would be looking to continue their 100% start to Ballers life against Stockport Eagles. There was little doubt that would be the case when they went into the break 5-0 up, and 4 goals from Matt Brown helped them see out an improved Eagle second half performance as they start the season with a 9-4 win. Last season’s bottom two faced off on the opening night, and new boy Mateusz Szymborski was the difference with a hat trick as Out Of Shape FC got off to a winning start, beating Exeter Gently 6-4. On The Beach FC made their league debut, but had teething problems as three of their lads didn’t turn up, and as a result they were hammered 12-2 by FC Rhino Ket, Sam Roberts grabbing 4 and Louis Moore three.

THERE’S NO SPACES TO BE HAD IN THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE – LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR SPACES!

by Mike Birchall

Weekly Round Up – 29th March 2019

LEAGUE NEWS

Still not a lot to ‘sell’ in terms of new leagues or vacancies at the minute, so we’ll just give everyone a quick reminder of our BALLERS SURVEY that we would really like as many teams as possible to complete. It will only take about 30 seconds to complete, so please click on the link below:

https://bit.ly/2uuXpE5

SUNDAY LEAGUE

Out of the blue, and for no particular reason, we seemed to have a larger than normal amount of teams struggling this weekend, so this won’t take long….

PREMIERSHIP

Literally not a solitary game to report on in the top division this week, as Kipsta Cobras, Gangs Of Dwight Yorke and Sevilla Lacatalent were all unable to field a side.

CHAMPIONSHIP

FC AOTS were three from three heading into their rearranged game with Stockport Eagles. They looked like making it 4 in a row as Paul Buckley’s 4 goals saw them head into the final stages with a 5-4 lead, but Paul Waugh’s last minute leveler, his second of the game, added to Michael Winn’s hat trick, meant that both teams shared the points. It was a week to forget for The Veterans as 5 goals from Tom Hall and doubles from Williamson’s Charlie and Jimmy gave Nice Buns B a very comfortable 9-2 victory in their game this week.

LEAGUE ONE

League One looks like anyone’s this season, and Polish Army took top spot this week after Mateusz scored three and Sebastian two as they picked up a 5-1 win over FC Stront Bakken to pick up their second win of the season. Team Tom are up into second after their second straight one goal victory. They came back after trailing 2-1 at the break to Fat Boys Run Wild to win 3-2 with Tom Hornsby scoring the winner 4 minutes from time. The McMuffin Men finally got their campaign up and running at the third time of asking and started off with a comfortable 10-4 win over Step Brothers. Daniel Havern was the main man as his 5 goals proved to be the difference.

LEAGUE TWO

New team NHTMD FC had the chance to take top spot from SK Six this week if they could pick up their second three pointer since joining, and that’s what they did as Ryan Conway scored three of their 5 in a fairly comfortable 5-1 win. Deportivo Lack Of Talent are finally off the mark at the third attempt as they picked up a 5-3 win over Pathetico Madrid, Rhys Moult grabbing tow of their goals as they leapfrog this weeks opponents and climb out of the bottom two.

FRIENDLIES

Neither CA FC or Pique Blinders had league opposition this week, so we decided any game was better than no game. The game was played in the right spirit, but the Blinders are clearly at least a level above this weeks opposition, and they won this one 17-2 with Chris Sinclair scoring 7, Cameron Higginbottom and Connor Ferguson both grabbing three apiece.

ONE SPACE HAS BECOME AVAILABLE IN THE SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP – GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS!

MONDAY LEAGUE

PREMIERSHIP

Expected Toulouse looked to be in cruise control on the way to claiming the Monday Premiership title this season, and would have anticipated another three points against struggling champions Netsix & Chill. Netsix didn’t get that memo though, as two goals each from Chris Murray and Jimmy Leeson saw them lead 4-1 at the break, and though Waz Akram pulled two back for Toulouse in the second half, a late brace from Mike Pinder sealed a shock win for the champs. The other Premiership game played this week was a cracker as Grand Street Wanderers and Nice Buns went at it. Jay Bebbington can feel unfortunate to have ended up on the losing side as his brilliant hat trick wasn’t enough to stop Nice Buns claiming a 5-4 win, with Charlie Williamson and Paul Cheetham grabbing two each for them.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Kinky Slipper joined us in the Monday league this week, but they probably won’t be sticking around in the Championship for long as they ended leaders Ruby Kazam‘s 100% start to the season. Wesley Harney grabbed three, James Radcliffe and Rob Cresswell two each as they started off with a 9-5 victory. Unprotected Cesc‘s improvement continued as they picked up a first point from a hard fought 4-4 draw with Delph & Safety. Late goals from Pete Tickle and Fidelis Eberegbe, their second each of the game, claimed the point for Cesc after Andrew Harrison’s double had helped Delph to a 4-2 lead heading into the final stages. It was one of Athletico Pathetico‘s bad weeks this week, as Phantom Brazilians picked up the most comfortable of 12-1 victories, with Daniel Clayton grabbing half of their goals and Matt Barton picking up three for himself.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE IS FULL! GET IN TOUCH TO JOIN OUR WAITING LIST

TUESDAY LEAGUE

We had a feeling that the game between unbeaten Gangstas Allardyce and new boys Gud Vybz would be a good one, and it looked like being a belter when Vybz went in at half time with a narrow 2-1 lead. no one could have predicted that the second half would become so one sided as Declan Hince added three more to his first half goal, with Lewis Settle and Callum Bullock grabbing three each as the new team romped to a 14-3 win. This meant that we would have new league leaders if either Club Tropicana or For Fuchs Sake could pick up a win, and Club Tropicana did their work early by heading into half time of their game with previous unbeaten Stroke Titty 5 goals to the good. Nick Goodwin got three of their goals as they saw out the second half to claim a 7-3 victory. Fuchs looked to be fluffing their lines as they trailed against struggling Only Kruls & Horses 4-2 with 12 minutes to go, but they maintained their unbeaten record as Alex Amidulla scored three late goals to add to a brace from Tom Smith to give them an unlikely looking 7-4 win. Sons moved into 4th place with a surprisingly comfortable 9-3 win over Bandit Athletic, with Asa Melville pipping Matt Peck on the score card as he grabbed 5 to Peck’s 4, with Bandit dropping into the bottom half.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS FULL! GET IN TOUCH TO JOIN OUR WAITING LIST

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

We closed out the final couple of fixtures of the Wednesday league season this week, and the champions Wellspring FC finished off their campaign by proving to be stronger at the long game against FC Rhino Ket. They scored 5 in the last 15 minutes to run out 12-6 winners, with Shane Bridges scoring 4 and Mike Cocks three, while Louis Moore scored 4 of his own in a losing cause. The still relatively new team New Team ended up finishing second, despite only playing 6 games, and they also finished strongly with 4 goals in the final 11 minutes to turn a closely fought 2-1 scoreline into a 6-1 win over Exeter Gently, John Shaw scoring twice. A genuinely new team with a link to New Team joined us for a first game this week, but it was a less than gentle introduction for On The Beach FC as fitness and rustiness went against them as Tomasz Glebiowski scored 5 goals in an 11-1 win for Out Of Shape FC. We’re sure things will get better over time….. With teams falling over each other to get a game this week, we even threw Stockport Eagles and Netsix & Chill into the cage for a 5-a-side game, and a late burst of goals gave Netsix a 9-5 win.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS FULL! GET IN TOUCH TO JOIN OUR WAITING LIST

by Mike Birchall

Weekly Round Up – 22nd March 2019

It’s been a little while, so we’ll be dishing a load of trophies out this week to all those teams who have been due following the recent completion of some of our leagues. Hopefully the photos will be taken in front of our brand new media board…..

LEAGUE NEWS

The only new league we have starting in the near future will be the Wednesday league which kicks off on 3rd April, but as there isn’t likely to be any spaces for that, we’ll just suggest you can ask to be put on a waiting list for now, as you would with ALL of our current leagues!

If you are a current Baller, we would really appreciate you getting involved in our BALLERS SURVEY. We aren’t looking for compliments, we are just after some basic information to help us put our future plans into place which will hopefully improve the service we can provide for all of our teams. Please click the link below to take part, it will take about 30 seconds and involves typing no more than 2-3 words!

https://bit.ly/2YdXXMf

SUNDAY LEAGUE

PREMIERSHIP

As well as the points being at stake at the start of a new Sunday league season, the Beercalona v Gangs Of Dwight Yorke game also doubled as a play off to decide last season’s title. This game had a bit of everything, and with Beercalona needing the win to take the title, hat tricks from Jay Ratciffe and Tykio Williams, his third two minutes from time looked to have given them the win at 10-8. Gangs also had trebles from Aden Jones and Ray Donnelly throughout the game, and Callum Jones last minute penalty made it 10-9, but Beercalona held on for the final few seconds to claim the three points and the title. The other Premiership game gave us less tension, as Morning Glory picked up their first three pointer of the new season by seeing off Championship winners Sevilla Lacatalent 11-1 with 4 goals from Scott Norris, and two each from Jack Taylor and Tom Hockley.

CHAMPIONSHIP

FC AOTS are the only side on 6 points after two weeks as three goals from Eoghan Scott and Adam Duty helped them pick up a 9-2 win over Nice Buns B. An unusual looking Stockport Eagles side fell to a second straight defeat as The Veterans picked up a first win with Dean Minshull scoring three of their goals in a 7-4 win, moving them up to third in the early league tables.

LEAGUE ONE

There was no surprises as to who the MOTM was in Pique Blinders 12-2 win over FC Stront Bakken this week, as Josh Borthwick was almost single handidly the difference between the teams, scoring 8 of their goals as they go top after their first game of the season. The game between Team Tom and Inter Your Sister was also decided by a single player as Chris Philpott scored all 4 of Team Tom’s goals as they held on for a 4-3 win in their first game of the season too. Polish Army were also first time winners at the second attempt this week, as Mateusz scored two of their goals in a 6-2 win over Fat Boys Run Wild

LEAGUE TWO

SK Six are the early leaders in league two after a very hard fought 3-1 win over Deportivo Lack Of Talent, with Harry Bridge scoring a goal in each half to clinch their second straight win to start the season. New team NHTMD FC started Ballers life with a win over Pathetico Madrid. They had 5 different scorers but Ryan Conway was the only one to score more than one as he helped himself to 4 as they go into second place with an 8-3 win. It’s a FIRST LEAGUE WIN for CA FC as Jonny Barton scored three of their goals in a 6-3 win over Las Vegas Dragons.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL, BUT A COUPLE OF TEAMS LOOK TO BE STRUGGLING. SO IF YOU ENQUIRE NOW YOU CAN BE FIRST ON THE WAITING LIST FOR A SPACE….

MONDAY LEAGUE

PREMIERSHIP

Two teams with very different expecation levels faced off this week as Expected Toulouse looked to maintain their 100% start against Diva Fever, who were 0 from 1 to start the season. It quickly became apparent that this was going to be a one sided affair, and 4 goals each from Liam Mottram and Ryan Dolan helped them to a very comfortable 14-1 victory. The rest of the division looks much more competitive, and Pathetico Madrid v Grand Street Wanderers showed that. A 4-1 GSW half time lead became a 5-4 lead with 10 minutes to go, but Bevan’s second of tha game 7 minutes from time clinched a 6-4 victory, with Jack Pogson also grabbing a double for Grand Street and Darren Fleury scoring a brace in reply for Pathetico, who suffer their first defeat of the season.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Two 100% records went up against each other at the top of the Championship as Delph & Safety took on Ruby Kazam. After falling behind to Mitch Massa’s early goal, Ruby took control and three Jahid Hussain goals, along with two each from Chris Wellings and Josh Welsh helped them to an 8-2 vicotry, with Massa getting his second for Delph as a consolation. Unprotected Cesc seem to be getting there in terms of match fitness as they ease their way into Ballers life, but it was another defeat this week as three goals from Daniel Clayton and two from Matt Barton helped Phantom Brazilians ease to an 8-4 win wich gives them their first points of the season. Josh Greaves repleied with a couple for Cesc, who continue to show steady signs of improvement as the weeks go on. New team ‘The Albo‘ came in to give Athletico Pathetico a game with a view to taking the space we currently have in the Championship, and this was a good, competitive game to start with as they played out a 6-6 draw with Dan Dignam and Callum McGlynn grabbing a hat trick for either side.

THE MONDAY LEAGUE IS NOW FULL!! GET IN TOUCH TO JOIN OUR WAITING LIST AND GET SOME FRIENDLIES UNDER YOUR BELT WHILE YOU WAIT FOR A SPACE

TUESDAY LEAGUE

One in, one out this week as the Tuesday league remains full, with just one team missing this week. With Gansta’s Allardyce missing an opposition this week, other sides had the chance to close the gap at the top, and Club Tropicana FC took full advantage against a Sons team who were short a couple of regulars, winning 5-0 with Danny Moss scoring three of their goals. New boys Gud Vybz look likely to be a handfull for the other top teams as they started off with a comfortable 12-3 win over FC as Harry Partridge grabbed 5 while Jordan Young helped himself to three. Michu At De Gea Ba have had a very tough run of fixtures to start the season, and that continued this week as they faced For Fuchs Sake, who raced into a 6-2 half time lead in this one. A much tighter second half finished 1-1, meaning Fuchs move up to 4th with Tom Smith scoring three and Liam Paull grabbing a crucial late first half double. Bandit Athletic look like being a team who will be on the border of top half / bottom half when the league splits, and they moved into the top half with their second win of the season over a struggling Only Kruls & Horses who haven’t picked up a point since the opening day. Kyle Clarke top scored with 5 of Bandit’s goals as they won 10-7, despite 4 goals in reply from Jack Mullern. FC AOTS recent grim form looked set to continue this week as they trailed 4-1 at half time against Ballotellitubbies, but a second half fightback which saw Callum Jones score 7, the last of which being a last minute winner, saw AOTS pick up a 9-8 win to secure their second win of the season.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL. TO JOIN THE CURRENTLY NON-EXISTANT WAITING LIST, GET IN TOUCH!

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Wellspring could have expected a guard of honour before tonight’s game with Exeter Gently as we finish up the final fixtures for another Wednesday season. This was a much better performance from Exeter this week after last week’s hammering, but they still came away with nothing as a hat trick from Mike Devitt helped the two time champions to a narrow 7-5 win. Stockport Eagles were in danger of losing second place as New Team were quickly making up the ground having joined late, and they would have lost it this week but for two goals in the final minute from Paul Waugh gave them a point from a 4-4 draw with Out Of Shape FC, with Ryan McAndrew also grabbing two for them while Milosz Zawila had earlier struck a double for the Shapers. New Team closed the gap on Eagles with an 8-4 win over FC Rhino Ket, with the goals being equally shared between John Shaw and Rob Elliott, while Dave Peters struck three for Rhino Ket

THE NEW WEDNESDAY SEASON STARTS ON 3RD APRIL. FOR MORE DETAILS GET IN TOUCH!

by Mike Birchall

Weekly Round Up – 15th March 2019

Well, we’re desperately looking forward to the Champions League draw so we know which Tuesday and Wednesday league night will be getting ruined in the next few weeks. It’s an absolute guarantee that United and City will be on different nights, causing absolute chaos…… And the weather has gone rubbish again…..

LEAGUE NEWS

No real league news to bring you this week, as three of the 4 leagues have just restarted, while the other one remains full with a couple of teams on a waiting list!

One thing we will be doing over the next few weeks is asking all of our customers to take 30 seconds of their time to fill in a quick customer survey. We will be using the data received from this survey to try and put a plan in place that will improve everything we have to offer within our leagues, so if you could take that small amount of time out your day to fill it in, it would be appreciated. The whole thing is made up of tick boxes, and you’ll only be asked to type two or three words……

SUNDAY LEAGUE

Our brand new, bigger than ever Sunday league kicked off this week, but that pesky Arsenal v United 4.30pm game meant that we weren’t able to have a full night of fixtures. Here’s what happened….

PREMIERSHIP

Only one game took place in the top flight on the opening night as Gangs Of Dwight Yorke were left high and dry by the cancellations from Beercalona, Kipsta Cobras and Sevilla Lacatalent. The one game that went ahead saw Duno FC minutes away from a win on their return to the Sunday league, but they threw away a three goal lead in the final 6 minutes as a Scott Norris hat trick rescued a 4-4 draw for Morning Glory.

CHAMPIONSHIP

There was a full house in the Championship with three very close games played out. The biggest win saw FC AOTS pick up a 7-4 victory over The Veterans, with Eoghan Scott helping himself to three of them, Steve Whittle and Adam Duty grabbing a brace each. Bangers & Pash dropped into the Championship this season, and will start as one of the favourites for an immediate return to the top flight. They beat Murder On Zidane’s Floor 5-3 with Rhys Clooney claiming three. The other relegated side, Stockport Eagles, didn’t have a good start to Championship life as they lost 5-4 to Nice Buns B, with Williamson’s Jimmy and Charlie both netting twice.

LEAGUE ONE

Polish Army would have been hoping for better times this season after they struggled through most of last season’s Championship campaign, but despite 4 goals from Bania they were beaten 11-8 by Inter Your Sister this week, with Scott Norris notching 6 of their goals, and Leigh Edwards three more. FC Stront Bakken returned to the full league after joining our mini league towards the end of last season, and they got off to a winning start, narrowly beating the returning Step Brothers 7-6 with Ryan Stringer scoring three and Dylan Marginarisa two. Jordan Simpson and Chris Moore both scored doubles for Step Brothers, but their return ended in defeat.

LEAGUE TWO

Carnage in the game between new team Las Vegas Dragons and SK Six as Vegas weren’t able to provide the required number of players at kick off time. No real surprise that SK were comfortable 6-1 winners with Harry Bridge and Henry Cooke both claiming two goals each. Pathetico Madrid picked up a first win since their return, beating CA FC 6-3 in the last game of the night, John Lodge and Michael Winn both scored twice for them. Another first time winner were ManTun FC, who beat Deportivo Lack Of Talent 6-5 with Mike Devitt scoring two, meaning doubles from Jamie Berrisford and Rob Parker were in vain.

THE SUNDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL!

MONDAY LEAGUE

PREMIERSHIP

Expected Toulouse look to be up for making amends after narrowly missing out on last season’s title, but looked to have a tricky task this week against a Grand Street Wanderers side who cost them the title last season. Two goals each from Liam Mottram and Waz Akram allowed them to recover from going behind early to pick up a 6-3 win that sees them make it two wins from two to start the new campaign. Champions Netsix & Chill and this weeks opponents Nice Buns were both looking to bounce back from opening day defeats , and it was the newly promoted side that came out on top here as doubles all round from Paul Cheetham, Jimmy and Charlie Williamson saw them run out 6-4 winners, with Wayne Reeves hat trick counting for nothing.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Delph & Safety look to be leading contenders for promotion after they pikec up a second successive comfortable win, beating Athletico Pathetico 9-1, with Mitch Massa scoring 4. Ruby Kazam are also looking good after a second straight win to start the season, 10-3 over Unprotected Cesc, with Jordan Cunningham and Howie Thomas-Leech both grabbing hat tricks.

FRIENDLIES

Phantom Brazilians and Diva Fever were both let down by their respective oppositions late on this week, so a hastily arranged friendly meant they both still got a game. It was a pretty decent one too as Paul Wilkinson’s 5 goals were the difference as Phantom ran out 7-5 winners.

WE CAN FIND SPACE FOR ONE MORE NEW TEAM IN THE MONDAY CHAMPIONSHIP – GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS!

TUESDAY LEAGUE

Only two games survived as City strolled into the next round of the Champions League, pretty much guaranteeing us further disruption in the coming weeks. Yay. The big game of the night saw Gangstas Allardyce and Club Tropicana put their unbeaten starts on the line, and this one was as close as we expected it to be. In the end three goals from Adam Needham were enough to give Gangstas a narrow 4-3 win, with Ben Cunliffe’s double for Tropicana not enough for them to get anything from this one. FC proved to be the stronger side in the final straight against Bandit Athletic this week, turning a 3-3 scoreline into a 10-3 win as Nicky Edwards scored three, Jay Willingham and Liam Booth two apeice.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL! SUNDAY AND MONDAY ARE THE BEST BETS FOR LEAGUE SPACES

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

The title would be just about done and dusted it Wellspring FC could see off second placed Stockport Eagles this week, and 6 goals from Mike Cocks ensured they did that, winning 8-4 to pick up a second straight Wednesday league title. They will be sure to face a stiff challenge from New Team next season, who continued their 100% start to Ballers life by beating a spirited Out Of Shape FC 8-2, having scored late in the first half to lead 2-1 at the break . Adams two goals for the Out Of Shapers weren’t enough as three from Phil Franklin and doubles from Adam Murphy and Matt Brown saw New Team to the win. Exeter Gently struggled to field a side this week, and when they eventually did that side found themselves 10-0 down at the break against FC Rhino Ket. A more ‘competitive’ second half saw a final score of 15-2 in Rhino’s favour, with Jack Kerton scoring 5, Dave Peters and Bevan Hibbert both claiming hat tricks.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL! SUNDAY & MONDAY ARE YOUR BEST BETS….

by Mike Birchall

Ballers Blog – The Beginners Guide….

As we’re now two and a half years into Project Baller, we have a number of teams who’ve been with us for a while who have been able to establish their own way of playing. While we have divisions on each night to allow new teams to come in at a standard that hopefully suits them, any team that is brand new to the 6-a-side game will find themselves playing catch up in terms of how to best set themselves up. If you’re looking to get the lads together this year to get your first small sided team set up, or if you’ve played before but have a new set of lads, here’s some pointers that should hopefully allow a team of average players to get themselves set up to be competitive right from day 1…..

In the early days it is probably best to channel your inner Mourinho, rather than your inner Pep….

THE BASICS

Get behind the ball

While you are trying to work out your teams best way to play, the best way to start is to plan to concede as few goals as possible. An ideal start point is to go with the basic idea that when you give the ball away, immediately get as many players back behind the ball as you can. If you can avoid giving your opposition the time and space to play in your half of the pitch, you give yourselves the best chance of being competitive in those early games

Stick with your man

6’s is a lot different to 11’s, you can’t carry too many players who aren’t willing to do the work, so when you’ve picked up your man you need to stick with them. None of this zonal marking nonsense, pick your man, stick with them, and work your backside off to get back to them if they get away.

Split from the keeper

This is small sided 101. When your keeper has ball in hand or a goal kick, you need players to split either side of the goal area to give the keeper options of playing the ball out from the back. The opposition will probably retreat back towards their own half at this point, but if they leave players up to stop you from playing the ball out this way, it’s best that you DON’T PLAY A SHORT PASS OUT INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE PITCH! If you try a short pass to a player inside your own half and that player loses the ball, the two defenders being split either side of the keeper will leave the opposition player with a free shot on goal. If the short pass is cut off, it’s best to go long.

Have an ‘out’ ball

It’s likely that every team you play against will leave someone at the back at all times, so you have the option of leaving someone up (this player still needs to be able to track the oppositions ‘last man’ if and when he gets the ball). When your team is under pressure it’s important that this player takes up a position where he is at least able to make life difficult for the opposition when the long ball gets played out. This means working across the width of the pitch depending on where the ball is in order to offer up the option of a ball being played down the line.

COMMUNICATION

Have a ‘talker,’ preferably someone at the back with a full view of everything. Ideally, the keeper is best placed to do this as they really can see everything, but if they aren’t the loudest or the most talkative, it is probably best being a defensive outfield player. The nominated player needs to be talking almost non-stop, keeping players on their toes and letting them know where the opposition players are going, who should be picking up who, and generally encouraging their players to keep going. Individually everyone needs to be talking to each other as well, it maybe that you need to ‘hand a player over’ to one of your team mates while you go and pick up someone else. Make sure you tell your team mates what you’re doing, otherwise it looks like you’re just going for a wander!

BE SUPPORTIVE

I’m not sure I’ve ever known any player get considerably better by having his team mates giving him a load of grief every time he gives the ball away. You’re all part of the same team and should all want the same thing. The early days are likely to be the most difficult, and also the time where players decide it might not be for them, so treat these early games as the learning curves they are, be positive and support each other when players make mistakes, and remember the chances are that the team you’re playing against have been doing this a lot longer than you! If you’re wanting to join a league for a new season, you’re best off taking up the option of any friendlies that might come up in the meantime, so you can get the team used to the style of 6’s before the real thing kicks off!

DON’T OVERPLAY

Unless you actually have your own David Silva or Kevin De Bruyne, chances are you’re going to want to throw Pep’s philosophy out of the window in your early days. An insistence on passing the ball around at the back is likely to see you giving the ball away in dangerous areas, so as soon as you’re in trouble you’re best off sending the ball down the line or putting the ball out of play so you can regroup, rather than trying a risky back pass to your keeper. You’re much better off making yourself hard to beat in the early games, as setting up to be destructive is a lot easier than going all out to play a peak Barca style game.

DON’T GIVE UP!

The first few weeks are going to be the most difficult, and as long as you realise that before you start you should be ok. What you don’t want to do in those early weeks is let a 4-5 goal deficit turn into a 9-10 goal defeat. If you’re 4-5 goals down with 10 minutes to go, it’s fair to say that the game is lost, but with 6-a-side football requiring a very specific type of fitness, you can at least work on that fitness by keeping on going right until the final whistle.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD? ANYTHING YOU THINK WE’VE MISSED? IF SO, LET US KNOW.

by Mike Birchall

Weekly Round Up – 8th March 2019

LEAGUE NEWS

Finally, we have a few weeks where we don’t need to waffle on about what new leagues we’ve got starting, as the NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE STARTS THIS WEEK, quickly following up the new leagues on Monday and Tuesday.

The February Goal Of The Month competition is now live on all of our social media sites, so get yourselves over there and give us a vote!

So with very few spaces to fill we’ll just crack on with the review! If you or someone you know might be interested in joining a league, complete a ‘JOIN A LEAGUE’ form from the homepage.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

PREMIERSHIP

The final night of the Sunday season didn’t bring about the expected exciting ending as Gangs Of Dwight Yorke couldn’t field a side for their potential tittle decider with Kipsta Cobras. We’ll have to see what happens with that…. Beercalona did all they could, knowing that they needed a remarkable number of goals against Bangers & Pash to try and turn the goal difference in their favour, but this was a dogged display from Bangers as they fell to an 8-6 defeat to end their time in the Premiership for now. Jay Ratcliffe got 4 and Luke Warburton three for Beerclaona, while Chris Carroll scored three in a losing cause for Bangers.

CHAMPIONSHIP

All that really remained to be sorted in the Championship was whether Sevilla Lacatalent could end their title winning season unbeaten as they took on The McMuffin Men. The McMuffin’s put up a decent fight but Sevilla head into the Premiership on the back of a 7-4 win, with Jake Riley and David Witter scoring two each. Polish Army will be in League One for the new season as they were beaten 6-4 by FC AOTS, who finish third, but a long way off the top two. Adam Duty scored three of their goals, with Bania matching that amount for the Poles, who only finished two points behind this weeks opposition

LEAGUE ONE

Everything was pretty much sorted in League One before start of play this week, but Team Tom and Deportivo Lack Of Talent ended their campaign with a 3-3 draw after Deportivo scored two late goals to nick a point and end a difficult campaign. Inter Your Sister finished top of the 4 teams in the bottom half after the split as they beat CA FC 7-4 , with Chris Murray and Danny Derbyshire scoring two each, and Kieran Hughes doing the same for CA.

FRIENDLIES

Quite a few friendlies played this week as a number of teams didn’t have scheduled league games. Pathetico Madrid beat Roman FC 10-6 in a game with no official records as both teams desperately struggled to field a side. ManTun FC put up a decent performance against League One winners The Veterans, who scored two late goals to win 6-5. Sabri and Hamza scored a pair each for ManTun, but Andy Carrington’s double and the late goals from Simon Grainger and Mike Devitt gave The Vets the win. FC Stront Bakken and SK Six could be doing this again next season, after their meeting this week ended in a narrow 3-2 win for The Bucket Boys, Ryan Stringer grabbing two of their goals. On another week Morning Glory v Murder On Zidane’s Floor could have been a competitve game, but when Morning Glory would have been the favourites going into it, Murder were missing several regulars this week and will want to forget this 15-2 defeat as Scott Norris scored 7. However, if it was last goal wins, Murder would have had it…..

THE NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE STARTS THIS WEEK. WE WILL FIND SPACE FOR NEW TEAMS….

MONDAY LEAGUE

PREMIERSHIP

The opening night of the new Monday season saw mixed fortunes for last season’s Premiership top two. A shock looked on as Nice Buns lead 2-0 at half time against last season’s runners up Expected Toulouse, but a strong second half saw a flurry of late goals give them a 9-4 win that may have slightly flattered them. Waz Akram grabbed three with Liam Mottram and Ryan Dolan grabbing two each, with Jack Pogson also claiming a double for Buns. There was no such comeback for Champions Netsix & Chill, who found themselves 5-1 down at the break against Pathetico Madrid. 4 of Pathetico’s goals came from Tom Ottoway as they went 8-1 up early in the second half, and though Mark Carruthers grabbed three for Netsix, their comeback was in vain as Pathetico start the season with an 8-6 win. Grand Street Wanderers can be a funny team, but they had one of their good weeks this week as they started the season off with a comfortable 11-3 win over Diva Fever. Bevan grabbed three of their goals, with that number being matched by ‘own goals’ on a really bad night for the Divas.

CHAMPIONSHIP

This week’s Monday GOTD was a wise choice as Ruby Kazam and Phantom Brazilians could only be split by the odd goal in 17. Two own goals in a minute early in the second half didn’t help Phantom’s cause as they fell to a 9-8 defeat with doubles all round for Jahid Hussain, Jordan Cunningham and Josh Welsh for Ruby, while Matt Barton scored 4 on his return but still ended up on the losing side. Athletico Pathetico have waited a while for their league debut, but all of their pre-season friendlies paid off as they started the campaign with a 7-1 win over Unprotected Cesc, with George Moss top scoring with three of their goals. Another league debutant were Delph & Safety, and they also got off to a winning start, beating Rowntrees Randoms 9-2 with Mitch Massa scoring three, Aaron Widdowson and Liam Connor grabbing two apiece.

WE CAN, AT A PUSH, FIND SPACE FOR ONE MORE TEAM IN THE MONDAY LEAGUE – GET IN TOUCH FOR DETAILS

TUESDAY LEAGUE

Things are starting to take shape in the Tuesday league as we reach week three, with a variety of close and not so close games this week. Stroke Titty took their 100% record into a third week, but faced a tough task against For Fuch’s Sake, fresh off the back of their 19-0 win last time out. This one was a much tighter affair, and it was Joe Lailey and Same Tattersall’s late goals that rescued a point for Stroke after Fuchs had lead for most of the game, with Ryan Green scoring three of their goals in a 6-6 draw. Gangstas Allardyce will obviously be contenders if their first two games are anything to go by, as their mitch fitness and sharpness was too much for the recently returned Only Kruls & Horses. Gangstas turned a three goal lead at the break into an 11 goal victory as 7 goals from Adam Needham and 5 for David Crozier helped them to a 16-5 win, with James Thornley grabbing all 5 for Kruls, who will get better as we go along. Club Tropicana were also looking to follow up an opening night win with a tougher task against Michu At De Gea Ba, and after an even start they pulled away to claim a 7-2 win with Danny Moss getting three. Sons also picked up a second win as they continue their recovery from an opening day defeat, Reece Jeffs getting three of their goals in an 8-4 win over Ballotellitubbies, who drop back into the bottom half after last weeks win over Kruls. FC AOTS didn’t concede 19 this week, but they clearly had issues as they fell to another heavy defeat, with Jamie Stokes scoring half of FC‘s 14 goals as they also picked up a second win, 14-4.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS CURRENTLY FULL! THERE ARE NO TEAMS CURRENTLY WAITING FOR A SPACE, SO IF TUESDAY IS YOUR ONLY NIGHT IT’S STILL WORTH ENQUIRING….

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

New Team were back this week and looking to continue their 100% start against Stockport Eagles, who themselves were looking to maintain their title challenge. New Team were well in control at the break as three goals from Rob Elliott helped them to a 4-0 lead, and he added his 4th in the second half as they made it three wins out of three as they eased to a 7-3 victory. FC Rhino Ket and Out Of Shape FC were well matched throughout their game this week, and two goals each from Jon Shipman and Dawid ensured that we entered a final, frenetic few minutes with the scores level at 3-3. Chances came and went at either end, but the final scoreline remained the same as both teams leapfrog Exeter Gently in the race to avoid finishing bottom.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL – SUNDAY & MONDAY REMAIN YOUR BEST BET IF YOU WANT TO REGISTER A NEW TEAM!

by Mike Birchall

Weekly Round Up – 1st March 2019

Summer arrived early this week, which made pretty much everything about being at Ballers seem so much more pleasant.

LEAGUE NEWS

We won’t have any new league sto talk about for a while after next week, as both the Sunday and Monday leagues follow the Tuesday league into a new season, but here’s where we’re at:

The BRAND NEW MONDAY LEAGUE kicks off next week, 4th March, and at the time of writing there is still ONE SPACE LEFT.

The BRAND NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE starts just 6 days later, on 10th March, and with the potential for expansion we can still find space for new teams.

For further information or to register a team, fill in a ‘Join A League’ form from the home page

SUNDAY LEAGUE

A quieter Sunday than we’ve been used to of late due to the two massive let down games involving both Manchester clubs still threw up some interesting results….

PREMIERSHIP

The Premiership title will go down to the final day after Beercalona won a cracking game against Kipsta Cobras by the odd goal in 13. Tykio scored a late winner, to go along with doubles from Martin Bell, Jay Ratcliffe and Tom Ratcliffe, meaning Kieran Mills 5 goals and MOTM performance were all in vain.

CHAMPIONSHIP

The Championship was a wash out this week, but two Championship teams faced off in a friendly as Sevilla Lacatalent narrowly beat Polish Army 5-3, with Jake Riley grabbing three of the goals.

LEAGUE ONE

One game survived in League One, and it saw SK Six continue their best ever season by picking up their third win as they comfortably dispatched Roman FC 7-2, with Harry Bridge and Ethan Giles both grabbing hat tricks.

LEAGUE TWO

The mini league came to an end with a 100% turnout across the 6 weeks, and Pique Blinders ended up top of the shop after a 9-2 win over closest rivals FC Stront Bakken, Jack Hodkinson and Ethan Toft both grabbing three each. Pathetico Madrid will go into the new season off the back of their first point as two Michael Winn goals hepled them pick up a 4-4 draw with ManTun FC, with Mats scoring a couple of debut goals for them.

FRIENDLIES

The other friendly that took place was between two teams who could be facing each other next season. If they do meet, chance are The Veterans team will be quite a bit different to the one that played this week, but they drew 2-2 in a tight game with Stockport Eagles

THE NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE STARTS ON 10TH MARCH – SPACES AVAILABLE AS WE LOOK TO EXPAND!

MONDAY LEAGUE

The final night of the Monday league season saw Netsix & Chill have the chance to end their long season by claiming the top division title if they could avoid defeat to Phantom Brazilians. Phantom have mostly struggled throughout the season, but they threatened to play the roll of party poopers as they raced into a 3-0 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. Netsix hit back like Champions, leveling things up at 3-3 with 5 to play, but they looked to have undoen all their good work as Daniel Clayton’s third put Phantom back in front two minutes from time. In a final twist, Mark Carruthers got his second of the game with the last kick of the game to give Netsix the title in the most dramatic of circumstances. Congratulations to them.

The race for second place in the Championship was a surprisingly one sided affair, as Nice Buns comfortably beat Grand Street Wanderers 8-1 with doubles from Charlie Williamson, Tom Dempsey and Jack Pogson. They will join Diva Fever in the top division next season. Pathetico Madrid were another team we’d earmarked for a spot in the top flight next season, but they were surprisingly beaten 7-4 by Ruby Kazam, with Jordan Cunningham, Joshua Hargreaves and Jack Atkinson all grabbing two apiece. Athletico Pathetico picked up a first win heading into the new season, comfortably beating a fill in team 10-3, Paul Barnes helping himself to 4 of them.

THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE STARTS NEXT WEEK! ONE SPACE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

TUESDAY LEAGUE

The second week of the new Tuesday league, and the second straight 100% turnout, albeit it with two new teams. What we learnt this week is that it maybe best if we split the league at the halfway point, as the games weren’t all as close this week….. After two weeks there’s only one team with a 100% record (from two games…) as Stroke Titty turned around a 3-2 half time deficit against Bandit Athletic to win 7-4, with Aaron Collins the only one of their players to grab a double. For Fuchs Sake took advantage of the FC AOTS lads presumably still being drunk from Sunday to romp to a first win. Tom Smith scored 8, but that wasn’t even half of the team total as they scored 19 without reply to do their goal difference a world of good in their first win. A much closer game saw Ballotellitubbies recover from their opening day loss to inflict a first defeat on Only Kruls & Horses. Two goals from Aaron McWilliam and Jason Higginson were enough for them to hold on for a 5-4 win.

Gansta’s Allardyce were the first of the new teams to make their bow this week, and they flew out of the traps to lead 9-1 at the break against FC, before eventually seeing the game out to win 13-4. Callum Thompson grabbed 5, and there were hat tricks for Adam Needham and David Crozier. The other new team, Club Tropicana FC started a little slower against El Caliente, but goals late in the first half saw them lead 6-1 at the break before easing to a 12-4 victory, with a hat trick of hat tricks from Ben Cunliffe, Danny Moss and Jake McLaughlin. Michu At De Gea Ba will be ruing missed chances in the first half of their game with Sons FC, as they went into the break 4-2 down despite arguably having had the better of the game. Sons were the better side in the second period and eased to a 6-3 win to pick up their first three points, with Reece Jeffs grabbing three of their goals.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS FULL! SUNDAY & MONDAY ARE YOUR BEST BETS FOR IMMEDIATE LEAGUE STARTS

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

Despite United and City both playing this Wednesday, new team New Team were the only team who were unable to field a side this week, leaving Stockport Eagles without a game. This gave Wellspring the chance to move three points clear if they could win their grudge match against FC Rhino Ket, and 4 goals from Lewis Arden helped them to do just that, as they picked up a comfortable 10-3 win. Exeter Gently have been in rotten form of late, but they finally picked up their first win of the season at the 6th attempt as the nill’d Out Of Shape FC and shared the goals around with 4 different scorers in a 4-0 win.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL – THE ONLY CURRENT SPACES ARE IN THE SUNDAY AND MONDAY LEAGUES

by Mike Birchall

Weekly Round Up – 22nd February 2019

Is that summer arriving in February this week? Quite a few fair weather footballers have been sneaking out of the woodwork in recent weeks, so long may this unseasonable weather continue!

LEAGUE NEWS

The BRAND NEW MONDAY LEAGUE kicks off a week on Monday, 4th March. At the time of going to press we’ve just filled one of the spaces we had, meaning there’s JUST ONE SPACE LEFT.

The NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE continues to sneak up on us, and kicks off in just a couple of weeks, on 10th March. We WILL get to 5 divisions this time, so make sure you’re a part of it.

Sunday and Monday are currently the only nights where we have minimum availability, and spaces have been filling quickly in recent week. Don’t mess about if you’re thinking about getting something going.

For details on any of the above, get in touch by filling in a ‘JOIN A LEAGUE‘ form on the homepage.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

PREMIERSHIP

Following a heavy defeat to Beercalona last week, Morning Glory could have been expecting more of the same against the other title contenders, Gangs Of Dwight Yorke this week. This one was an altogether closer encounter, and even 4 goals from Demell Cumberbatch couldn’t help Gangs go clear as Scott Norris’ third of the game in the closing stages gave Morning Glory a surprise 8-7 win. At the other end of the table, Stockport Eagles ended their campaign with a 7-3 win over Bangers & Pash, with both teams likely to meet again next season. Michael Winn got 4 of their goals as they pulled away in the second period.

CHAMPIONSHIP

As we’re now at the business end of the season, those titles will soon start getting claimed, and the first could go this week. A win for Sevilla Lacatalent over nearest rivals Nice Buns B would see them claim the Championship crown with a game to spare, and 4 goals from Jake Riley ensured that they did that with a 7-3 victory. Murder On Zidane’s Floor made it two narrow wins from two games to suggest that they will remain in the Championship for the new season. This week three goals from John Shenton were the difference as they beat FC AOTS 4-3. It’s yet to be determined what division the remaining teams will be in next season, but Polish Army and The McMuffin Men might well get the chance to have another go at each other next season after they couldn’t be separated this week as their game finished 2-2.

LEAGUE ONE

It was pretty much all or nothing for Team Tom this week as only a win over The Veterans could keep them in the hunt for the League One title. As it turned out, The Veterans claimed the title as two goals from Simon Grainger helped them to a hard fought 4-2 win. Inter Your Sister and SK Six drew 3-3 when these two teams met a few weeks ago, and they repeated the feat this week as Ryan Ross scored a late leveler after Chris Murray’s two goals had seen Inter go into the final 5 minutes with a 3-2 lead. CA FC will be (hopefully) looking forward to a genuine bottom division next season as they strive to find a settled, competitive team, and while Charlie Andrew and new boy ‘Callum’ got two each for them this week against Roman FC, 4 goals from Ibrahim and three from Ali (we’re sure all of these guys do have surnames) helped Roman to a 9-4 win.

LEAGUE TWO

Pique Blinders attempts to continue their 100% record in League Two looked under threat as they went 3-0 down in the opening 6 minutes to an improving ManTun FC, but they quickly improved and three goals from Ethan Toft helped them to a comeback 9-4 victory. Only FC Stront Bakken stand between them and a 6 out of 6 record, as they ran away with their game against Pathetico Madrid in the second period with Ryan Stringer scoring 4 of their goals in a 7-2 win. The Bucket Boys can win the mini league themselves next week if they can beat Pique and turn around the goal difference advantage.

THE NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE SEASON KICKS OFF ON 10TH MARCH – SPACES AVAILABLE AS WE LOOK TO ADD IN A 5TH DIVISION!

MONDAY LEAGUE

Yay for Chelsea v Manchester United…… No league games this week, but Nice Buns and Ruby Kazam were up for a game enough to come down for a friendly. Jordan Cunningham grabbed 4 goals for Kazam, but it wasn’t enough to help them pick up a result as Charlie Williamson scored three of Buns 7 in a 7-5 win.

THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE SEASON KICKS OFF ON 4TH MARCH – TWO SPACES AVAILABLE!

TUESDAY LEAGUE

The opening night of the new Tuesday league saw all 12 teams, including 4 new teams, involved in some highly competitive action. Having won the merged Championship last season, Bandit Athletic potentially start as favourites for the title this season, but it won’t be easy as this week’s game with For Fuchs Sake showed. They needed a late Connor Atkinson leveler, his second of the game, to take a point from a 3-3 draw. Two new teams met on the opening night, with Sons FC and Only Kruls & Horses showing that they will be able to compete with anything this league has to offer. A last minute Charlie Haines goal edged this 21 goal thrilled in Kruls favour, with James Thornley having scored 5 and Callum Coombs 4 of their 11, while 7 goals and a man of the match performance from Matt Peck couldn’t stop Sons from falling to a narrow defeat. Stroke Titty were back at Ballers for the opening night, and by their own admission the 8-3 win they picked up over Ballotellitubbies flattered them slightly, with Jamie Stokes scoring three and Joe Lailey two of their goals,

FC AOTS managed to keep the team going into another season and even had a sub this week as they got their campaign off to a winning start. Paul Buckley scoring twice in a 4-2 victory over another returning team, El Caliente. Another tight game saw Adam Porter score a late winner for Michu At De Gea Ba, who recovered from going two down in the opening 4 minutes to win 3-2, with the man known only as ‘Jake’ scoring their other two goals. Another team who love one word names (a bit like Madonna and Cher) are FC, who started their campaign with an 11-7 win over new boys Leve FC, with Jamie getting 4 and John Day, a lad who gave us his surname, getting three. Jon McKenna’s hat trick for Leve wasn’t enough to help them get anything from their first Tuesday league game.

THE TUESDAY LEAGUE IS NOW FULL! SUNDAY & MONDAY ARE YOUR TWO BEST BETS FOR GETTING AN IMMEDIATE DOSE OF BALLERS ACTION!

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

On a Champions League Wednesday with City playing, surprisingly only one game went down. Wellspring aren’t used to losing on a Wednesday, but they needed to bounce back from last week’s defeat to New Team if they were to remain in pole position for this season’s title. Perennial Wednesday ‘nearly men’ Stockport Eagles could have gone 6 points clear with a win, but braces all round from Mike Devitt, Shane Bridges and Lewis Arden saw Wellspring to a hard fought 7-3 victory. This week was the week for FC Rhino Ket who picked up their first win at the 5th attempt as they beat Exeter Gently 10-5. Jack Kerton netting 5.

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL – SPACES AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE…..

by Mike Birchall

Weekly Round Up – 15th February 2019

Summer is on it’s way! A few more fair weather teams have made their way back to Ballers this week, so the spaces that we have are starting to dwindle. If you’re thinking about getting involved, now is the time…..

LEAGUE NEWS

The BRAND NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE starts NEXT WEEK, and we are down to our FINAL SPACE! With United looking like departing the Champions League, this could be the ideal time to sign up!

Following closely on it’s heels, the BRAND NEW MONDAY LEAGUE kicks off on 4th March, and we’ve a couple of spaces in the bottom division to fill.

Sneaking up on us is the start of the NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE, which kicks off on 10th March. We WILL get to 5 divisions this time, so make sure you’re a part of it.

For details on any of the above, get in touch by filling in a ‘JOIN A LEAGUE‘ form on the homepage.

SUNDAY LEAGUE

PREMIERSHIP

An interesting early test for Morning Glory came this week as they took on the rapidly improving Beercalona in a game that looked like a tough one to call. It didn’t really live up to that, however, as Beercalona ran away with it after a tight opening. Luke Warburton scored 7 and Jay Ratcliffe 4 of their 16 goals as they ran out 16-4 winners. Stockport Eagles have struggled to be competitive at the top level this season, but put up a good fight against Kipsta Cobras this week before falling to a narrow 7-6 defeat, Simon Hackney scoring three of the Kipsta goals (we think, the score card did get quite wet….)

CHAMPIONSHIP

With the expected title decider between Nice Buns and Sevilla Lacatalent being scuppered this week by Buns rare cancellation, Sevilla had the chance to reclaim top spot if they could beat Polish Army, which they did at a bit of a canter. Sam Melling and Tom Jackson scored 4 each, meaning Bania’s three for the Poles was nowhere near enough as Sevilla won 11-4. Murder On Zidane’s Floor returned for the final few weeks, replacing Step Brothers who we will hope to see again next season, and their opening match upon their return was a tight one with The McMuffin Men. In the end, Danny Parkinson’s two goals were the difference as they ran out 4-2 winners.

LEAGUE ONE

With the split now in full effect, we’re at the business end of the season with the top 4 and bottom 4 playing off against each other. Fat Boys Run Wild went into this week’s round of games on top, but faced a strong looking Team Tom line up, who could yet crash the title party if they keep winning. They won this one to close the gap at the top, with Chris Philpot scoring 5 and Aaron Buczko 4 on their way to a 10-7 victory. That result meant that The Veterans could reclaim top spot with a win over Deportivo Lack Of Talent, and three goals each from Simon Grainger and Nathan Wilkinson meant they did just that in comfortable fashion with the final score ending 10-2.

Oh boy, Inter Your Sister and Roman FC didn’t make it easy for us this week, with both teams struggling for numbers as kick off time approached. WE got the game on though, and Inter ran out comfortable 12-5 winners with Leigh Edwards scoring 5 and Craig Johnson 4 as Inter look to ensure they finish as the best of the rest.

LEAGUE TWO

We were back to the start in the mini league that is League Two, with Pique Blinders looking to continue their 100% record since their return. That run started with a narrow 6-5 win over Pathetico Madrid, but it was a little more comfortable for them this time around as three goals each from Josh Borthwick and Chris Sinclair saw them run out comfortable 12-3 winners. ManTun were fresh from their first win last week, and had a chance to show how much they’ve improved as they faced Stront Bakken who hammered them 9-1 in the opening week. There were 8 different scorers of the 9 goals in this game, with just Dylan Marginarisa grabbing a double in a hard fought 6-3 win for the Bucket Boys.

FRIENDLIES

SK Six and FC AOTS were left high and dry by their opponents this week, but faced off in a competitive friendly, with SK again showing their ability to mix it at a much higher level than they’ve previously been able to, eventually losing this one 4-1 with Charley Hutchinson grabbing three of their goals.

THE NEW SUNDAY LEAGUE KICKS OFF ON 10TH MARCH – SPACES AVAILABLE AS WE LOOK TO ADD A 5TH DIVISION!

MONDAY LEAGUE

Diva Fever had the chance to claim the Championship title this week as they faced Ruby Kazam just a few weeks after a comfortable 9-1 win over the same opposition. Doubles from Joe Dodd, Shane Bridges and Nathan Wilkinson were enough for them to edge a much tighter game this time around, with Jahid Hussain’s 4 goals not enough to stop Kazam from falling to an 8-6 defeat. A defeat for Nice Buns against an impressive Pathetico Madrid would confirm Diva Fever as Champions, and while Buns dug in as much as they could to stay in this one, 4 goals from Joe Knight were enough for Pathetico to pick up a narrow 6-5 victory, but it looks likely that these two teams will go at it again next season in the top flight.

New team Athletico Pathetico have been showing signs of improvement in recent weeks, and faced a Phantom Brazilians who will be looking forward to a season in the Championship next time around. Max Paterson celebrated being freed from the ‘keepers shackles to score a hat trick as they picked up a 6-2 win to put an end to their recent rotten run. It looks like it was a defeat to Grand Street Wanderers that will cost Expected Toulouse the top division title, so they might be kicking themselves even more after they beat the same opposition 5-2 in a friendly this week, with Liam Mottram and Jordan Milne both scoring twice. Having scrambled a team together to give someone a game this week, we ended up getting Pathetico Madrid to stop on for a second game to give them a run out, but they looked fresh enough as Joe Knight scored another 6 to add to his earlier tally as they won 11-6.

THE NEW MONDAY LEAGUE STARTS ON 10TH MARCH – SPACES AVAILABLE!

TUESDAY LEAGUE

Nothing to see here. A combination of minimal league fixtures to be completed at the end of the season, and United in Champions League action, meant this week was a wash out.

THE NEW TUESDAY LEAGUE STARTS NEXT WEEK! AND WE ARE DOWN TO OUR FINAL SPACE…..

WEDNESDAY LEAGUE

A strange week for the Wednesday league, with the regular and reliable Exeter Gently and Out Of Shape FC both failing to field a side, and FC Rhino Ket only doing so by the skin of their teeth. On paper the game of the night was new team, New Team, fresh from an impressive first win last week, taking on Champions Wellspring FC. It didn’t live up to the billing in the first half as the new team raced into a 4-0 half time lead, and while Wellspring improved in the second period and at one point reduced the lead to 6-3, the three goals each from John Shaw and Rob Elliott were enough to help New Team to a 7-3 victory. The surprising game of the night came on the other pitch as Stockport Eagles and Rhino Ket went into the break all square at 6-6. A much tighter second half Eagles nick it 8-7 thanks to Ben Waugh’s last minute goal in a game where goals came from all over the pitch!

THE WEDNESDAY LEAGUE REMAINS FULL (FOR NOW), SO FOR AN IMMEDIATE START LOOK ELSEWHERE*

* By elsewhere we mean another night with us, not another venue……

SK BALLERS – STOCKPORT’S BEST 5-A-SIDE & 6-A-SIDE LEAGUES!