The National Futsal League has struck a promising new partnership teaming up with Spain’s Liga Nacional Fútbol Sala (LNFS) to become LNFS England.
It’s been a year of turmoil for the game of futsal in England, with the FA announcing in late 2020 that they would cut funding for the sport.
In the midst of all the this, the organisation has been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic to promote futsal in England.
Spearheading the project has been commercial director, Peter Sharples, based in the Wirral.
He told Merseysportlive: “The message from the FA in regard to futsal was clear.
“I thought to myself, how do we move forward and address the future which is very divided.
“I spoke with Spain’s LNFS president Javier Lozano, who I know, and tossed a few ideas back and forth with him and we came up with this project.
“It doesn’t get any better than this. Javier Lozano, who is widely regarded as the pinnacle of futsal, with his extensive experience and knowledge.
“If we can’t learn from him, we’re never going to learn.
“I think it’s a really good fit.”
The LNFS England website says they now aim to replicate the tried and tested Spanish model for development of futsal across all English communities, looking to introduce futsal to a wider audience, and attract children and adults from all walks of life.
What was previously known as the National Futsal League had been solely at the forefront of competitive futsal in England for several years.
It all changed in 2019, when the FA launched their own plan to progress futsal, and with that came a new league; the National Futsal Series.
This project was short lived, with the FA cutting funds towards futsal just a year later.
On the FA’s decision to cut funding, Sharples added: “I was surprised like everyone else, because the actual amount of funding in comparison to football is not a lot.
“The FA technical department made these decisions; they’re very robust like any business.
“That’s what people forget, the FA is ultimately a business, so they have to look at what’s coming in and what’s going out.
“Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, there’s nothing coming in.”
Around the same time the FA reduced their funding to futsal, LNFS England became a Community Interest Company (INC) owned and controlled by its members club and managed by a board of directors who are elected annually.
The independent LNFS England did reach out to the FA in these divided times.
Sharples said: “We held discussions about both competitions and what both could offer each other.
“And it didn’t really get much farther.
“We just left it at that for both parties to carry on with their own competitions.
“We’re just actively carrying on with our recruitment process. We have got new teams coming in and we’re trying to build for the future.
“We ultimately have the drive to make futsal work.
“This isn’t in direct competition with the FA, this is about going out and pulling the resources and getting everyone to work together and come together.
“That’s our aim. We’re not for profit, we’re all volunteers.
“We work with the clubs. We are given a mandate by our clubs and that’s what we do.
“We’ve gone out and this is the result of the creation of LNFS England.”
Under the latest government guidelines futsal can’t be played, but is set to return in May.
Sharples hopes the vaccination programme stays on course and there are no spikes.
“The players have got to get fit, so we’re not expecting to have any league run until the new season, which will be September.
“We are looking at running possibly a cup competition, promoting friendlies while we build on the LNFS brand looking forward to the new season.”
When asked about the future of both LNFS England and the FA’s National Futsal Series and the possibility of both one day coming together and seeing eye-to-eye, the commercial director said:
“That would be great yeah, and I think we would all like that.”
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