National Five-a-Sides (England)

National Five-a-Sides

Founded	1968 [1]
Abolished	1986 [1]
Region	England (The FA)
Number of teams	16 (1972–82) [2]
Last champions	Norwich City (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Wolverhampton Wanderers, Southampton (2 titles)
Television broadcasters	BBC (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	18	17
Scotland	1	1

See also

• Tennents' Sixes

Notes

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

References

1. "Football Nostalgia: National Daily Express 5-A-Side Competition". comicus.co.uk. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
2. "Results 1 to 13 of 13 for Five-a-Side National Championship". BBC Genome Project. BBC . 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. "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. "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. "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. "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. "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.

External links

• Sportsnight With Coleman History BBC.
• Midweek Football Coverage: 1968/69 to 1982/83 ITV Football.
• Football Tournament Programmes Archived 22 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine AB Football Programmes.