CHIPPENHAM Futsal Club’s fairytale debut season in the FA Futsal League comes to a head this weekend when they take a shot at the national title, in the 2010 Grand Finals.
After finishing second in the Midlands division, Chippenham will be one of six teams looking to be crowned the kings of the country at the Surrey Sports Park, Guildford.
The club finished as the top scorers in their division and chairman Chris Ballinger is delighted with Chippenham’s first foray into the national league.
“I’m thrilled we finished in the top two and it’s been fantastic considering we’re relatively inexperienced at this level,” he said.
“Our goal was to try and qualify for the finals but we had no idea how it was going to go because it’s all new to us.
“The guys have adapted really well and our good performances have all been real team efforts.
“Lucas Totti has been a real standout player for us – futsal is his main sport and he’s of Brazilian origin, which shows a lot of the time!
“But we’ve got a young side and they’ve all done so well.”
Chippenham have been drawn in Group A with Northern division champions Sheffield and London-based Helvecia, who despite finishing as runners-up in the Southern division this year, have won the national title twice in a row.
If they can get the better of their opponents in two games on Saturday, Ballinger’s side will take to the court in Sunday’s final.
“It’s going to be really tough and I don’t know if we’ve got the experience to be consistent there,” said the Chippenham chairman.
“Sheffield have a couple of current England internationals and Helvecia have been champions for the last two years but it’s fantastic experience to be one of the top six futsal clubs in the country.
“We’re really looking forward to it and it should be a great weekend for our guys.”
Chippenham, who include England captain Luke Ballinger in their ranks, have also had success at youth level, with the U16 squad reaching the FA Youth Futsal national finals, at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport last weekend.
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