Why not book Flexi Football for a Stag Party like these guys?

With the new Premier League season approaching its fifth week, the Football League tables beginning to take shape, and the Champions League and Europa Leagues kicking-off, there is still one season that is barely a week or two old  – yes, Flexi Football is back.

WHAT IS FLEXI FOOTBALL?

If you aren’t already aware of the brilliant idea that is Flexi Football, then let me explain.

Flexi Football is the new hassle free, fun way of playing 11-a-side football.

With no hassle, no politics and no commitments, all you have to do is turn up and play 90 minutes of fully refereed football on full size grass pitches. Flexi Football will provide you with full kit so all you have to do is turn up with your boots, socks and shinpads.

They will even publish a league table with your win/loss/draw rate, games played, and goals scored.

THE NEW SEASON

When I last spoke to Flexi Football creator Ben Hathaway in January, Flexi Football – The Hassle Free, Fun Way of Playing 11-a-Side Football was midway through its first full season. With that first season in the bag and the second now underway, Ben tells Footy Matters about the progress Flexi Football has made and what lies ahead for the new season.

“So I guess the first season was all about seeing if the concept really worked – could you bring 22 people together who’d never met, and get a decent, enjoyable game of 11-aside football out of them?”

The simple answer is a resounding yes, by the end of that first season, over 700 different players had played at least one game, 116 games in total had been played and over 500 goals had been scored, and Ben admits:

“It was better than we could’ve hoped for.

“Very few games were one-sided, and around 95% of players’ returned, which is the most pleasing thing. I took this as proof that the format and idea worked, so if it works in one venue, why not others?” 

BIGGER AND BETTER

Over the summer, Ben took the chance to redeveloped the Flexi Football website and take on new referees and organisers and is now in a position where they are able to run more games in more locations.

Flexi Football is now on track to get 1,000 registered players by the New Year and hold four games a week each, at London’s Clapham Common and Regent’s Park, and Ben plans to open a third venue in West London to run some 6/7-aside games.

“That would mean the best part of 180 players a week playing Flexi Football, which would be fantastic.

“We already held the first few 6-aside games last month and the response was good. People just want to play football and the no commitment, no fuss, no politics angle seems to resonate well with the players.”

Ben’s aim for Flexi Football is to get a better interaction between players and to build more of a “football community” with the kind of team banter you would find in dressing rooms up and down the country.

The message Ben is keen to promote is that Flexi Football is open to everyone.

“We’ve made deals with local bars and a lot of the players have started going for a beer after the game en masse. They have never met before, but play 90 minutes together and want to go for a drink afterwards. That is really pleasing.”

The team who finished last season as overall league champions had around 15 different line-ups over the course of the season, some players played every week others just one or two games.

Unfortunately one team, Rigford Seahawks, have gone on to enter a formal league and although Ben regrets losing 11 players, as he explains, it’s not all bad:

“In some ways it’s bad for Flexi Football to lose 11 players, but we’ve taken on more teams and players in their place and we hope they go on and do really well in their league.

“The flip side to this coin is that we’ve had some teams who want to join, who were in leagues last year and didn’t like the travel and commitment, they saw our games and are keen to play Flexi.”

So there you have it, if you like your football with no hassle, no politics and no commitment then Flexi Football is exactly what you need. Who knows you might even find your self playing along side the likes of Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez or Emmanuel Adebayor – they have commitment issues too!

Flexi Football is now offering one free game to all Footy Matters readers so visit www.flexifootball.com now for more information