Masters Football

Masters Football was a six-a-side indoor football competition in the United Kingdom, where players over the age of 35 were chosen by the Masters Football Selection Committee to represent a senior club for which they played. Regional heats were held, and the winners of each progressed forward to a national competition. Events were contested over the course of a single evening (usually on Saturdays or Sundays), with games played in two halves of eight minutes each. The pitch was 60 m (200 ft) by 30 m (98 ft) (the size of an international ice hockey rink), and there was no offside rule.^[1]

The competition ran from 2000 to 2011, live on the UK subscription channel Sky Sports. In 2022, online streaming platform 360 Sports TV announced they would be reviving the competition.^[2]^[3]

National Masters

Honours

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Grand Final venue	Golden Boot winner(s)
2000	Nottingham Forest	Rangers	National Ice Centre (Nottingham)	Ally McCoist (Rangers)
2001	Liverpool	Bradford City	PopWorld W.S.M	John Taylor (Bradford City)
2002	Liverpool	Newcastle United	Newcastle	Peter Beardsley (Newcastle United)
2003	Manchester City	Rangers	Telewest Arena, Newcastle	Peter Beardsley (Newcastle United)
2004	Chelsea	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield	John Durnin (Liverpool)
2005	Leicester City	Chelsea	??	Paul Moran (Tottenham Hotspur)
2006	Rangers	Chelsea	National Indoor Arena (Birmingham)	John Durnin (Liverpool)
2007	Leicester City	Wolverhampton Wanderers	M.E.N. Arena (Manchester)	Owen Coyle (Motherwell)
2008	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Manchester City	LG Arena (Birmingham)	Craig Hignett (Middlesbrough)
2009	Tranmere Rovers	Bolton Wanderers	Echo Arena Liverpool (Liverpool)	Carbone / Goodman / Hignett
2010	Birmingham City	Tranmere Rovers	LG Arena (Birmingham)	Graham Stuart (Everton)
2011	Rangers	Leeds United	M.E.N. Arena (Manchester)	Darren Huckerby (Leeds United)

Venues used

Venue	Location
Braehead Arena	Renfrew
Echo Arena Liverpool	Liverpool
LG Arena	Birmingham
M.E.N. Arena	Manchester
Metro Radio Arena	Newcastle upon Tyne
National Ice Centre	Nottingham
National Indoor Arena	Birmingham
Odyssey Arena	Belfast
Planet Ice Arena	Milton Keynes
Sheffield Arena	Sheffield
SkyDome Arena	Coventry
Wales National Ice Rink	Cardiff
Wembley Arena	London

Referees

Two referees are chosen to officiate in each event, from the following list. They are all FA-endorsed except John Underhill, who is an SFA referee.

Home Nations

Champions

Year	Champion
1999	Wales Masters
2000	Wales Masters
2001	All-Ireland Masters
2002	not held
2003	Wales Masters
2004	England Masters
2005	not held
2006	not held
2007	All-Ireland Masters
2008	not held
2009	All-Ireland Masters

European Masters Cup

Champions

Year	Champion
2005	Rangers

International Masters Cup

Champions

Year	Champion
2006	Holland Masters

Malaysia Masters Cup

Champions

Year	Champion
2008	Liverpool
2009	Manchester United

References

^ Boyle, Callum (February 2022). "An ode to Masters Football". JOE.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
^ "Masters Football Is Officially Returning To Our TV Screens After 11-Year Wait". sportbible.com. 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
^ Hoskin, Rob (21 February 2022). "Masters Football is officially returning after an 11-year absence". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 21 February 2022.

External links

Official website

[1] Boyle, Callum (February 2022). "An ode to Masters Football". JOE.co.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2022.

[2] "Masters Football Is Officially Returning To Our TV Screens After 11-Year Wait". sportbible.com. 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.

[3] Hoskin, Rob (21 February 2022). "Masters Football is officially returning after an 11-year absence". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 21 February 2022.

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