5 a side football opinion piece in guardian

festa5

festa5

Well-known member
Is 5 a side footy really that bad?

I've played thousands of games over the years. I've played in competitive leagues on Teesside, Leeds and York and numerous after work/casual kickabouts with no doubt hundred of different people.

While I recognise some of what this bloke is saying, it was pretty rare. Yeah you do get the odd nob head, but most teams are absolutely fine in my experience. Think I've only seen one proper assault in all that time. He makes it sound like heading into the coliseum for gladiatorial combat.

Surprisingly the comments largely seem to back him up. Am I missing something, just been lucky or are guardian readers just too soft? (liberal metropolitan elite snowflakes etc 😜).

What's other's experiences been?

www.theguardian.com

A foul too far – the day I decided to blow the whistle on the brutality of five-a-side football battleground | Brady Frost

There were memorable moments, but too often it just wasn’t fun. The game was overrun with fighting, insults and aggression, says writer Brady Frost
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
I always thought it was at what level you played. There was more chance of you getting kicked or injured in a casual game rather than a league game.
 
I used to play with a mix of mates and lads from work so the tackles weren't that bad but it could sometimes get a little tasty.

Most of us decided to hang up the boots and stop playing though because the amount of even little injuries that can knacker you as you get older and have younger kids etc.

In the space of a few months we had 2 broken legs and a snapped achilles and literally just last night one of my mates had to go to A&E because hes developed a hyphema (blood in the eye ball) from getting hit in the face with the ball and now cant drive and is signed off work for 2 weeks.

None of the injuries were caused by bad tackles or people being prats but the risk didn't feel worth it any more for the fallout with missing work, holidays, not being able to drive etc.

We were probably just an unlucky bunch but most of the lads have turned to running etc to keep fit now instead.
 
I do think there is something about the boards keeping the ball in play, the small pitch meaning you are in contact with the opposition instantly, lax refereeing, the difference in abilities & all the preceding being a leveller, add in the league system and when people get angered there isn't time to cool off or a reason to do so, in my experience indoor 5/6-a-side is worse for general agro than outdoor 7/11-a-side.
 
newusername said:
I do think there is something about the boards keeping the ball in play, the small pitch meaning you are in contact with the opposition instantly, lax refereeing, the difference in abilities & all the preceding being a leveller, add in the league system and when people get angered there isn't time to cool off or a reason to do so, in my experience indoor 5/6-a-side is worse for general agro than outdoor 7/11-a-side.
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I'd agree with that.

Quicker more technical game, closer contact, .. more opportunities to get frustrated with your own lack of ability etc etc

Red mist soon sets in
 
newusername said:
I do think there is something about the boards keeping the ball in play, the small pitch meaning you are in contact with the opposition instantly, lax refereeing, the difference in abilities & all the preceding being a leveller, add in the league system and when people get angered there isn't time to cool off or a reason to do so, in my experience indoor 5/6-a-side is worse for general agro than outdoor 7/11-a-side.
Click to expand...
I think the boards/wall are the biggest danger. You can't slide in so unlikely to get a serious injury from a tackle, but being shoulder charged into the boards can be pretty dangerous (and rarely clamped down on as much as it should be by refs).
 
The walls were the biggest problem when I played. I had a few years playing outside on small pitches in Norway where grazes from the gravel pitch were the big problem. Also they were a bit more laid back than many over here.
 
I gave up in my twenties as I was sick of splitting up fights between media colleagues, not the rough/ragged blue collar types people might normally stereotype with that kind of behaviour.

Headbutts, assaults... in fact I broke my scaphoid because someone I had never met before decided to charge into me from behind 2 minutes into a match at 0-0, sending me flying through the air and landing awkwardly trying to break my fall.

Maybe it was something to do with frustration. We were the best side in the league and it was mostly down to one player (not me, though I was top scorer :cool:). But I just came to the conclusion that I had no respect for anyone who took a lunchtime 5-a-side league remotely seriously, and thought it best I bow out. So yeah, I totally get where the article is coming from, even if I've just been unfortunate with my expriences.
 
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anonn said:
I used to play with a mix of mates and lads from work so the tackles weren't that bad but it could sometimes get a little tasty.

Most of us decided to hang up the boots and stop playing though because the amount of even little injuries that can knacker you as you get older and have younger kids etc.

In the space of a few months we had 2 broken legs and a snapped achilles and literally just last night one of my mates had to go to A&E because hes developed a hyphema (blood in the eye ball) from getting hit in the face with the ball and now cant drive and is signed off work for 2 weeks.

None of the injuries were caused by bad tackles or people being prats but the risk didn't feel worth it any more for the fallout with missing work, holidays, not being able to drive etc.

We were probably just an unlucky bunch but most of the lads have turned to running etc to keep fit now instead.
Click to expand...
Think this is closer to my experience of playing with work colleagues, minus the horrendous bad luck with injuries.

Plenty of arguments but no one really being a prat. Competitive matches too, the organisers were under immense pressure to pick balanced sides (I was caretaker manager a few times, I think the England job would be less stressful) everyone played to win.

Vast majority of the time played in a good spirit though. Covid killed it, really miss it.
 
Used to love 5-a-side back in the days when I had knees. Played with drinking mates, at university and work. Have to say I never encountered any of the hyper aggressive behaviour outlined in the article and above. We also had no need for referees. Perhaps my level was just so crap it didn't need officiating. Or are people just angrier?
 
I play regularly but not competitively and there have only been one or two incidents over the years that have caused a bit of aggro. Typically when we have had a new player that wants to throw it about a bit they will get told that they won't be invited back. Some people take it too seriously and whatever level you are playing at most people realise they are playing it for fun/fitness and it isn't worth injuring people or fighting over it. Obviously in a sport with 1.5m participants, as the article suggests, you are going to get your fair share of people that can't behave properly. I don't see the appeal of playing in a league if there are enough people to play a friendly game with instead but that would have been different when I was younger.

Like I said, we deal with bad apples in private games by just not inviting them but referees/organisers need to be stronger in league games. I think the presence of a ref means some people see it as their duty to see what they can get away with and if the referees let them get away with deliberately hurting people then they will. There probably is a different mindset when playing with strangers as well. I know that personally when playing with friends that I pull out of tackles that I could win but there is a risk of injuring someone that I might not pull out of if it was a competitive game.
 
There is often some friend of a friend who comes along to make up the numbers. These randoms are the problem in my experience.

They often have a vinnie Jones outlook to football, that 'I can't play football, and today neither can you' approach.
 
Played in a few leagues over the years. Soccer Sensations over in Stockton was always a bit tasty 🤕, but a decent standard.

Goals in Boro was more of a mixed bag ability wise, but you’d still get the odd nobhead.

In all those years, I only saw a couple of genuine acts of violence - a punch and a nasty headbut. You’d mostly just get older lads trying to intimidate younger lads into not tackling them / getting stuck in - probably because they know they’d run rings around them if they did
 
festa5 said:
I think the boards/wall are the biggest danger. You can't slide in so unlikely to get a serious injury from a tackle, but being shoulder charged into the boards can be pretty dangerous (and rarely clamped down on as much as it should be by refs).
Click to expand...

Yeh broke a rib tripping at speed into a wall a few years back. Agony.
 
AytonMews said:
Played in a few leagues over the years. Soccer Sensations over in Stockton was always a bit tasty 🤕, but a decent standard.

Goals in Boro was more of a mixed bag ability wise, but you’d still get the odd nobhead.

In all those years, I only saw a couple of genuine acts of violence - a punch and a nasty headbut. You’d mostly just get older lads trying to intimidate younger lads into not tackling them / getting stuck in - probably because they know they’d run rings around them if they did
Click to expand...
Just started playing at soccer Sensations again, leagues are a shadow of their former selves. Pitches are all full, but very few league matches on them. Was the complete opposite when I last played over ten years ago.

I'm 5 games in and no trouble at all so far, seems much calmer than it was (touch wood) . One of the teams we played said they packed it in at goals because of too much aggro, so sounds like it's maybe gone the other way round now.
 
Nano said:
I play regularly but not competitively and there have only been one or two incidents over the years that have caused a bit of aggro. Typically when we have had a new player that wants to throw it about a bit they will get told that they won't be invited back. Some people take it too seriously and whatever level you are playing at most people realise they are playing it for fun/fitness and it isn't worth injuring people or fighting over it. Obviously in a sport with 1.5m participants, as the article suggests, you are going to get your fair share of people that can't behave properly. I don't see the appeal of playing in a league if there are enough people to play a friendly game with instead but that would have been different when I was younger.

Like I said, we deal with bad apples in private games by just not inviting them but referees/organisers need to be stronger in league games. I think the presence of a ref means some people see it as their duty to see what they can get away with and if the referees let them get away with deliberately hurting people then they will. There probably is a different mindset when playing with strangers as well. I know that personally when playing with friends that I pull out of tackles that I could win but there is a risk of injuring someone that I might not pull out of if it was a competitive game.
Click to expand...

I think this hits the nail on the head in my experience.

Its that "friend of a friend of a game I used to play in" person that causes the issues.

We have a private game, and a pool of around 15 decent lads who have played together for around 7 or 8 years, ... as soon as we go outside of that group we seem to have issues.

Lots of barry big b***ks coming to throw their weight around or show off 'ability' and dont like to be tackled basically!
 
festa5 said:
Is 5 a side footy really that bad?

I've played thousands of games over the years. I've played in competitive leagues on Teesside, Leeds and York and numerous after work/casual kickabouts with no doubt hundred of different people.

While I recognise some of what this bloke is saying, it was pretty rare. Yeah you do get the odd nob head, but most teams are absolutely fine in my experience. Think I've only seen one proper assault in all that time. He makes it sound like heading into the coliseum for gladiatorial combat.

Surprisingly the comments largely seem to back him up. Am I missing something, just been lucky or are guardian readers just too soft? (liberal metropolitan elite snowflakes etc 😜).

What's other's experiences been?

www.theguardian.com

A foul too far – the day I decided to blow the whistle on the brutality of five-a-side football battleground | Brady Frost

There were memorable moments, but too often it just wasn’t fun. The game was overrun with fighting, insults and aggression, says writer Brady Frost
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
Click to expand...
I gave up 11 a side in my early 20s, a couple of years after Uni, as the mentality of some of the teams we played against was pretty hoffic. Two footed tackles, elbows etc. Not remotely enjoyable.
5 a side I've never seen problems, but then it was generally pretty laid back games between workmates etc. Plenty of moaners but nothing violent.
 
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