The inaugural season of the F-League will begin this weekend with a full round of games in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Over the next nine weeks, Crusaders FC, Fire FC, Gold Coast Force, Galaxy FC, Ipswich Futsal and River City Futsal will go head-to-head for the first-ever title.
In Brisbane, two men’s and women’s double headers will kick-start the new competition on Sunday with games in Carina and Yeronga.
The Brisbane-Ipswich rivalry will ignite in both the men’s and women’s competition as River City FC host Ipswich Futsal at the Clem Jones Centre.
River City Futsal, which was established in July 2020 by the Sciacca brothers Mitch and Daniel, has strong ties to Mansfield State High School.
Many of the men’s players, including Diego Ocando, Jeremy Hansen, Matt Pickham, Nathan Sparks and Matt Sciacca are Mansfield SHS alumni.
Ipswich Futsal, based out of Ripley Valley State Secondary College, will represent a city with a proud sporting heritage in the F-League.
They have recruited local players such as Georgia Buchanan and Claire Brettell in the women’s team and Connor George and Zayne Freiberg in the men’s team.
Brisbane-based Fire FC will take on Gold Coast Force in both the women’s and men’s competitions at Yeronga Fitness Centre.
Gold Coast Force have built a strong line-up featuring Solomon Islands international James Egeta and former Futsalroos Scott Fenn and Daniel Fogarty.
As many of Force’s players previously played with Galaxy FC, the Round 4 clash between Galaxy and Force will no doubt kick-start an instant rivalry between the two sides.
“It will be great to see the next generation of Galaxy players up against previous heroes from the club,” Galaxy president Armando Cacace told Football Queensland.
First up for Galaxy though is another Gold Coast rival, Crusaders FC, on Sunday afternoon in Coomera.
Crusaders have recruited a strong women’s team including NPL players Emily Dunn, Meaghan McElligott, April Gleeson and JJ McLean.
All Men’s and Women’s teams will play home and away matches throughout the regular season, culminating in a Finals Series played over two weekends in October.
