Emerald Futsal League

The Emerald Futsal League was a futsal league featuring teams based in the Republic of Ireland. It was initially planned that the league would develop into a full national league. However the vast majority of its member clubs are based in the Greater Dublin Area. It is effectively a provincial league and, as a result, is also referred to as the Emerald Futsal League (Leinster). The league was introduced in 2008 and the inaugural winners were Brasilforall. Teams from the league cannot automatically qualify for the UEFA Futsal Cup but can qualify by winning the FAI Futsal Cup.

Emerald Futsal League
Founded2008
CountryRepublic of Ireland Ireland
Level on pyramid1
Domestic cup(s)FAI Futsal Cup
International cup(s)UEFA Futsal Cup

Since the league disbanded, the AUL Futsal Premier League became the top tier of Irish futsal.

History

The Emerald Futsal League was founded in 2008 as a joint partnership project involving four organisations – the Futsal Association of Ireland, Futsal Ireland, Sport Against Racism Ireland and Dublin City Council. The league kicked off on 2 November 2008 with three games played at the Ballyfermot Leisure Centre. The participants included Brasilforall, Polish Eagles, Futsamba, Perestroika, English in Dublin and Dublin Futsal.[1] The inaugural champions were Brasilforall who were subsequently taken over by St Patrick's Athletic.[2][3][4] The 2009 Emerald Futsal League kicked off on 25 June 2009 with four games played at the BRL Umbro Arena, Ballymun. Dublin Santos played Shamrock Rovers in the first game. Other members this season included Sporting Fingal, St Patrick's Athletic, Bray/St Joseph's, Alpha United, ISL Futsal and North County Dublin.[5] In October 2009 Shamrock Rovers won the second Emerald Futsal League title after a 7–4 win in the final against Bray/St Joseph's.[6] Since 2010 Emerald Futsal League teams have competed in the FAI Futsal Cup.[7][8] Emerald Futsal League teams can also qualify to compete in the UEFA Futsal Cup after winning the FAI Futsal Cup. Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic qualified for the 2007–08 and 2008–09 tournaments before the Emerald Futsal League started. Playing under various names including, Sporting Fingal EID, EID Futsal and Eden College, Eden Futsal Club qualified for the UEFA Futsal Cup on five consecutive occasions between 2010–11 and 2014–15.[9][10][11][12] Blue Magic Futsal qualified for the 2015–16 and 2016–17 tournaments.[13][14]

Format

The league consists of a regular league season plus a series of play-off matches to decide the eventual champions.[15]

Teams

2014–15 season
Team Home city/suburb Court
Academic FutsalDublin
B&H United FutsalDublin
Blue Magic FutsalClondalkinCollinstown Park Community College
Crumlin United FutsalCrumlin, Dublin
Puskas & Hagi FutsalDublin
St Ita's FutsalDonabate/PortraneDonabate and Portrane Community and Leisure Centre
Saints & Scholars FutsalWhitechurch, County DublinSt Columba's College
Transylvania FutsalBlanchardstownIT Blanchardstown

Source:[16]

Previous seasons
Team Home city/suburb Court
Academic Futsal Club
Alpha Futsal
AUL Futsal
B&H United Futsal
Blue Magic Futsal Clondalkin Collinstown Park Community College
Bray/St Joseph's Bray/Sallynoggin
Brasilforall
Clonskeagh Futsal Clonskeagh
Clontarf Athletic Clontarf, Dublin
Crumlin United Futsal Crumlin, Dublin
DiaEuro Futsal Dublin National Sports Campus
Eden Futsal Club Blanchardstown IT Blanchardstown
FC Guillermo Futsal
5th Infantry Battalion Cabra, Dublin McKee Barracks
ISL Futsal
Lifford
Newton Heath Futsal Clondalkin Collinstown Park Community College
North County Dublin
Polish Eagles Dublin
Puskas & Hagi Futsal Dublin
Rivervalley Rangers Donabate
SARSI Futsal Club
Shamrock Rovers Tallaght National Basketball Arena
Saints & Scholars Futsal Whitechurch, County Dublin St Columba's College
St Ita's Futsal Donabate/Portrane Donabate and Portrane Community and Leisure Centre
St Patrick's Athletic
St Vincent's Deaf
Street Leagues
Transylvania Futsal Blanchardstown IT Blanchardstown
Wicklow Futsal Club

Source:[1][17][18][19]

Winners
Season Winner Score Runner-Up Venue
2008 Brasilforall
2009 Shamrock Rovers[6] 7–4 Bray/St Joseph's BRL Umbro Arena, Ballymun
2010 Shamrock Rovers Dublin Santos [20]
2011 EID Futsal[20] 3–1 [15] Shamrock Rovers National Basketball Arena
2012
2013 Eden College
2013–14 Eden[21] 6–5 Transylvania National Basketball Arena[22]
2014–15 Transylvania [23][24] 5–3 Blue Magic [25] National Basketball Arena[26]
2015–16
2016–17

Source:[19][27]

References
  1. "Emerald Futsal league Kicks Off". www.futsalplanet.com. 4 November 2008. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  2. "FAI National Futsal League week one". www.futsalplanet.com. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  3. "FAI Futsal League of Ireland begins this weekend". www.futsalplanet.com. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  4. "Futsal To Kick-off This Weekend". www.stpatsfc.com. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  5. "Emerald Futsal League off to a flyer". www.fai.ie. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  6. "Rovers' Futsal team celebrate in Tallaght". www.shamrockrovers.ie. 29 October 2009. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  7. "FAI Futsal Cup Fixtures announced today". www.fai.ie. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  8. "Irish Futsal ready for a new season". www.futsalplanet.com. 17 January 2010. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  9. "Historic progression for Irish club Futsal". www.futsalplanet.com. 2 September 2010. Archived from the original on 31 December 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  10. "Sporting Fingal UEFA Futsal Cup". www.fai.ie. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  11. "Sporting Fingal SC (Futsal)". www.uefa.com. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  12. "Eden College Futsal (Futsal)". www.uefa.com. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  13. "Irish club Blue Magic learns UEFA Futsal Cup draw". www.fai.ie. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  14. "Blue Magic (Futsal)". www.uefa.com. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  15. "About Futsal – St. Itas Futsal". stitasfutsal.weebly.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  16. "Emerald Futsal League". www.transylvaniafc.com. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  17. "Emerald Futsal League: Team List". inform.fai.ie. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  18. "Emerald Futsal League". www.transylvaniafc.com. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  19. "Futsal starts Monday". www.shamrockrovers.ie. 26 June 2011. Archived from the original on 31 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  20. "Emerald Futsal League (Leinster) Final". www.futsalplanet.com. 3 December 2011. Archived from the original on 31 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  21. "Transylvania Futsal lost 6-5 with Eden Futsal in the Emerald Futsal League Final". www.transylvaniafc.com. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  22. "Transylvania Futsal qualified for the Final in their first season of Emerald Futsal League". www.transylvaniafc.com. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  23. "EFL 14/15 Champions!". www.transylvaniafc.com. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  24. "Transylvania set to represent Ireland at the 5-a-side World Cup". www.the42.ie. 19 April 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  25. "FAI Futsal Cup - Match 1 Review". saintsandscholarsfutsal.com. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  26. "We are in the EFL Final". www.transylvaniafc.com. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  27. "Eden Futsal". www.futsalplanet.com. 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
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