At the start of next month, Scotland will host the Futsal Home Nations Championship at Oriam in Edinburgh and new head coach Gerry McMonagle has named his squad.
The hosts will be looking to better last year’s third placed finish where they lost out to England in the opening game and ran eventual competition winners Wales close, ultimately losing 5-2.
In the final game Scotland defeated Northern Ireland 8-2.
The Scottish Futsal team is still in the early stages of its development after being established in October 2014 and were knocked out of the European Championships preliminary rounds earlier this year, losing to Georgia, Switzerland and Israel.
Included in the squad are Albion Rovers’ Craig McLeish and Elgin City’s Scott Smith.
McLeish made history in the last Home Nations Championship when he notched Scotland’s first ever hat-trick, scoring three against Northern Ireland.
Entry to matches will be free of charge at Oriam with all games taking place in the indoor court.
Futsal is a 5-a-side version of football with unlimited substitutions and 20 minutes a half. The game is played with an optimised ball that does not bounce as much as a traditional football.
Futsal Home Nations Championships Tournament Schedule
Friday, 1 December
England v Wales, kick-off 4pm
Scotland v Northern Ireland, kick-off 7.30pm
Saturday, 2 December
Northern Ireland v England, kick-off 2.30
Scotland v Wales, kick-off 6pm
Sunday, 3 December
Wales v Northern Ireland, kick-off 1pm
Scotland v England, kick-off 4.30pm
Scotland Futsal Squad
Goalkeepers
Ben Tough (Fair City Santos)
Adam Whitelaw (TMT Futsal Club)
Defenders
Kyle Ballingall (Perth Saltires)
Martin Cassells (AKN Lions)
Kevin Hagan (TMT Futsal Club)
Craig McLeish (Wattcell/Albion Rovers)
Scott Mollinson (Fair City Santos)
Scott Smith (Fair City Santos/Elgin City)
Midfielders
Neil Laurenson (Wattcell)
Paul McLaughlin (Polonia Edinburgh)
Richard Horlock (West London Futsal Club)
Ahmed Aloulou (Dundee Futsal Club)
Jack Guthrie (Wattcell)
Fraser Smith (Fair City Santos)
Forwards
Lee Cameron (Dundee Futsal Club)
Ryan Robb (Fair City Santos)
Dayle Robertson (Fair City Santos)
Liam Kelly (Dundee Futsal Club)
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
