Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

National title – and Champions League spot – secured for Aberdeen Futsal Academy just 15 months after first competitive match

Grant Campbell's side have become Scottish futsal champions.

The Aberdeen Futsal Academy with the Scottish Futsal Super League trophy. Pictured back row (left to right): coach Dean Elrick, Alan Redford, Callum Dunbar, Dmytro Zabrodin, Arran Christie, Grant Campbell. Front row (left to right): Willie Mathers, Richie Petrie, Owen Cairns, Jamie Watt. Picture courtesy of Scottish Futsal.
The Aberdeen Futsal Academy with the Scottish Futsal Super League trophy. Pictured back row (left to right): coach Dean Elrick, Alan Redford, Callum Dunbar, Dmytro Zabrodin, Arran Christie, Grant Campbell. Front row (left to right): Willie Mathers, Richie Petrie, Owen Cairns, Jamie Watt. Picture courtesy of Scottish Futsal.

Grant Campbell is thrilled Aberdeen Futsal Academy will get to represent Scotland on the European stage after winning the Scottish title at the first attempt.

The Granite City outfit defeated PYF Saltires 6-5 in Perth on Sunday to clinch the Scottish Futsal Super League and secure a place in next season’s Champions League.

Aberdeen will face three other sides from across Europe in the qualifying phase of the continental competition in August.

Futsal is an indoor five-a-side version of football played with a size four reduced bounce ball, and Aberdeen have enjoyed a remarkable rise in the sport.

Former Wick Academy, Huntly, Cove Rangers and Fraserburgh player Campbell founded the academy in October 2022 alongside ex-Broch team-mate Owen Cairns (now with Elgin City), with their first competitive game being three months later.

Campbell’s side has featured a number of familiar faces to Breedon Highland League followers, including Alan Redford, Chris Angus and Jamie Watt.

Champions League beckons for Aberdeen Futsal after jumping through hoops during journey

Campbell, 34, said: “It’s a fantastic achievement for the club. There are some great teams in the league and Saltires were unbeaten for a couple of years domestically before this season.

“We managed to beat them in Aberdeen and we knew we’d have to beat them in Perth to win the league.

“It wasn’t easy, but winning 6-5 on their patch was a fantastic feeling.

“Being in the Champions League is a brilliant achievement for everyone involved.

“It’s basically the same as the Champions League in football – you need the same medicals, a club doctor, a media liaison officer, all those requirements.

Grant Campbell in action for Fraserburgh in the Highland League.

“It’s quite unbelievable that we’ll be there representing Scotland. It will be a fantastic experience.

“To get to this point has not been easy – just to play in the national league we had to create a regional league.

“To create a regional league we had to find a venue where we could paint a court. Robert Gordon University have been absolutely fantastic in allowing us to play there.

“We had to get funding and Azets have come on board and sponsored us and been brilliant.

“All that was just to play our first regional game. To then go on and get into the national league and win it has been quite a journey in 15 months.”

More to be done

Between October and the end of March, Campbell ran futsal sessions for children and he’s keen to develop the next generation of players in the north-east.

Prior to starting the Aberdeen Futsal Academy, there was no adult league or youth structure in the area.

Campbell added: “I couldn’t understand why futsal wasn’t being played in Aberdeen.

“For people that love playing football, futsal is perfect. It’s five players on the court, you get lots of touches of the ball, it’s fast and intense.

“We wanted to see what we could build and this is what’s turned out.

“We need to find a way to open things up and provide opportunities for kids in Aberdeen and the north-east.

“In Aberdeen, we haven’t got any meaningful futsal going on.

“If you look across Europe and South America all the kids play futsal, why is it any different here?

“We’ve done a lot of things, but it’s been with a view to now attracting people to help us grow the game.

“This is very much the starting point for futsal in Aberdeen, not the end point.”

Conversation