Northamptonshire crowns county final winners of Pokemon Futsal Youth Cup

The 2022/23 season of the Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup, in partnership with England Football is successfully underway, with Northamptonshire crowning five as the winners of their county finals competition.

The following teams were crowned champions and have earned the right to represent Northamptonshire in the regional finals of the competition, later this spring.

Girls • U12 – Deanshanger Girls

Boys • U10 – Northampton Town • U12 – Northampton Town FC • U14 – Malborne Rangers • U16 – ON Chenecks

The return of the Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup has seen an increase in team participation compared to previous years. This rise can be attributed to the inclusion of new County Football Associations, including:

- Bedfordshire FA - Herefordshire FA - Isle of Man FA - Kent FA - Northamptonshire FA - Northumberland FA - Nottinghamshire FA - West Riding FA - Westmorland FA - Wiltshire FA

The Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup, in partnership with England Football gives young players across the country the chance to get involved in this energy-packed game, compete against other teams and go all the way to the national finals.

Following the culmination of the county finals, successful teams will progress to the regional finals in May/June before competing for the chance to participate in the national finals this summer.

Peter Murphy, Senior Director of Marketing at the Pokémon Company International, commented: “Pokémon is thrilled to see such high engagement in the Northamptonshire finals of the Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup, including so many first time participants. With the 2022/23 season seeing a record number of team entrants, this only bodes well for the later stages of the competition. It’s great to see a range of teams competing in this year’s competition as they continue to develop their futsal skills. We can’t wait to see how the winners perform in the regional finals of the competition.”

Louise Gear, Head of Development at The FA added: “What an exciting start to this year’s Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup. It has been fantastic to see so many young players from clubs up and down the country taking part and enjoying the competition, and we look forward to seeing who will be crowned winners come the finals.”

Pokémon is the title partner of the FA’s Youth Futsal Programme which aims to work with boys and girls aged eight–sixteen. Alongside the Pokémon Futsal initiative in schools, youth football clubs across the country will take part in this season’s Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup by England Football, with competition kicking off in November and culminating at the national finals in July 2023.

To find out more about this season’s Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup head to mastertheball.com

About Pokémon The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in the world. For more information, please visit www.pokemon.co.uk.