While England can claim to have taken the eleven a side game to the shores of South America, it is the other way round when it comes to the five a side version of football, called futebol de salao by the Brazilians - literally, indoor football.  The FA Futsal Cup was England's first attempt at a national championship in futsal, held in 2003, when Sheffield Hallam won the first ever FA Futsal Cup, joining Wanderers (first ever FA Cup winners...) in a statistic that will never be forgotten.  Back then it was a low-key, invitational tournament and now, with a full national league also in operation, The FA Futsal Cup is something of a major event, and a showcase one at that.  With a specialist events company commissioned to run the event to the high standards The FA expect, and with over sixty different qualifying competitions it has evolved significantly from its lowly beginnings six years ago.

Despite becoming bigger and better, the FA Futsal Cup has lost the one thing that made it what it was: a place in the UEFA Futsal Cup for the winners.  That now goes, and rightly so, to the winners of The FA Futsal League.  The buzz around The FA Futsal Cup, however, and the desire to win it among the teams is far from down on previous years, in fact, with less at stake, it may even make for an improved atmosphere and better spectacle.

The tournament takes over the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield for three whole days, with four pitches set up in the international venue.  Sixteen women's teams join the men's competition and on 3^rd July it will be all go for the clubs, organisers and spectators for three days of futsal drama.

Winning teams have, with the exception of the inaugural champions, and the remarkable Doncaster College for the deaf, been generally made up of foreign players.  FC White Bear, who have won it twice, albeit once as Team USSR, are, as their former moniker suggests, made up of players of soviet origin.  Ipswich Wolves, an exciting new team to burst onto the futsal scene hail from Portuguese communities in the Suffolk town and Helvecia, the current holders take their players, as well as their name from a Brazilian city.  Doncaster College's achievement, therefore, being an English based team, as well as a disability side in a mainstream competition is all the more amazing.

Sadly, Doncaster's adventure ended shortly after their UEFA Futsal Cup campaign (for reasons of players leaving the college), but the other names live on and will once again be battling it out for the futsal version of the most famous cup in the world this July. 

The FA Futsal Cup, which is a 16 team tournament, preceded by a qualifying round mixes up national league teams with local league teams, and, just like in the FA Cup, can throw up some romantic encounters, giant killing feats and one-sided affairs. 

Eight teams qualify directly for the finals, with two from BUCS (British University Championships) and the top two from each of the national futsal leagues, and this year's first names in the hat were BUCS Championship teams Worcester University and Leeds Met University. 

Next up, Middlesbrough (also intrinsically linked to Teesside University) secured qualification in April after opening up a lead at the top of the FA Futsal League North, and Sheffield and Hallamshire secured the second spot a few weeks later.  Tranmere Victoria, one of the most famous names in English futsal and regular feature in the latter stages of the FA Futsal Cup, just made it through directly along with Hartpury College from the midlands league.  Reigning champions Helvecia will be back to defend the cup, with Kickers joining them from the south.

The remaining eight places are given to the winners of eight regional qualifying rounds taking place over two weekends in June.  All the national league teams who missed out on direct qualification enter this round, and are joined by winners of local futsal leagues, which are usually organised by county FAs, councils or individual organisers.  This is the round that can, and inevitably will, cause some upsets among the bigger teams.  With up to three national league teams in each one, some will miss out, which only goes to emphasise the strength that the final tournament will possess. 

No upsets occurred in the first four of the qualifiers, which took place on Saturday 6^th June.  Loughborough University won the North A group, knocking out FC Barsa Leeds on the way.  Team Bath completed a five strong University line-up in the finals.  White Bear, who missed out on direct qualification are back to aim to become the first team to win three FA Futsal Cups and Newham Genesis from the South West A group return to The FA Futsal Cup for the second year in succession.

The remaining four places were decided on 13^th June, and nobody expected former champions Ipswich Wolves and Team United Birmingham to be beaten to a place by the young Streetly School, but it wasn't a freak result as on the same day Dengo United ousted Manchester, Grimsby and Sheffield to take a place in the finals.  Another non-league side, FC Lietuva, also got past Vaughan's to make it five non-league teams at the finals.  London United completed the line-up with a penalty victory over FC Baltic.

The draw, just like The FA Cup, took place at Soho Square, the headquarters of the Football Association, on 15^th June and while it didn't attract much public attention, there were sixteen clubs all waiting with anticipation to see who they would face in the group stage.

The eight direct qualifiers will be seeded, meaning each group will have two teams who qualified directly, and will be joined by two teams from the regional rounds.

All eyes were on who would come up against Helvecia, while Streetly School and Dengo United would be hoping for a kind draw to build on their fortune so far.

Helvecia will certainly be favourites to defend The FA Futsal Cup, an unprecedented achievement in the short history of futsal in England, but there will be no shortage of teams vying to make history.  FC White Bear, coached by former Ipswich boss Jorge Ribeiro, will be after revenge on Helvecia, who beat him in both the league and cup finals last season.  The Cup final was level at 0-0 until the last seconds of the game when Thiago Roberto Diorio turned the ball into the net to the gloom of the Portuguese coach.

Tranmere Victoria, Kickers and Sheffield and Hallamshire cannot be discounted.  The latter winning a tournament in the capital some weeks ago, against southern opposition, reminding them that the northern teams have something to offer. 

The University sides cannot be written off, and unlike a lot of the top teams they use a majority of English born players.  Middlesbrough, top of the FA Futsal League North will boast a full English squad, excepting one of their three goalkeepers.  It shows that while foreign players may have the upper hand in terms of experience, English based teams are well advised to delve into local communities and educational establishments to bolster their ranks and help develop the future of the game from the grass roots.

Futsal is starting to snowball in certain areas of England and as a whole, the development of the game is taking shape.  The FA Futsal Cup is just the tip of the iceberg, along with the FA Futsal League, and provides aspiring kids with a valid route to the top of the game.  One day, it will attract the attention it deserves and who knows one hundred years on, The FA Futsal Cup could be the world's most prestigious futsal club knockout competition.  This year though, it is firmly in the sights of all the teams involved and come July 3^rd all eyes will be on Sheffield.