past events
the story so far...
The Salford Mini Soccer Festival has evolved from the Manchester FA Mini Soccer Festival, which was held for the first time in 2001. All festivals prior to 2006 were one day events organised by Manchester FA and held at their former home on Brantingham Road in Chorlton.
In 1999, The FA changed the face of junior football by committing to support a new form of the game called Mini Soccer which is now mandatory for all children under the age of ten. On the back of this change in direction, Manchester FA put plans into action to hold a county-wide mini soccer festival which would act to promote the ethos of mini soccer, concentrating on the development of the children, fair play and fun.
Whilst at Brantingham Road, the festival grew from a 32 team football festival in 2001 to a 96 team festival of fun in 2005, with a whole range of entertainment provided in addition to the football itself.
The Manchester FA Mini Soccer Festival evolved into the Salford Mini Soccer Festival in 2006, which saw the event being transformed into the country's biggest dedicated mini soccer festival, with 160 teams attending a full weekend of football and fun. It is now run as a partnership between Manchester FA, Salford Community Leisure and Charlestown & Lower Kersal New Deal for Communities.
Beyond 2006, it is anticipated that the festival will expand further attracting teams from all over the world but still retaining a local flavour and following Manchester FA's traditional mini soccer ethos.
You can find out more about the highlights and view galleries from each of the previous events by clicking the links on the 'In this section' menu at the top of the page.
about the galleries
The galleries display a seleced number of images from each year of the festival so far. The full galleries from 2004 onwards are available to view on run2's website - follow the links on the specific year's page to go directly to the relevant gallery, where you can also purchase pictures online.
All images are copyright protected, and must not be downloaded, copied or otherwise stored or reproduced.