Five a Side

I have played 5 a side for nearly 15 years, it's been one of the mainstays of my adult life. I have played with a lot of different people in lot of different places, turned up in all kinds of weather and in all sorts of moods. I am a lifelong supporter of Manchester United (my dad took me to my first game at Old Trafford when I was 3 years old - in the days when tickets were available at prices everyone could afford)

My love for 5 a side goes way beyond club football and even the beautiful game itself. It encompasses friendship, connection, community, mental health and physical meditation. Yet it was only a few weeks ago that I realised what made it so unique. I stopped to look around at all the other pitches where I play and I was elated by what I saw: Men, women, teens; black, white, brown. I thought about my own game, where a lot of the players are Muslim (the time we tried to play during Ramadan on a searingly hot day will long live in my mind) and I realised there are no boundaries to this world. I have played with plumbers and electricians, nurses, entrepreneurs and shop workers. That day, as I stopped to take it all in, I thought to myself ‘There is a story here - a beautiful, positive and uplifting one. A story that I wanted to tell and that would shine a light on a world rarely documented in any artistic sense. One which would starkly contrast with the so called super leagues. And now, a few weeks on and with a grant from The Genesis Foundation, that story is going to be told. It's exciting and scary and there's a huge amount of work to undertake. But it's happening, and I'm at the heart of it. So watch this space. The film, 5 A Side, will be arriving in Spring 2022