| Type | Public Limited (LSE: GOAL) |
|---|---|
| Genre | Five-a-side football |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Founder(s) | Keith Rogers |
| Headquarters | Peel Park, East Kilbride |
| Key people | Sir Rodney Walker (Chairman) Keith Rogers (Managing Director) Bill Gow (Finance Director) Morris Payton (Operations Director) Keith Mitchell (Head of Development) Scott Kerr (National Operations Manager) ]]) Martin Franklin (National Sales & Marketing Manager) |
| Services | 8 |
| Employees | 650 |
| Website | www.goalsfootball.co.uk |
Goals Soccer Centres is a large operator of 5-a-side football centres throughout the United Kingdom and partnership with Umbro and FourFourTwo.
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Goals Soccer Centres currently has 42 5-a-side branches around the United Kingdom plus a centre in Los Angeles. The two largest branches in size are located in Wembley and Leeds, with these hosting 14 and 18 separate pitches respectively. According to the Goals website, the branch of Leeds alone deals with just short of 380 league teams, which means that an estimated 2300 individuals compete in league matches. The majority of these teams are charged between £35 and £40 to compete. Goals also offers non-league pitch bookings and allows people to book their pitch at an hourly rate. At the end of 2010 Goals exceeded 140,000 adult and 40,000 junior customers per week.[1] Goals state that each centre has a “capital cost of around £2.2 million and a build time of approximately 5 months”. Goals has a strong pipeline of sites for future development, many of which are with school or college partners, who gain use of the facilities for their students at no cost. Goals Soccer Centres Plc is the most successful company involved in this sector in Western Europe based on profitability.[2] Goals opened its first centre in the USA at Los Angeles during June 2010.
Goals was awarded the English Football Association Small Sided Football Award to Advanced Standard for all its centres in England. This award was in recognition of the quality of its facilities and operations and placed Goals in a unique position within the market place.
Goals started when Keith Rogers co-founded Anchor International Limited and set up what was to be its first branch in 1987. The business's popularity increased and it expanded. Keith Rogers sold the business to 3i for £28 million in 1999. Keith Rogers then led an MBI of an existing five-a-side football business in proving top quality five-a-side football facilities. Since then Goals Soccer Centres has increased in popularity and has become the most successful commercial 5-a-side operator in Europe. Goals are also currently in the process of developing a number of sites in South Africa and across California.