Carbon team make amends in the 2023 Business Fives

The Carbon Five-a-side football team returned for some more action at the 2023 Business Fives Summer event in Edinburgh at the Sighthill Power League on 11^th August. The team was looking to make amends after heavy defeats in last summer’s tournament.

The tournament format is an initial round robin with teams playing for a position to go into either the Champions League or Europa League knockout stages. A wide variety of companies submitted teams, all playing for their own charities and using the time before and after games to network with other companies.

Our team captain, Michael Wilson managed to keep himself fit during the warm-up, unlike last year where he tried to vault a fence and was sidelined for the tournament! This meant we had a full-strength team, albeit with dubious fitness levels to contend with. We managed to secure a second-place finish in the group stage to qualify for the Champions League knockout phase. We came through the second round with a 1-0 win but unfortunately lost 2-1 at the Quarter final stage, bowing out with our heads held high.

The boys played some great football and battled well against our opponents on the pitch and held friendly chatter with them off it. Given we hadn’t played much together, it was an excellent performance. A special mention should go to Darren Lees, who was Carbon’s top goal scorer on the day, bagging 8 goals with his rocket of a left foot!

Finally, and most importantly, our joining fee for the tournament included a donation to our chosen charity, The Ray Fernie Foundation which was founded in 2019 by the Fernie family to continue Raymond’s legacy and vision in supporting young people in Scotland as they move from secondary school education into work, apprenticeships and further study, by providing practical and financial support, removing barriers, and enabling and encouraging young people to reach their full potential.