Longest EVER five a side football match

If you have ever felt a pang of sympathy for footballers forced to slug their way through another 30 minutes of extra time, spare a thought for the 16 ambitious – and ultimately exhausted Londoners – who have broken the record for the longest five-a-side match.

The group consisting of Westway Sports Centre employees and customers played out their own rendition of the beautiful game for a staggering 46 hours and 24 minutes, eclipsing the previous record of 43 hours as they battled through fatigue and sleep deprivation for the equivalent of 31 full length versions of a match, racking up 1417 goals in the process.

With 12 officially licenced FA referees involved over the course of the game with official witnesses looking on at West London's Westway Sports Centre the 16 lads – 5 on each side with three rolling substitutes each – completed the feat that will earn them a spot in the Guinness Book of Records.

In addition to having a worryingly strong passion for playing the game, the two sides toiled through the opening days of August to raise money for Inspiring Futures Uganda, hoping to raise £10,000 to develop confidence, skills and belief amongst poverty stricken youth.

“We have achieved a great feat today, all the guys that took part should be very proud” says Lee Hawley, Sales and Marketing Manager for Westway Development Trust. “I’d like to thank everyone who came down over the three days to cheer us on, it really did give us the little extra we needed. I also would like to personally thank Reach Local and Big Wave Media who sponsored us in our epic attempt.”

Thanks to Our Sponsors: Reach Local

ReachLocal know online marketing and they’ve partnered with Westway Sports Centre since October 2009. They are a pioneer in local online marketing and help businesses across the globe acquire, manage and retain more local customers. Through a combination of their powerful technology and online marketing experts, they have the services to increase awareness, build a brand and generate more leads for a business. www.reachlocal.com

Thanks to Our Sponsors: Big Wave Media

A Message from Big Wave Media: Part of our ethos at Big Wave Media is to go the extra mile to support our clients so as soon as we heard about this attempt and the cause the team were raising money for, we were keen to get involved as sponsors. We’d like to congratulate the team for completing this epic challenge and raising such a substantial amount for Futures Uganda. 

Visit us online here www.bigwavemedia.co.uk
 

It's not too late to support the causes – just visit the sites listed below

www.facebook.com/gameforafuture

www.twitter.com/gameforafuture

and donations can be made securely online through www.gameforafuture.org