Battle of the Firms: Match Report
With over 100 people in attendance, Shoreditch Powerleague was reputedly the busiest place in the City of London at 5pm on a Friday evening, excluding Queen of Hoxton. Spectators and players convened to find out which firm would hold the coveted mantle of “Best amateur football team in all of fund finance” (North Americas and APAC excluded noting recent world cup results).
The day kicked off with Billal Malik and Joel Buckett thanking our sponsors: Walkers and Addleshaw Goddard, and a quick run-through of the rules. Teams were assorted into 4 groups, with the top 2 teams from each group progressing to an overall Champions Cup knockout stage, and remaining teams (excluding the bottom 2 on points) competing in the Plate knockout.
On the pitch, HSBC Innovation Banking made quick work of Group A – dispatching of all three opponents in their group with 3 wins out of 3 and an impressive goal difference of 19 to advance to the cup finals. NLC also progressed with 2 wins, and the aptly named Pink Book FC (Global Legal Group) progressed to the Plate finals alongside GLAS FC.
In Group B, Simmons & Simmons displayed a similar ruthlessness, coming away with 4 wins out of 4 games. Ratings Rangers (KBRA) came runners up and progressed to the cup finals; whilst Haynes Boone and 17 Capital progressed into the plate knockout stages. Tim Tam FC (CBA) was sadly knocked out despite a valiant effort, some would say vindication for supporting such an abhorrent choice of chocolate biscuit in their namesake.
Group C saw RBSI progress with 3 wins out of 4 games, topping Barings (who also made the cup final with 2 wins); and Citi FC and Walking Wanderers (Walkers) who both made the plate knockout stages respectively. Despite Maxim St Clair’s best efforts hydrating his team, Alpha Group joined CBA in commiserating (further) at the bar.
Finally, Group D was a competitive affair in which Hey Jude (Lloyds Bank’s team of Beatles fans) edged Deutsche Ex Machina (Deutsche Bank) on goal difference, with both progressing to the cup finals with 2 wins out of 3 games. Investec and RBC both made the plate finals after some hard fought and physical games on a smaller pitch.
After some much-needed hydration (some say that the unavailability of Heineken was Deutsche Bank’s sole doing); the knockout fixtures were announced. As the sun set on a rarely warm evening in the city, the players took to the pitch once more…
Progressing through 3 hard fought fixtures, Citi FC eventually saw off Walking Wanderers in a Group C rematch to claim the prize of Plate Final Winners.
In the Cup knockouts, HSBC Innovation Banking continued their unbeaten run – eventually facing RBSI in the cup final to crown the overall tournament champions. Ultimately, RBSI overcame HSBC IB and took home the crown of Fund Finance 5-a-Side Football Champions.
An award ceremony crowned the winners, and players and spectators alike used up the £1,000 bar tab and stayed around until licensing restrictions forced us out of the venue at 10pm!
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