Ideagen Crowned Champions in Nottingham
The Business Fives Nottingham event served up 189 goals in 52 matches as 19 companies looked to secure one of the three qualifying spots at the Business Fives National final where there is over £10,000 up for grabs for charity.
The teams combined for a tremendous fundraising effort with a total of £2,770 going to various charities as a result of the event.
Off the pitch competition heated up as we neared the announcement of top fundraiser. UK Meds who led the way in the days leading up to the event came in third place raising £270 for Cancer Research, Ideagen were runners up raising £300 for Alzheimers Society but it was Innes England who lifted the Top Fundraiser trophy raising a total of £500 for The Big Reading Challenge. A late retrospective fundraising push from Red Box Voice saw them raise £410 for Framework.
On the pitch UNiDAYS, Ideagen, PKF Smith Cooper and Firstsource all progressed to the Champions League semi-finals. Eventually it was Ideagen who faced off against Firstsource in the final as both teams safely secured passage to the national final in Manchester on Tuesday 5th April 2022.
Despite never having played together before, Firstsource produced a series of great performances throughout. However, it was Ideagen who proved worthy winners in the end to be crowned Business Fives Nottingham champions.
The win was largely thanks to a hattrick from Sam McElroy who scooped the top goal scorer prize with an impressive 17 goals, a very decent return scoring 3 in the final. The goals were bolstered by a standout performance from Josh Broad who was singled out by Forest legend Steve Chettle as MOTM in the final. The other individual award went to Player of the tournament, Tara Kirk from Champions UK for her outstanding displays on the pitch.
Ideagen won a £500 donation for Alzheimers Society to bring their total to £800.
TDX Group, Office Innovations, Eversheds Sutherland and DHL– East Midlands Airport all battled it out to secure the remaining qualifying spot in the Europa League semi finals.
It was TDX Group and DHL – EMA who progressed to the final where DHL ran out 2-1 winners to lift the Europa League trophy, scoop the qualifying spot and bag themselves a £250 donation for their chosen charity, Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Steve Chettle entertained the players with stories from his playing career and talked about the switch from playing to coaching at the post match Q&A.
Business Fives will be back in Nottingham for another Business Fives Nottingham event on Wednesday 23rd March for another qualifying round and full details can be found on our website here.
