Having raised over £20,471 throughout our summer season thanks to efforts of more than 100 companies that have been involved our national Five A Side Final took place on September 26th in Edinburgh. 22 companies will compete for the chance to be crowned Scotland’s national business five-a-side champions and take home their share of the £3,755 charitable donation for their chosen charity.  Full story of how the day unfolded below…

The summer season of Business Fives reached a thrilling conclusion on Wednesday as companies from across the country gathered in Edinburgh.

After qualifying events took place in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh teams from each city were represented at the final.

The standard was fittingly high with matches being uncharacteristically low scoring as defensive duties took centre stage with only 220 goals scored across 68 matches averaging at just 3.24 goals per game as opposed to a tournament high of 7.04 goals per game recorded at the Edinburgh Technology & IT event.

The companies on show were among the best footballing businesses that Scotland has to offer and they were also some of the most generous with over one third of Business Fives charity total for the summer being raised by the finalists and it was fitting that the Business Fives charity donations would match their efforts.

The tournament eventually whittled down to 16 quarter finalists of both the Champions League and Europa League section after 2 very close round robin phases that often left teams only separated by goal difference. That was a trend that continued in the knock out phases with 4 out of 14 ties being decided via penalty shootout and a further 9 ties settled by one goal margins.

In a season where Business Fives passed many milestones we’ve seen the 5,000 goal scored, over 500 companies involved and the charity contribution has passed the £60,000 barrier.

The summer season has raised £19,628 for charities across Scotland, a figure which is expected to end up closer to the £20,000 mark as retrospective donations continue to roll in and surpassed the amount donated to charity last summer.

The companies were all playing to win their share of the £3,755 charity prize money for their chosen cause with the donations being split between the champions league section finalists and the Europa League section winners.

The main prize of £2,000 will be donated to Marie Curie thanks to the efforts of Standard Life who won the overall competition by winning 9 of their 9 matches scoring 21 goals in the process and conceding just 4 as their keeper and captain Liam McCathie kept 5 clean sheets.  Their top scorer Daryl Healy was singled out by Business Fives ambassador Yogi Hughes as the Man of the Match after his performance in the final.  They overcame Glasgow Professional Services champions, Grant Thornton and Edinburgh Construction, Housing & Property winners, Thomson Gray in the knock out phases to book their place in the final.

Scottish Water joined Standard Life in the final as they took home £1,000 for WaterAid having scored 19 goals in 8 games with their only defeat coming in the champions league final 2-1 and you can relive that match online here. Scottish Water beat Construction, Housing and Property champions Advance Construction and Livingston based Energy Assets on their way to the final.

The final prize on offer was scooped up by DJ Alexander who won the Europa League section.  After a turbulent start in the opening group fixtures they went on an unbeaten run as they over came SP Technology, Cathcart Associates and latterly Nucleus Financial in the final match, which they won 1-0.  They will proudly take home £755 for their chosen charity the Rock Trust.  Mark Hall scored the winning goal, dispatching a penalty into the top corner while a stand out performance from Graham Wilson saw him scoop the Man of the Match award in the final, selected by David Tanner and James Bee.

Aberdeen based Expro ended the event unbeaten in normal time and lost out in an epic penalty shootout battle to Energy Assets as neither side looked like missing from the spot.  Captain Rickie Moir made collected back to back top goal scorer awards as he scored 11 of his sides tournament goals.

Also making it’s way up the M9 to Aberdeen is the signed SPFL Jersey that Ladbrokes Coral donated toward the charity raffle, James Dron from EnerMech had the winning ticket.

The top fundraisers on the day Glasgow based, iomart who raised £1,000 for JDRF through their charity efforts in the lead up to the events.

Check out all the key performance insights below from each of the companies that took part.

Business Fives returns with its winter season kicking off at the end of November which will see it host events in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen before venturing across the border to Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Sunderland early in 2019.

The national Five A Side Final of the corporate football events comes to a climax in Edinburgh next Wednesday.  To date the Summer season of Business Fives has been a roaring success for the companies involved and indeed charities across Scotland.  £18,098 has already been raised ahead of the final of the national business 5 aside tournament.

The £18,000 brings the charity impact of the socially conscious business over the £60,000 mark through both its’s football and golf events since launching in 2016.

The tournament, now in its fifth season, has been supported by Insider.co.uk, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Dundee Chamber of Commerce as well as strategic industry partners like ScotlandIS and Scottish Property Federation.  Of the 100 companies that took part 23 companies will make up the line-up for the National final taking place in Edinburgh with companies such as Scottish Water, Grant Thornton, Freeagent, Standard Life, Edrington to name just a few involved.

Companies from across the country have been raising money for their chosen charity in a model that has enabled Business Fives to make a significant positive impact on charities throughout Scotland, which was recognised recently at the Causeway awards as the firm picked up the Sustainability and Social Impact Award.

The tournament has been supported by a host of ambassadors from the football world such as Hearts & Celtic legend Tosh McKinlay, former SFA Chief Executive and Rangers icon Gordon Smith, Dundee and Celtic shotstopper, Rab Douglas, Aberdeen and Scotland star Jim Leighton, former Hibernian and Inverness manager John Yogi Hughes, former SFA and international Referee, James Bee and TV presenter, David Tanner.

Business Fives founder, John McClarey said “We’re blown away by the efforts of all the companies involved in our summer season and we’re absolutely delighted to have created such a huge impact on charities throughout Scotland.  CSR is hugely important to us as our company has a commitment to donating 10% of all proceeds to charity.  We’re looking forward to finding our who will win this donation at the final on Wednesday where the overall winners of the Summer season will win £3,615 for their chosen charity.”

Iomart who qualified from the professional services heat in Glasgow raised £1000 for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation with the fundraising efforts continuing ahead of the Five A Side Final.  Edinrgton raised £600 for their chosen charity Robertson Trust while Advance Construction and Nucleus Financial both raised £500 for their chosen causes Ring20 Research Foundation and the Yard respectively.

Investment company, Standard Life who qualified by winning the Edinburgh Professional services industry heat look to be in great form ahead of the final as they raised £150 for Marie Curie who they will go on to play for in the finals and go one better than their semi final appearance at last summer’s overall final.

Teams also returning to the Five A Side Final finals include Standard Life, AutoRek, ENGIE and DJ Alexander while others like Nucleus Financial, Expro, Kilmac, Advance Construction, Kindgom HA, SP Technology, Cathcart Associates, Intona, Zonal, EnerMech all make their debut in the national event having qualified from events in Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

The final promises to be an exciting and competitive encounter with the standards of the qualifying companies fittingly high.

The full line up for the final and their benefiting charities is below.

Kingdom HA playing for Alzheimer Scotland Fife Dementia having raised £200

iomart playing for JDRF having raised £1,000

Expro playing for Cash for Kids having raised £650

Advance Construction playing for Ring20 Research Foundation having raised £500

Energy Assets playing for MacMillan having raised £100

Scottish Water playing for WaterAid having raised £100

Standard Life playing for Marie Curie having raised £150

Cathcart Associates playing for Prostate Scotland having raised £510

Intona playing for Cash for Kids Radio Tay having raised £210

Nucleus Financial playing for The Yard having raised £500

Zonal playing for Hope for Children having raised £412.50

EnerMech playing for Children 1^st having raised £300

Edrington Group playing for the Robertson Trust having raised £600

Thomson Gray playing for Edinburgh & Lothians Health Foundation Oncology Ward fund having raised £645

AutoRek playing for St Vincent’s Hospice having raised £700

Grant Thornton playing for Maggies

SP Technology playing for Help for Kids

Bon Accord playing for Archie and One Great Day Foundation

Kilmac playing for Biedl-Bardet Syndrome

Freeagent playing for Shelter

DJ Alexander playing for the Rock Trust

ENGIE and CBES complete the line up in the final