Southampton Solent University has joined forces with England Futsal Community CIC in a collaboration focused on coach education, performance analysis, and applied research, positioning the university as a national centre for futsal development.
Dr Nuno Nunes, senior lecturer in football coaching at Solent, said: “This partnership represents a hugely important step for everyone at Solent.
“It allows us to connect world-leading research with the realities of elite performance, while creating meaningful opportunities for our students to engage in applied, high-impact work.
“By aligning our teaching, research and coach education activity with national and UEFA priorities, we are proud to be playing a role in shaping the future development of futsal in England and beyond.”
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The partnership has already secured funding through the ARK research grant, supporting a dedicated futsal research assistant position at the university.
The role will expand student opportunities and strengthen the performance pathway through evidence-led research.
Solent academics are working alongside England Futsal staff to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and elite practice.
The university will also contribute to a special issue of Football Studies focused on elite futsal tournaments, further raising its profile in the global futsal research community.
Sion Kitson, head of development and technical at England Futsal, said: “For futsal to grow, we need alignment across education, research and performance.
“This partnership helps contribute to raising standards across the wider game while directly supporting the evolution of our performance pathway through evidence-led practice.”
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A core focus of the collaboration is developing a new generation of futsal researchers and practitioners to support the sport’s growth in the UK.
Planned projects include research into England Futsal coaches’ perceptions of key development needs, detailed performance analysis of major international competitions such as the UEFA Futsal EURO and World Cup, and observational studies examining elite coaches’ offensive training practices.
The partnership aims to expand its scope and impact with additional projects and studies.
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