Football fans prefer their old school Premier League football heroes than today’s current crop of names according to a poll. When asked who would be their ideal goalkeepers, defenders, wingers and strikers in their five-a-side team, football fans put the likes of Beckham, Henry, Ronaldo, Gerrard, Schmeichel, Ferdinand and Terry over today’s footballing names including Salah, Kane, Aguero and Cech.
The research, carried out by Cadbury for its new “Ultimate 5-A-Side Tournament” promotion, which gives the public the chance to play with and against five football legends, also revealed we love playing five-a-side football. The average five-a-side player spends 68 minutes a week playing – with women playing 1 hour 10 minutes and men playing 1 hour 7 – that’s almost 2.5 days a year. The findings also revealed that football fans think the goalkeeper is the most important position (21 per cent), over strikers, midfielders and centre backs.
Despite legendary players topping the dream five-a-side lists, when asked to pick one season of Premier League that has boasted the best calibre of players, the current season came out top, with almost one in ten (9 per cent) of football fans voting for it.
Thierry Henry, Cadbury ambassador and one of the football legends in the five-a-side promotion, reveals his top tips for a successful five-a-side team:
“Five-a-side is a great way to bring people together, it’s easy to organise and play. The five-a-side game is all about quick movement, taking fewer touches and good decision-making. It’s also a really good exercise in encouraging people to adopt good positions on the pitch, anyone chasing the ball around will be found out! This is a fantastic competition from Cadbury and I’m looking forward to meeting the winners later in the summer and playing a few games with them!”
Jamie Redknapp's ultimate 5-a-side:
- David Seaman
- Tony Adams
- John Barnes
- Steven Gerrard
- Robbie Fowler
Alex Scott's ultimate 5-a-side:
- David de Gea
- Tony Adams
- Steven Gerrard
- Thierry Henry
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Fans said playing football with their idols would inspire them to play more football (21 per cent) or up their game (23 per cent)
- 18 per cent would just be concerned about making sure someone filmed it!
- When asked how they would react if they met one of their football heroes, 29 per cent would take a selfie, followed by ask for an autograph (21 per cent) or post a picture to social media (20 per cent)
- If they could only pick one person to play against a Premier League five-a-side team, nearly one fifth (19 per cent) would be most likely to pick their best friend, whilst one in 10 (10 per cent) would opt for their brother
- Those who play five-a-side said they like the game because anyone can play (49 per cent) and it brings work colleagues together (43 per cent)
- Skill (41 per cent) and stamina (36 per cent) are cited as the most important attributes for a five-a-side player.
Raphael Capitani, Brand manager, Cadbury says: “As part of our ongoing partnership with Premier League, which offers fans a host of money-can’t-buy opportunities; we’re very excited to be giving Cadbury fans the chance to win this once in a lifetime experience. Meeting your football heroes is one thing, but the chance to play in a five-a-side game with five football legends is another. We can’t wait to see the reactions on the day”.
The Cadbury promotion gives lucky winners the chance to play five-a-side football with legends Thierry Henry, Shay Given, Jamie Redknapp, Jimmy Bullard and Alex Scott. Football fans can win the chance for themselves and five mates to play either with or against these legends by heading to the Cadbury5Aside.com website throughout May and registering any Cadbury chocolate single bar barcode to get a chance to win a spot in this ultimate tournament. Terms and conditions apply.
