Local six-a-side team head to international tournament

Gladiators football team will be heading down to Illia Romania to take part in the United Cup.

The Gladiators are one of three English teams to take part in the competition with Elite UK and Sporting Carpathians also representing the nation, but Gladiators are aware of what these international competitions are like after their participation in the EMF Euro cup in Bulgaria back in September.

Sadly for the club their cup run was short lived with the Bournemouth outfit finding themselves bottom of their group and unable to make it out of the group stages.

However, they are not shy to domestic success. with the club winning six trophies since they formed back in 2022, and the Gladiators are unwilling to stop there, with manager Dragoș Crăciun saying: “For this tournament our main goal is to play in the final”.

Nevertheless, Dragoș knows that it will be no easy task with a lot of competitive teams taking part including the Euro cup champions ACS Arsenal, although the Bournemouth club feel they have enough to do it with Crăciun saying: “we have a very hardworking team and strong players.”

However, reaching the final isn’t the only challenge that Crăciun strives to conquer, with the manager looking to revolutionise six-a-side football in Bournemouth by creating a new competition.

The winner of this new competition would then go on to travel to Slovakia where they will participate in the next EMF Euro Cup.

The reason behind his desire for change is he believes that there are leagues that don’t contribute enough.

Dragoș said: “There are 1-3 leagues in the UK that are all about money, they give nothing back to the community.”

He has modelled his new competition around his experience in the Dorset Power league, with Crăciun calling it a “good example” as they reinvest all the money they make back into the players.

To align with this Dragoș hopes to send the eventual winners of his new tournament to the Euro Cup for free paying for their accommodation and travel.

The United Cup starts on the 23^rd of January and finishes on the 26th, with the Gladiators set to face Sin team Lasi, Fofefe Navale Constanta and Phinia in the group stages as they were drawn in Group A.