FA People's Cup back with a bang as semi-finals await

With Aston Villa and Arsenal having safely book their places in The FA Cup Final, now The FA People’s Cup semi-finals now take centre stage.

A staggering 30,000 participants and 2,500 teams took part in the first round of the five-a-side mass-participation tournament in February - assembling across more than 100 venues around the country. 

Those hopefuls have now been whittled down to 300 teams across the various aged-based male/female categories, which also feature disability, veterans and walking competitions.

The semi-finalists will now slug it out across regional venues this weekend for a place in the Manchester final on 25 May - just six days before The FA Cup Final at Wembley.

And just like either Arsene Wenger or Tim Sherwood’s men, the victorious People’s Cup winners will pick up their medals at Wembley on Cup Final day.

As you would imagine, teams have been in intense preparations for the semis. Arguably the team that will be making the longest trek to their semi-final are Wadebridge Girls U14s who will be making the 330-mile round trip from the Cornwall village to their heats in Bristol. 

Coach Jonathan Langton said: "It will take about six and a half hours of travelling for us to take part. However we are very excited about the opportunity. We like to take any opportunity to participate in festivals, as the girls just love to play football, no matter what the result."

Meanwhile, other teams just managed to gel in an instant with Mike Johnson of AlertSystems United revealing: "Our team's ‘veterans’ side was pulled together at the last minute. 

"The ‘team’ cajoled from retirement met for the first time on the morning of the initial matches!"

Follow @FA for Tweets about how teams are getting on over the weekend, and if your team is involved, share your photos and experiences at #PeoplesCup