The 8-a-side may be a new concept for many, but for those who are familiar with today’s elite youth programmes, many countries have already adopted 8v8 as a means of developing ball mastery, positional awareness and confidence in our young.

All of us here at D2D love our football. We have played and facilitated games of 5-a-side, 11-a-side, and many permutations in between. It is through our own experience and feedback from fellow footballers that we decided to start this new initiative.

Have a look at the reasons below why we decided to go into 8-a-side football.

11-a-side vs 8-a-side

Football is traditionally an 11-a-side game. Ideally we get to play that all the time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way.

Fitness Issues
Unless we are insanely fit, there will be times we get so knackered that we end up walking or worse, standing there like a lamppost. The game then slowly peters out and the fittest team wins.

We have all been there.

In our 8-a-side league, games are half as long, allowing even the mere mortals amongst us to play at a decent pace before the halftime break comes.

Player Numbers
To play a good 11-a-side game, you need about 15-18 players on match day. As the days go by, players get injured, get attached, get married, have children, get posted overseas, change sport to golf… the list goes on. It gets harder and harder to fill the teamsheet.

In an 8-a-side game, you only need 8 players to start, and because the games are shorter, you do not necessarily need to have 7 subs to save your gassed out centre-mid anymore.

Number of touches
Most of us who have played 11-a-side would have experienced this. In a 45 minute half, how many touches do each of us get? There will be times where the game is played on the other flank so much, that the rightback could have gone off to buy coffee, and noone would have noticed he was gone.

In a smaller setting like an 8-a-side, 1 player makes a huge difference and because the playing field is smaller, everyone would have more chances to touch the ball as compared to playing on an 11-a-side field.

5-a-side vs 8-a-side

Futsal is probably one of the best ways to play football in land scarce urban areas. Internationally, 5-a-side is one of the fastest paced sports, comparable to the energy required to play in the NBA!

But of course, it has its limitations.

Pace & Control
If you have ever played 5-a-side Futsal, you know that a 10 minute half is exhausting. Games are played at breakneck speeds because the arena is small and one poor control will see you flattened against the parameter net and the opposition counter attacking.

An 8-a-side game affords you more breathing space, in terms of both pace and control. You have more time to bring a difficult pass down, and look around for passing options, something one might find some difficulty in a competitive 5-a-side game

Shooting
Goals are aplenty in a 5-a-side game. But most of the goals are scored by quick passing and movement, as well as mesmerizing footwork. Rarely do you get a headed goal, much less a 30 yard scorcher.

Everyone loves a screamer from distance. And you cannot do that in a 20m long field. Our 8-a-side game is played on fields 60m in length and gives you more than enough opportunities to score long range scorchers, as well as score the occasional header.

Playing Time
An opposite problem to the 11-a-side. You only need 5 on the field per side. So everyone else waits outside until a substitution is made. Its ok if your playing group is small. But if you have lots of football loving friends joining you for their weekly footie fix, 5-a-side may not be the best option for you.

The next best alternative is of course to play in an 8-a-side game, where the game does not suddenly change into a Cross Country race.

Sit on your backside vs 8-a-side

Sitting at home and watching football is a luxury, but is probably not the way to properly enjoy football. If you want to start exercising via your favourite sport, but you lack the fitness to play 11-a-side and the finesse to shine in a 5-a-side game, perhaps an 8-a-side game is what you should be looking at!

Look for us to schedule a friendly game for you and your friends. See if the idea sticks. The couch will always be there when you return home from a game