Robert Pires lights up #OctaneCapitalCup during fantastic afternoon of football

Wembley has played home to some of the most astonishing moments in world football, and this year’s Octane Capital 5-a-side Cup delivered a few of its own.

24 teams made up of our loyal partners attended Powerleague Wembley for the second year running to battle it out to get their hands on the highly-desired #OctaneCapitalCup.

Four groups of six teams locked horns straight from the get-go to challenge for three trophies in total. So intense was the level of competition that there were multiple injuries early doors.

The spectacular afternoon had so much on offer, including some fantastic goals, brilliant teamwork, and bore witness to some of the finest football talent the specialist finance industry has to offer.

One of the standout performances of the tournament came from World Cup-winning legend, Robert Pires, who also played in the Premier League for Arsenal. The French international played for PIA Financial, one of our well-respected partners.

Without taking any credit away from the rest of the committed and hard-playing teams, Pires completely stole the show, operating from midfield and displaying a footballing masterclass.

The matches, played at Powerleague Wembley on Wednesday 5 June had everything:

• Sublime goalkeeping performances
• Heroic displays from midfield, with a number of players dictating the play from the get go
• Endless ‘‘come on refs’ and obscene language (you know who you are)
• Footballing masterclass from a World Cup winning legend
• Stand-out performance in the net from Jon Boulton of City Finance Brokers (our oldest competitor at the young old age of 65).

Hundreds of people from around the industry attended the afternoon’s event, which was jam-packed with some quality live football performances.

Once again, and despite our wall-to-wall talent across two teams, we at Octane were under strict orders not to win our own cup*, so gifted it to PIA Financial, who just so happened to have a French maestro in midfield.

We introduced a new award this year, called ‘Olden Glove’, which was awarded to Jon Boulton of City Finance Brokers, who had a fantastic tournament and pulled off some saves that Schmeichel himself would be proud of.

Winner Octane Capital Cup - PIA Financial

Runners-up of Octane Capital Cup- Devillers Surveyors

Golden Boot – Adam Klyne, Fusion Consultants

Olden Glove- Jon Boulton, City Finance Brokers

Golden Glove – Paul White, Devillers Surveyors

Winner Octane Capital Plate - Fusion Consulting

Runners-up of Octane Capital Plate - First Financial

Winner Octane Capital Spoon - Pure Commercial Finance

Runners up of Octane Capital Spoon - City Finance Brokers

Anyway, I would like to personally thank everyone who turned up for making it a truly great and brilliantly entertaining day – we’re already looking at organising a date for next year’s tournament.

*It’s worth mentioning that the Octane #3rdGeners defeated Octane’s A team in quite a fiery match with tempers flaring and office politics coming through in the form of bone-crunching tackles.