Twenty-five teams competed in the event with Armidale fielding four sides including the Dieback Destroyers, Demon Knights Non-Atletico, Multiple Scoregasms and Armidale United who eventually claimed overall victory in the competition.

Event convenor and Armidale United player Nick Machalias spoke to the Express, fresh off the field from his team’s victory and said the event had been a tremendous success.

“The teams absolutely loved it - they are all coming back next year, so that’s a sign that they all enjoyed the weekend,” he said.

“It was great weather for football and we had positive feedback from all participants.”

Mr Machalias said five months of work had gone into the organisation of the weekend with help from many local volunteers and administrative and ground staff at UNE.

“The staff put in a great deal of effort and I would like to thank the Armidale Football Referees Association and my co-convener Chris Donovan,” he said.

“Soccer is now a big sport in Armidale - nobody thought the over 35s competition would take off but it has and it’s going to become a huge event with teams from Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and a lot of regional areas in NSW.”

Mr Machalias said the organisers hope to make the event an annual occurrence in Armidale, with expressions of interest from a further 10 football clubs from around Australia.