Freeze chills Goals Soccer Centres profits

Sir Alex Ferguson may have banned his professional Manchester United players from wearing the dreaded snood, but no amount of warm clothing was enough to entice the amateur players who use Goals Soccer Centres out onto the pitch during the last bout of snow.

Only three of its 38 centres managed to remain open through the bad weather at the end of November, and the lack of action on the pitches mean that the group's profits will be some £700,000 lower than expected for the year which ends this month.

Goals, which is beloved by many a City five-a-side team, described the snowfall as "extraordinary" and said that while it had tried to clear pitches "as quickly as possible", in some parts of the country it had been impossible to play for several days.

It also pointed out that November is traditionally a period of lower demand from would-be Rooneys wanting a chance of soccer glory.

The group added that the snow has also delayed the opening of its 39th UK centre in Liverpoool, but should not affect another three planned openings in Sunderland, Norwich and Hull.

The company's own broker, Peel Hunt, cut its profit forecast from £9.3 million to £8.6 million, which would be lower than last year's pre-tax total of £8.8 million.

Goals' shares, which have almost halved in value this year, gained 1p to 111p.

Big Yellow founder Philip Burks, a property expert, is joining the board as a non-executive director.