Goals fails to run up a high profit score

Disruption to regular five-a-side matches during the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee saw Goals Soccer Centres profits rise only 3 per cent to £9.5m last year.

The group, which runs 43 centres in the UK and Los Angeles, also spent £1.5m on dealing with a £73m takeover bid from Canada's Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, which the board recommended but shareholders rejected.

Sales last year rose by 7 per cent to £32.5m, despite a 7 per cent fall in bar sales. The group said 2013 had seen a 3 per cent rise in underlying sales, excluding the impact of bad weather. Its shares were unchanged at 126p.