Towns and small communities in Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire have hosted five, six and seven-a-side football tournaments through the months of May, June and July for more than half a century.

But like countless other sporting events in the land forthcoming mini soccer competitions are likely to be held over until next year.

Some tournaments take place over several weeks while others are one-day events, often coinciding with village activities.

A popular six-a-side for some years is at Newcastle Emlyn where the latter stages on a Saturday bring down the curtain on the town’s annual week of festivities.

Another is the annual Jimmy James Memorial seven-a-side Tournament at St Dogmaels with ten or so invited Costcutter League clubs competing in a round-robin format.

There are many smaller events over a wide area, and it is not unusual to see local club managers on the touchline and numerous players have been snapped up for the winter competitions.

One of the biggest crowd-puller is no more, but back in the 1980s the Hope & Anchor seven-a-side at King George V Playing Field in Cardigan on a Saturday in June evoked significant excitement in the area.

Teams were invited from a wide area, including one from Ystalyfera in the Swansea Valley and others from the three counties.