Irish League star hoping to cause major Irish Cup shock after lifting league title and booking spot in UEFA Futsal Champions League

The 25-year-old, who scored the winner as Ballyclare defeated Dungannon Swifts in the last round, is also a Northern Ireland futsal international, representing his country on 22 occasions in the five-a-side indoor sport.

Roohi is captain of Sparta Belfast Futsal Club and lifted the NIFF Super League trophy on Sunday, winning the competition for a second consecutive season with the added bonus of going unbeaten throughout the entire 2023/24 campaign.

It means that Sparta have booked their spot in the UEFA Futsal Champions League preliminary round for the fourth time with a European trip scheduled for August, adding to previous adventures to Austria, Estonia and Albania in recent years.

Roohi will be back on the court one day after Ballyclare’s trip to The Oval with Sparta looking to take the first step towards a league-cup double.

"It was a very, very special day for me and Sparta Belfast,” he said. “That's my fourth title with Sparta and to do it back-to-back is extra special, but to do it unbeaten is a significant achievement for the club.

"I'm delighted for everyone involved with our club...there's a lot of hard work and effort that goes into running it on a yearly basis behind the scenes. It was really a club effort to get us back to where we feel we belong which is the Champions League.

"We're going to be playing in the UEFA Champions League again in August...it's a massive challenge for us. No team from Northern Ireland in UEFA futsal history has ever picked up a point.

"Every team that goes away for these competitions are looking to make history and we're no different. That's what we're aiming to do.

"We've a cup competition coming up over the next few weeks and we want to go all the way in that too. That's our immediate priority but we've already started preparations for the Champions League which is massive for our club."

Roohi spent a season fully focusing on futsal while studying at Loughborough University before returning to the Irish League with Stephen Small’s Ballyclare ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

While the striker hadn’t registered any significant goal results during spells with Lisburn Distillery, Knockbreda, Warrenpoint and Ards prior to his year in England, he has now netted 35 times in 65 appearances, including 18 in the Championship last season and 11 this term.

"Futsal has massively helped my football,” he added. “The year out I took in England was massive for me.

"Before I did that full year of futsal I had never scored 10 goals in a single season. I was able to focus on my technical development, spatial awareness, decision-making, managing situations and gaining emotional stability when times are tough on the court.

"I tried bringing all those skills I learned over an amazing year in Loughborough back to Northern Ireland and Stevie Small has been so supportive of me doing both sports which is great.

"Some local managers maybe wouldn't understand why I do both sports...I'm doing it to support my technical and tactical development and through that it's making me a better player. It has been a great two seasons with Ballyclare and I feel a big part of that is down to futsal."