Goals Soccer Centres, the five-a-side football operator, has seen shares in the company drop 5.3 per cent to 128.3p.

The slip was a result of the company’s announcement that slower growth towards the end of 2008 had led to a profit shortfall for the year.

Ancillary spend slowed during the last six months of the year, resulting in overall like for like sales increasing at a rate of 3 per cent and total sales increasing at a rate of approximately 20 per cent for the year to 31 December 2008, marginally below market expectations.

Goals also said that as a result of the shortfall, it would reduce the number of new centre openings this year from six to four.

The company said that this “cautious approach” would be maintained until it has a “clearer view of the financial and economic landscape”.