UPDATE 1-Goals Soccer H1 profit rises

* H1 sales up 12 pct

* Interim dividend up 8 pct at 0.675p * Says confident of further progress in 2009, beyond (Adds details)

Sept 7 (Reuters) - Goals Soccer Centres Plc (GOAL.L), which runs five-a-side football pitches across Britain, posted a 5 percent rise in first-half pretax profit, and said it was confident of making further progress in 2009 and beyond. The company said forward bookings were running at normal levels following a slight softening in activity over the summer holiday period.

"We are focused on managing Goals prudently in the face of the challenges ahead and look forward with cautious optimism," Managing Director Keith Rogers said in a statement.

For the six months ended June 30, the company's pretax profit rose to 3.9 million pounds ($6.4 million) from 3.7 million pounds last year. Revenue grew 12 percent to 12.9 million pounds.

Like-for-like sales increased about 1 percent.

Goals Soccer declared an interim dividend of 0.675 pence, up 8 percent from 0.625 pence a year ago.

Goals Soccer shares closed at 193 pence on Friday on the London Stock Exchange. ($1=.6104 Pound) (Reporting by Tresa Sherin Morera in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)