Benji Batten wins Northern Phoenix “Flickmas in July” WASPA

(Report by Christos Garagounis)

On a cold and wet winter’s day, a rabble of table football connoisseurs gathered at the Preston Druids Cricket Club to compete in the Northern Phoenix “Flickmas in July” WASPA.

A round robin format saw each player compete against one other in classic FISTF regulated 30 minute encounters.

Anthony Madiona played himself into some nice form throughout the afternoon, notching up plenty of good results and doing his best impersonation of Paul Mercer (by deputising as the Games Logistics Manager – GLM).

Benji showed why he remains one of the country’s leading table football exponents after strolling to five consecutive wins in an assured performance. The highlight was undoubtedly a wonderful display of sportsmanship when deciding to go “Full Commando” in his last match against “The Travelling Wilbury”, scraping over the line in a nail biting and dramatic 12-0 victory.

Beth Eveleigh sent a warning to the Global Woman’s Subbuteo Community with a fine display of patient, well-structured and results driven table football, whilst also managing to score a cracking “Goal on the Run”…..A goal which most certainly deserved to have been followed up with a “C’mon!” (such was its quality) although it never eventuated.

It didn’t take long for Adam Deverell to hit his stride after a noticeable hiatus away from competitive table football. He even managed to score the “Goal of the Day” with a miraculous buzzer beater (with only two seconds remaining on the clock) which saw him take all points in a 1-0 victory over Christos. His addition to the day’s playing roster certainly bolstered the quality of the ensemble cast that had gathered. Hopefully he becomes a more regular feature at coming events.

It was however Kevin Grant who undoubtedly took the honours as the day’s “Best on Ground” performer. A chilled display of nonchalance and a “care free – have fun at all costs attitude” ensured he made the event what it was. I even had the pleasure of receiving a lecture on the history of the Redesdale Bridge. I am definitely looking forward to a first-hand tour of the site at the next “Flicks in the Sticks” event.

Another enjoyable afternoon and needless to say.......

Subbuteo was the Real Winner!

Northern Phoenix link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/780610992079187

June and July 2024: results from around the world

We are always happy to see players flicking the plastic in many different countries. In the last few years, we had of course a lot of WASPA event in England but some other nations are still very active with regular tournaments. Here is a brief summary of recent results from Wales, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Belgium, Northern Ireland, Ireland, France and Scotland. Some more news also from Norway!

Drury, Wales, June 16, group format

1. Ruby Matthews
2. Chris Bedford
3. Cayne Matthews
4. Brendan Ashley

Brisbane, Australia, June 16, group format

1. Giuseppe Tardiota
2. Gus Gillespie
3. Gordon Orr
4. Gareth Whalley
5. Wayne Miller

Johannesburg, South Africa, June 16 (group and knock-out games)

Semi-finals: Ian Clarke - Rui Dos Santos 3-0
Gary Downs - Craig Smith 3-1
Final: Ian Clarke - Gary Downs 1-0

Perth, Australia, June 23, group format

1. Hugh Best (Sports TFC of Western Australia)
2. Alan Kimber (Subbuteo Perth)
3. Chris Thorn (Subbuteo Perth)
4. Noel Mani (Subbuteo Perth)
5. Ron Byrne (Subbuteo Perth)

Auckland, New Zealand, June 24, Swiss system

1. Mark Rossi
2. Richard Edeson
3. Conrad Mudge
4. George Miller
5. Andy Miller
6. Craig Wright

Melbourne, Australia, June 27, group format.

1. Peter Thomas (Melbourne TFC)
2. Benji Batten (Melbourne TFC)
3. Adrian Connolly (Western Sydney)
4. Nathan Urbaniak (Melbourne TFC)
5. Anthony Madiona (Northern Phoenix)
6. Beth Eveleigh (Northern Phoenix)

Templeuve, Belgium, June 28, Swiss system (2 categories)

Templeuve United, one of the most active clubs in the circuit, organized a special tournament last month as the club will have to leave their premises in a couple of weeks. The city council decided to rebuilde the local sports center, which means the club will have to find a new venue during the next 2 years before have a great new room is available. 18 players attended the evening and two separate tournaments were organized in Swiss system. Geoffrey marain was unbeaten in the main tournament while returning player Raphael Dhondt, who had not played for more than 30 years, proved the training sessions of the last few weeks were good to win the "promotion" tournament.

Top division with 8 players

1. Geoffrey Marain (AS Hennuyer)
2. Sébastien Rochez (Templeuve)
3. Matthias Averlant (AS Hennuyer)
4. Jann Segers (AS Hennuyer)
5. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve)
6. Benjamin Marain (AS Hennuyer)
7. Lucas Père (AS Hennuyer)
8. Michaël Dupret (Tournai)

Promotion group with 10 players

1. Raphael Dhondt (Templeuve)
2. David Sardi de Letto (Wattrelos-SLM)
3. Jordan Bonte (AS Hennuyer)
4. Franck Santer (Templeuve)
5. Eric Caillaux (Templeuve)
6. Sébastien Sorge (Wattrelos-SLM)
7. Thibaut Marville (Wattrelos-SLM)
8. Ursule Dhondt (Templeuve)
9. Mathis Verhelst (Templeuve)
10. Roman Lamiral (Templeuve)

Brisbane, Australia, June 27, group format

1. Chris Burford (England/Andover)
2. Giuseppe Tardiota (Brisbane)
3. Gus Gillespie (Brisbane)
4. Gordon Orr (Brisbane)
5. Gareth Whalley (Brisbane)
6. Wayne Miller (Brisbane)

Johannesburg, South Africa, June 29, group format

Report by Gary Downs: "On Saturday the 29th of June, ETS held a fund raiser fun day.  A 7-a-side football tournament, stalls, food, raffles and of course a Subbuteo tournament were all there. The tournament was a round robin of 6 players. After a tough opening draw between Easterns team mates, Ian and Gary, their days took a different turn. Ian went unbeaten to take the top spot, while Gary battled and went winless to finish 5th. Chris had his best day in a tournament for a long time, picking up two wins and two draws. He was pipped to second spot by Fernando by just one goal. Johan had a mixed bag to take 4th spot while Carl couldn't repeat his good performance in his last outing, and finished in 6th. All players that played and a few that didn't, contributed to the fund raising with donations, that are going to a worthy cause."

1. Ian Clarke (Easterns)
2. Fernando Rodrigues (ETS)
3. Chris Dimmer (Johannesburg TFC)
4. Johan Niewenhuis (Johannesburg TFC)
5. Gary Downs (Easterns)
6. Carl Bolweg (ETS)

Derry, Northern Ireland, June 23, Knock-out games

Lawrence Watson & winner Kenny Beggs

Lawrence Watson and runner-up Marco Bevilacqua

This years Jimmy Watson Memorial Cup was played as the plate competition at the Irish Open FISTF IO. The group was made up from an impressive line up who narrowly missed out on the last 16 from the main comp, so the competition was fierce. Kenny ‘The Legend’ Beggs came out as champion with Derry's own Marco Bevilacqua coming in runnner-up.

Semi-finals: Kenny Beggs - Malcolm Lees 2-1
Paul Lawrenson - Marco Bevilacqua 1-2
Final: Kenny Beggs - Marco Bevilacqua 2-1

Cork, Ireland, July 1, Group format

1. Mario Frittelli (Cork)
2. David Elton (Tralee)
3. Cian Hogan (Tralee)
4. William Magnier (Cork)
5. Timmy Ryan (Cork)
6. Jeff Murphy (Cork)
7. Barry Higgins (Cork)
8. Gerard Heaney (Cork)

Auckland, New Zealand, July 8, Swiss system (2 games each)

1. Mark Rossi
2. Andy Miller
3. George Miller
4. Conrad Mudge
5. Richard Edeson
6. Craig Wright

Edinburgh, Scotland, July 8, Group format

"July's WASPA event in Edinburgh saw 6 players play in a league format. Marco won his opening game against Bruce Henderson which proved to be pivotal, with Marco taking the game 1 - 0 and helping him to achieve top spot. 

Solid performances from Bruce and Peter Morrison saw them finish 2nd and 3rd respectively, with Peter accomplishing a full house of shutouts and conceding 0 goals on the night. 

In the Crammond Derby, Andy Kent and Paul McFadyen played a nail biting affair, with Andy triumphing 1 - 0 . And Lee McMenemy learned the hard way to hold his goalkeeper when getting shots taken against him. All in all, a great night."

1. Marco Bevilacqua (Golazzo SC)
2. Bruce Henderson (Golazzo SC)
3. Peter Morrison (Golazzo SC)
4. Andy Kent (Golazzo SC)
5. Paul McFadyen (Golazzo SC)
6. Lee McMenemy (Golazzo SC)

Wattrelos, France, promotional event, July 3, group format

1. Jordan Bonte (Belgium)
2. David Sardi de Letto
3. Sébastien Sorge
4. Thibaut Marville
5. Nicolas Voet

Norway: Subbuteo project in Terje Ellefsen's school

Terje Ellefsen is still doing an amazing job in his school with many kids involved in a development program. The "Euro 24 tournament" is not a WASPA event but might open doors for future events. The hard work pays as boys and girls are improving week after week and 16 players have been involved in the event. Half-size pitches and teams have been borrowed to kids so they can continue to practice during the summer and Terje is hoping to have tournaments outside school in the future, possibly involving parents, too. "We have a good wave here", reported Terje Ellefsen who has also been very active posting flyers and posters about the beautiful game in the surroundings with some positive answers from former players who will hopefully be back in action soon.

WASPA rankings of June 2024

 The WASPA rankings of June 2024 are out.

Excel file (rankings)

PDF file (results)

A visitor from Hong Kong for the Surrey "old rules" tournament

Chris Short won the Pedmore tournament

Players from 4 nations met in Switzerland

Great turnout of 20 players in Barcelona, Spain

Great fun in Auckland, New Zealand

Young players in Genova, Italy

The last few weeks have been amazing as we have had 39 regional tournaments and 4 events played with the old rules. Events have been held in England, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Wales and Northern Ireland. Some tournaments were organized with very high standards and it's amazing to see how the level is rising! Huge thanks to the organizers for that!

We insist on the fact that it's important to send results, pictures and possibly a report of each tournament so that we can publish articles on the WASPA blog!

With just 2 months to go before the end of the season, we are open to all ideas to improve the circuit. Your feedback is really important!

If you think some results are missing, don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Your in sport,

Vincent Coppenolle, vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com (please use this address to send results)

20 WASPA events in England in June 2024

We often say England is the most active nation in the WASPA circuit but it's always amazing to see how many clubs and players are involved in tournaments.
Here is a summary of results collected all over England in June. 16 "regional" events and 4 tournaments with the old rules have been played under WASPA banner.

Morecambe Bay, June 1 2024 (group format)

1. Luca Lanzani (Morecambe Bay)
2. Stuart Andrews (Morecambe Bay)
3. Rob Wilkinson (Morecambe Bay)
4. Keith Carman (Morecambe Bay)

Link: https://www.facebook.com/themorecambebaysubbuteo

Bristol, June 5 2024 (group format)

1. David Samuel (WAL/Cardiff)
2. Stuart Briffett (Bristol)
3. Steve Wonnacott (Bristol)

Solent, June 5 2024 (knock-out games)

Semi-finals: Dave Cope - Dave Hunter 1-0
Kyle Jamieson - Connor Gregory 1-0
Final: Kyle Jamieson - Dave Cope 1*-1
Plate semi-finals: Tim Hill - Riley Duckworth 0*-0
Malcolm Jamieson - Rob Piggott 3-0
Final: Tim Hill - Malcolm Jamieson 0-3

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2759539824274495

Leicester, June 6 2024 (Swiss format, 5 sessions)

1. Ian Aggett (Milton Keynes)
2. Richard Roper (Pedmore)
3. Rob Paterson (TSPA White Star)
4. Jeremy Bradley (TSPA White Star)
5. Sean Wenlock (Leicester)
6. Graham Harwood (Pedmore)
7. Paul Taylor (Leicester)
8. John Cooper (Milton Keynes)
9. Mark Weaver (Leicester)
10. Alex Ashcroft (Leicester)
11. Andy Henly (Leicester)
12. Scott Hunt (Leicester)

Haverhill, June 1 2024 (Consolation of the FISTF Open)

Main event semi-finals: Miguel Pereira - Adam Douglas 6-3
Nick Pearson - Cayne Matthews 1-4
Final: Miguel Pereira - Cayne Matthews 1-2

Semi-finals of the second tournament: Joe Harrington - Mike Williams 1*-1
Paul Izard - Thomas Lacey 1-0
Final: Joe Harrington - Paul Izard 2-2*

Bristol, June 9 2024 (English Championship, Swiss format)

1. Matt Lampitt (Elstow Lions)
2. Alan Lee (Wobbly Hobby)
3. Richard Badger (Wolverhampton)
4. Rudi Peterschinigg (ITA/Harrow)
5. Mick Hammonds (Wolverhampton)
6. Paul Andreas (CYP/Harrow)
7. Marco Ghigliotti (Harrow)
8. Malcolm Jamieson (SCO/Solent)
9. Adam Douglas (Stanway)
10. Aaron Skinner (Bristol)
11. David Pawsey (Bristol)
12. Justin Scott (Wolverhampton)
13. Darren Barnes (WAL/Cardiff)
14. Simon Goodman (Surrey)
15. Gage Badger (Wolverhampton)
16. Connor Gregory (Solent)
17. Ian Sharp (Yorkshire)
18. Stuart Briffett (Bristol)
19. Richard Roper (Pedmore)
20. Neil Doherty (Harrow)
21. Steve Wonnacott (Bristol)
22. Simon Bodily (Pedmore)
23. Dave Hunter (Solent)
24. Colin Fletcher (Chesterfield)
25. Nigel Morgan (Solent)
26. Dave Cope (Worthing)

Andover, June 10 2024 (Swiss system, 5 sessions)

1. Malcolm Jamieson (SCO/Solent)
2. Steve Wonnacott (Bristol)
3. Chris Burford (Andover)
4. Stuart Briffett (Bristol)
5. Nigel Morgan (Solent)
6. Shaun Ellis (Andover)
7. Riley Duckworth (Solent)
8. Jon Willing (Andover)
9. Roger Duckworth (Solent)

Milton Keynes, June 11 2024 (groups and finals)

Final: Ian Aggett - Mark Green 2-1
Final 3-4: John Cooper - Rob Paterson 2-1
Final 5-6: Scott Hunt - Greg Lickorish 1-1

Pedmore, June 12 2024 (group format)

1. Chris Short (Wolverhampton)
2. Richard Badger (Wolverhampton)
3. Mick Hammonds (Wolverhampton)
4. Justin Scott (Wolverhampton)
5. Rob Paterson (TSPA White Star)
6. Alex Scott (Wolverhampton)

Yorkshire, June 13 2024 (Swiss format)

1. Paul Lawrenson (Yorkshire)
2. Brian Kinrade. (IOM/Chesterfield)
3. Craig Heward (Yorkshire)
4. Ian Sharp (Yorkshire)
5. Kevin Adderley (Yorkshire)
6. Brendan Ashley (WAL/London Road)
7. Ian Smalley (Yorkshire)
8. Max Starkey (Yorkshire)

Tees Valley, June 15 2024 (English Championship, Swiss format)

1. Matt Lampitt (Elstow Lions)
2. Sam Curtis (Yorkshire)
3. Kevin Cordell (Stanway)
4. Aaron Skinner (Bristol)
5. Simon Goodman (Surrey)
6. Mick Hammonds (Wolverhampton)
7. Nick Pearson (Yorkshire)
8. Colin Fletcher (Chesterfield)
9. Jeff Parsons (Darlington)
10. Ian Sharp (Yorkshire)
11. Jamie Samuel Warren (Stanway)
12. Rob Paterson (TSPA White Star)
13. Ben Staples (Yorkshire)
14. Rob Heseltine (North Shields)

Morecambe Bay, June 16 2024 (group format)

1. Dan Nicholls (Morecambe Bay)
2. Luca Lanzani (Morecambe Bay)
3. Stuart Andrews (Morecambe Bay)
4. Rob Wilkinson (Morecambe Bay)
5. Keith Carman (Morecambe Bay)
6. Perry Sinacola (Morecambe Bay)

Haverhill, June 19 2024 (group format)

1. Kevin Cordell (Stanway)
2. Joe Harrington (Haverhill)
3. Jamie Samuel Warren (Stanway)
4. Gerry Harrington (IRL/Haverhill)
5. Peter Holmes (Haverhill)
6. Rob Fitch (Stanway)

Pedmore, June 23 2024 (4 groups of 5 and knock-outs)

Semi-finals: Rudi Peterschinigg - Chris Bedford 3-0
Sam Curtis - Chris Short 0-4
Rudi Peterschinigg - Chris Short 0-2

Plate Malcolm Jamieson - Simon Bodily 3-1
Ian Sharp - Gage Badger 2-0
Final: Malcolm Jamieson - Ian Sharp 2-1

Consolation Semi-finals: Andy Poutney - Richard Roper 1-6
Connor Gregory - Nigel Morgan 2-3
Final: Richard Roper - Nigel Morgan 2-1

Junior final: Alex Scott - Connor Gregory 2-1

Worthing, June 27 2024 (Swiss format)

1. Joe Currey (Worthing)
2. Malcolm Jamieson (SCO/Solent)
3. Steve Taylor (Worthing)
4. Nathan Holley (Worthing)
5. Nigel Pestelle (Worthing)
6. Ian Maskell (Worthing)

Chesterfield, June 30 2024 (Swiss format, 4 sessions)

1. Ian Aggett (Milton Keynes)
2. Rob Paterson (TSPA White Star)
3. Jason Christopher (Solent)
4. Colin Fletcher (Chesterfield)
5. Brian Kinrade (IOM/Chesterfield)
6. Tom Heslop (North Shields)
7. Andy Henly (Leicester)
7. Ian Sharp (Yorkshire)
9. Nigel Morgan (Solent)
9. Jeff Parsons (Derlington)
11. Andrew Forster-Fake (Chesterfield)
12. Paul Taylor (Leicester)
13. Trevor Allen (Chesterfield)

Old rules tournaments

Haverhill, June 1 2024 (flats tournament, league format + final)

1. Simon Goodman (Surrey)
2. Rob Paterson (TSPA White Star)
3. Jos Ceulemans (BEL/Flanders)
4. Steve Wonnacott (Bristol)
5. John Turpin (TSPA White Star)
6. Jason Christopher (Solent)
7. Jonathan Lopez-Real (Couldson)

Final: Simon Goodman - Rob Paterson 2-1

Haverhill, June 2 2024 (groups and knock-out)

Semi-finals: Simon Goodman - Tony Banks 2-0
Miguel Pereira - Valter Baroncini 5-0
Final: Simon Goodman - Miguel Pereira 2-1

Surrey, June 10 2024 (groups and finals)

The whole crew - front left our very special guest from Hong Kong - Leo Tse - playing his first ever Subbuteo (having been a collector for some years). He enjoyed the event very much and played remarkably well for someone who has only learnt from watching videos online.  In the Liverpool shirt the inimitable Jason Christopher - many thanks for Jason for coming all the way from Liverpool - sorry I mean Southampton - to support the event.  And 4th in the back row Richard Myers - a visitor from the recently formed That Retro Place club in Caterham - thank you Richard! (report by Simon goodman)

Semi-finals: Simon Goodman - Gianluca Zucchelli 0*-0
Jason Christopher - Tony Banks 0-1
Final: Simon Goodman - Tony Banks 1-0

Plate Semi-finals: Mark Hammersley - Lee Fenton 1*-1
Richard Myers - Lee Fenton 1-0
Final: Mark Hammersley - Richard Myers 1*-1

London, June 16 2024 (group format)

"On Sunday 16 June we had a fabulous day playing an old rules World Amateur Subbuteo Players Association (WASPA) organised by the London Subbuteo Club at La Pizzica Restaurant - London. Congratulations to the winner Tony Kiely and to the runner up Jason Christopher. Tony Banks performed well with a third place and John Subbuteocollector recorded a respectable 4th place. We played a league with 2 points for a win as it is old. We recorded results on a piece of paper and make the table on a piece of cardboard with adding a  “x” for each point in true old school style but to prevent a headache for the dear Vincent Coppenolle I tidied all up and typed up later! Many happy flicks" (report by Gianluca Zucchelli)

1. Tony Kiely (London SC)
2. Jason Christopher (Solent)
3. Tony Banks (London SC)
4. John Ellis (London SC)
5. Gianluca Zucchelli (London SC)
6. Lindsay Reid (London SC)
7. Troy Cowdrey (London SC)

Eric Lienhardt winner in Switzerland

On June22, 2024 subbuteo.ch held the 2nd SWISS-CUP 2024 in the new venue in Aesch BL. Many thanks to the municipality of Aesch and all the helpers who made this event possible.

Not only did we welcome 12 players from Germany, France and Switzerland, but regional TV was also present. Urs Schmidlin played a tournament for the first time in 20 years and a newcomer Daniele Giulianelli, who played in Rome as a child.

"Our tournaments must continue to be characterised by fair play, fun and friendship in the future, as this is the only way our sport can be successful", commented Peter Erb.

The tournament was played in 2 groups of 6 players.

In the quarter-finals, Panagiotis Krommydas (GER) won against Pierre Troestler (FRA) 3:0, Fabio Domenico (SUI) against Matthias Stechern (GER) 1:0, Peter Erb (SUI) against John Imbrogiano (SUI) 1:0 in sudden death and Eric Lienhardt (FRA) against Martin Wiesmann (SUI) 5:0.

Semi-finals: Peter Erb - Panagiotis Krommydas 1:0 (extra-time) and Eric Lienhardt - Fabio Domenico 1:0.

The winner was Eric Lienhardt with a 2:1 against Peter Erb. Fabio Domenico won the small final 3:0 against Panagiotis Krommydas.

Final table:

1. Eric Lienhardt - FRA/US Huy
2. Peter Erb - SUI/subbuteo.ch
3. Fabio Domenico - SUI/subbuteo.ch
4. Panagiotis Krommydas - GER/Subbuteo Club Höpfigheim
5. John Imbrogiano - SUI/subbuteo.ch
6. Matthias Stechern - GER/Pinco Devils Table SOCCER
7. Pierre Troestler - FRA /Mulhouse Subbuteo by ASPTT
8. Martin Wiesmann - SUI/subbuteo.ch
9. Nicola Mariconda  - ITA/Subbuteo Club Höpfigheim
10. Daniele Giulianelli - ITA/ohne Verein
11. Renato Parussini - ITA/Pinco Devils Table SOCCER
11. Urs Schmidlin - SUI/ohne Verein

Marain and Averlant winners in Belgium

Two WASPA tournament have been held in Belgium this week-end and both events had a good field of players competing in Swiss system.

On Friday, 12 players met for the "Magic Team Tournai" tournament won by Geoffrey Marain. A late equalizer in the last game against Vincent Coppenolle was enough to secure the win of the night while Matthias Averlant, despite winning a game in the first session, was a deserved runner-up and Raphaël Dhondt, who started playing again a few weeks a long after a long break of more than 30 years, is a surprising third of the night.

Final table (all Belgians unless noted):

1. Geoffrey Marain (AS Hennuyer)
2. Matthias Averlant (AS Hennuyer)
3. Raphael Dhondt (Templeuve)
4. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve)
5. Sébastien Rochez (Templeuve)
6. Michaël Dupret (MT Tournai)
7. Sébastien Sorge (FRA/Wattrelos-SLM)
8. Stéphane Lambert (Kent Invicta)
9. David Sardi de Letto (FRA/Wattrelos-SLM)
10. Benjamin Marain (AS Hennuyer)
11. Renald Deloose (Templeuve)
12. Ursule Dhondt (Templeuve)

On Saturday, games were played in Antwerp. With an unfortunate last minute dropout, 11 players were taking part including some players from the Netherlands. Matthias Averlant won all his games to win the tournament.

Final table (all Belgians unless noted):

1. Matthias Averlant (AS Hennuyer)
2. Jos Ceulemans (Flanders)
3. Sébastien Rochez (Templeuve)
4. Stéphane Lambert (Kent Invicta)
5. Marco de Bruin (NED/Flanders)
6. David Wouters (Flanders)
7. Geert Leys (Flanders)
8. Frank Lannoy (Temploux)
9. Gary Moore (IRL/Flanders)
10. Fabrizio Cavazza (NED/Gorizia)
11. Richard Oranje (NED/-)

Special thanks to all organizers for the great events;

The Templeuve tournament will be held on Friday, June 28, at 6.30 pm. All players welcome!

Western Sydney June WASPA tournament

Saturday, June 15, 2024, 2PM
Fitdistrict Studio, Bella Vista

(Article by Adrian Elmer)

"Sorry we're a bit late, but have a look at this photo I got of Louie as we walked here". And so Steve, of Northern Falcons TFC, begins what will, no doubt, become a regular photo at our Bella Vista HQ. Life size Subbuteo. The day finished with all 9 competitors finding a spot on each of the various original flats, heavyweight and lightweight bases for a final photoshoot.

And, in between the photo ops, a tournament took place. Young player, Josiah, made his debut, having spent the last 18 months learning the game at school. He was thrown right in the deep end, drawn against NTFC's Adrian G in the opening match. A 4-0 loss was no disgrace, but taught him lots that he would build on throughout the day. Steve scored a goal in the opening 30 seconds against Franck before Franck got back in to the game with a later equaliser. It was Steve, though, who obviously had an extra eye for the dramatic in operation today, who stole a winner with the final flick of the match, a goal with 5 seconds left on the clock. Remarkably, it was to be a common theme throughout the tournament. Adrian E was drawn to play Tim and a very tight game ensued. Both players had their chances, but neither able to make the incisive moment until Adrian found a goal with about 5 minutes to go. He held on for an opening victory. Host, Ray, came up against Eliot and, in spite of some good resistance from Ray, Eliot saw the game go to plan, easing to a 2-0 victory.

The father-son derby saw a goal-fest, in which Steve came out on top, 3-2, over Louie. Josiah put his new experience to action and made it a tough job for Ray to emerge with just a 1-0 victory. Franck took out his frustrations from his close call in the opening round to storm to a 3-0 victory over Tim. The real drama was saved for the Adrian G v Eliot match up. Eliot took an early lead and dominated play, putting Adrian under great pressure throughout. But Adrian, and his goalkeeper, were up to the task, continually repelling Eliot's attacks. Then, again, with the final flick of the match, Adrian slotted a counterattacking shot into the net to pick up a famous draw.

Adrian G followed this up with his second draw of the day, this time against Steve in a tight tussle. Another loud celebration from Adrian after another late equaliser was quickly earning him the nickname of 'The Sydney Benji'. After a number of months of being his bogey-man, Louie succumbed 3-1 to Adrian E, the opening goal one where Adrian had to react to his own mistake, slotting an overhit goal kick into the back of Louie's net with a quick shot on the run. Louie scored a late consolation from an impossible angle but it was too late to save the game by then. Josiah and Tim brought their school rivalry to tournament play but cancelled each other out, the 0-0 draw being Josiah's first ever competitive points. Eliot eased to another win, this time against Franck, with a 2-0 victory.

Eliot and Steve then played to see who would go to the top of the table. In a suitably tight, top the table tussle, Eliot managed to find the winning goal to keep him at the head of the pack. The Adrian derby was even tighter still. Both players made some half chances, but neither had a clear cut chance to win and the game ended in a stalemate. Ray found a way to get a victory against Tim following their draw last month, this time Ray coming out 1-0 to the good. A large amount of coaching from Louie helped Josiah in his final game, but with Josiah having had more experience than, perhaps, Louie had anticipated and, also, learning quickly, Josiah took full advantage, scoring two unanswered goals to pick up both his first competitive goals and win.

The final round saw all the players who had previously had byes face each other. Franck finished off his afternoon consigning Louie to a tournament without points, taking the victory 2-0. Adrian E dominated Ray and peppered his goal all game, but Ray's 'keeper was impervious. Save after save frustrated Adrian. At one point, the 'keeper even managed a save off a certain goal on the run while laying completely unattended by Ray. Then, with exactly 6 seconds left on the clock, the day's theme was underlined with Adrian finally finding a winner, his volume of his celebration having only been exceeded by Adrian G with his earlier exclamations.

So, Eliot and Adrian E finished level on 10 points and, without a head-to-head match to split them, it was Eliot's superior Power Ranking score that got him over the line. After what had been an afternoon of tight and exciting games, the players then headed off to the, now famous, photo shoot.

Western Sydney Subbuteo on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1379501845629782

June 2024: results from New Zealand, Wales, South Africa, Spain and the Netherlands

The last few weeks have been extremely busy and we haven't published many results of the latest WASPA events but we keep receiving news from around the world. here is a summary of results collected from many different countries. We will come back with results from England in a different post soon.

New Zealand: Andy Shearer winner in Auckland

* The Northern Line Flickers had their last meet of the Winter season. Andy Shearer won all his games to win the night.

Final standings: 1. Andy Shearer ; 2. Mark Rossi ; 3. Andy Miller ; 4. Richard Edeson ; 5. Conrad Mudge ; 6. George Miller ; 7. Craig Wright.

Wales: Phil Dacey still in great shape / Ruby wins

* In Cardiff, Phil Dacey managed to win another event last week. The Cardiff Blubirds tournament was played to celebrate the visit of Giulio Astengo from italy. Phil Dacey was unbeaten and was the clear winner of the night while David Lauder was runner-up.

Final standings: 1. Phil Dacey ; 2. David Lauder ; 3. Giulio Astengo ; 4. Matthew Rowley ; 5. John Lauder ; 6. Tommaso Astengo ; 7. David Samuel.

* The London Road club had small event with Ruby Matthews finishing on top of a group of 4 players. Ruby was unbeaten, proving she's becoming a really good player.

Final standings: 1. Ruby Matthews ; 2. Chris Bedford ; 3. Cayne Matthews ; 4. Brendan Ashley.

3 events in South Africa

* In Johannesburg, the ETS club held a tournament with 8 players taking part. Ian Clarke defeated Jason Kennedy (2-1) in the final to claim the title. Chris Dimmer and Gary Downs made it to the semi-finals.

* Also in Johannesburg, the Easterns club held a small event with 4 players taking part. The final standings were as follows: 1. Ian Clarke ; 2. Gary Downs ; 3. Christopher Paolini ; 4. Keegan Paolini.

* Cape Town City SC also held a tournament with 4 players. It was a home win for local organizer Neil Hampton. Final table: 1. Neil Hampton ; 2. Simmy Peertuin ; 3. Mike Ryder ; 4. Max Peertuin.

* The National championships will be held in Cape Town on November 23. 

Spain: Vicenç Prats in great shape

* In the Catalan Country, 10 players attended the latest tournament of the regional circuit. After the group stage (5 groups of 4 players) , players were divided in top and bottom tables to decide the winners. Vicenç Prats defeated Alfred Laporta (3-1) to win the tournament. Ricard Carles Prat and Ferran Coll were the semi-finalists. Paco Ucha won the Consolation final after a win against Ferran Borbones in the final.

The Netherlands: Marks and Aret on top

* The competition is still going on in Gouda. Nico Marks won the monthly event in May, finishing on top of a group of 6.

Final standings: 1. Nico Marks ; 2. Marco de Bruin ; 3. Jarno Marks ; 4. Xavier Aret ; 5. Cailim Marks ; 6. Richard Oranje.

* In June, 8 players attended the meeting. After the group stage, Xavier aret was the surprising winner and claimed his very first WASPA title.

Final: Xavier Aret - Rinaldo van Dijk 2-0

Final 3-4: Fabrizio Cavazza - Maurice Montone 4-1

Final 5-6: Stéphane Lambert - Richard Oranje 1-0

Final 7-8: Maurice Montone - Fedde Aret 0-1

Young and old players together in Genova

The club of Rebels genova held a WASPA tournament this week-end with 14 players taking part. It was nice to have young and old players competing together. After the group stage (2 groups of 7), finals were played to decide the winners. Alessandre Gondin defeated Samuele Bignardi in the big final while Tomasso Sani took the best on Lorenzo Fazion to finish in third position.

More importantly, everyone had a great day!

Congratulations to the Genove players for their amazing job with the youth!

The WASPA rankings of May 2024 are out!

We are pleased to publish the monthly updates of the WASPA circuit.

Excel file with rankings and statistics

PDF file (results)

You will find in the two attached files the updated results (29 regional tournaments, 4 tournaments with the old rules and 1 promotional tournament have been added) and the rankings and statistics.

Old rules tournament in Kallithea, Greece

We had tournaments in the Netherlands, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, France, Australia, Scotland, Wales and Singapore in May, which proves the WASPA circuit remains a very international movement.

Action in Brusbane, Australia

Congratulations to Kevin Cordell who becomes the new number 1 in the ranking while Malcolm Jamieson is now 3rd.

Thumbs up also for Eliot Kennedy (Australia) who won his 50th WASPA tournament in May!

Northern Falcons tournament in Sydney, Australia

Lawrence Watson claiming the trophy in Derry, Northern Ireland

Action in Edinburgh, Scotland

English clubs also dominate the different rankings of clubs while the Italians of Rebels Genova are still the strongest junior club!

Welcome to Kebun Baru SC and Singapore Lions in the Conference League, which brings the table with 29 different clubs involved this season (and 72 different clubs in the total of 3 divisions).

Players in Pedmore, England

Thanks to all organizers for their hard work and to all players for taking part in WASPA tournaments!

All your ideas to improve the circuit and to make things better next season are more than welcome!

Phil Dacey making a come-back in Wales

If you think some results are missing, don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Your in sport,

Vincent Coppenolle, vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com