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.

Brilliant days for the future of the game in Norway

The final

We are very happy to see young players having great Subbuteo games in Norway. Thanks to Terje Ellefsen, kids learn how to play and 8 of the players recently played a "Champion's League" in Terje's school in Oslo as part of an afterschool program.

This week the final of the tournament was played with "Palermo" defeating "Start IK" (2-0) in the final.

The anthem of the Champion's League was played before the final and about ten other kids and some adults watched the game.

Terje Ellefsen (left) against Italy's Andrea Di Vincenzo in Paris earlier in 2024

Of course it was only a friendly tournament are laws in Norway make there are no competitive events till the age of 12, in particular as the tournament is played in a school, and children are encouraged not to specialise. Terje Ellefsen, who is very motivated to teach the games to newcomers. So far about 150 kids aged 8 to 10 have tried Subbuteo in the last 2 years so there are good hopes for the future, in particuler since about 25% of the young players are girls (and one girl played the final of the "Champion's League" tournament). This is for sure one of the largest recruitment projects in Europe and WASPA will for sure support Terje's work in the future as it's done in the "WASPA spirit".

Thanks also to NBFF president Thomas Flaaten Fredriksen who has been very supportive about the project.

Keep up the excellent work Terje!

PS: any person wanting to support the project or to play Subbuteo in Oslo can contact Terje Ellefsen at terje.ellefsen@gmail.com

Flicks in Oslo

Norway still has some Subbuteo fans andlast Sunday six flickers met in Oslo for a great gathering.

Ian Stuart (Englant), Svein Arne Brekke (Norway), Alfredo Gianoglio (Italy), Alessandro Cataliotti (Italy), Andy Swatland (England) and Riccardo Destefanis (Italy), who are all residents in Norway, were glad to meet. Andy, who lives in Kristiansand (South of Norway) travelled to join the group.

Svein Arne Brekke was undefeated and proved to be the best player of the day.

More importantly, players had a great time together. Well done!

Jon Henning Bergane wins Romjulscup '21 in Skien

Destefanis (left) against Stuart. Brekke in the background.

Last Saturday was a great day for subbuteo table football in Norway as it was the first tournament in the country since 2019. It was great to see two newcomers taking part (Destefanis and Stuart, both from the Subbuteo Oslo club) and also fantastic to see Kjetil Fosse making a comeback after 11 years away from the game. Norwegian legend Jon Henning Bergane won the event after beating Terje Ellefsen 3-2 in the final.

The "Romjulscup '21" was intended to be played in December '21 but was delayed about 2 months because of Covid-19.

Subbuteo Oslo posted videos from the tournament on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/subbuteoslo).

Finalist Terje Ellefsen commented the tournament with a big smile: "Yes, it was a very nice tournament. I think everyone was very happy to finally be able to play a tournament again after the covid-19 lockdown or strict restrictions! I personally was super happy to see some new players and one comeback player. Another big fact from this tournament is that with this victory Jon Henning Bergane is back at the prestigious number one spot in the Norwegian NBFF rankings (https://bordfotball.no/ranking)."

July 2021: results from Derry, Templeuve, Attard and Oslo

Sorry for the big post but there are news from several countries in Europe and it will be easier to compile results we received from Northern Ireland, Belgium, Malta and Norway.

Northern Ireland: Derry City players having a great time

Derry city TFC held the ’Here Comes the Summer Cup ‘21’ tournament earlier this month with a great turnout of six players competing in a league format. Special congratulations to Barry Spence on winning his first Derry Cup.

DCTFC are also thrilled to announce the 2021 ‘Derry Open’ will be held on August 14 (from 11 am to 6 pm). Registration is essential if you want to play. Check the club's Facebook page for details at https://www.facebook.com/DerryCityTableFootball

Draw will be made on the Friday 13th night.

Standings of August 5:
1. Barry Spence
2. Kenny Beggs
3. Martinog Bradley
4. Dee Jenkins
5. Oisin Mór
6. Lawrence Watson

Belgium: Second tournament of the season in Templeuve

After the regional tournament and promotional event held in June, the Templeuve United club was back in action last Friday with 9 players competing in Swiss format. Sensation happened in the second session when Matthias Averlant managed to defeat Geoffrey Marain. Everything could still happen before the last game but the draw between Averlant and Vincent Coppenolle gave the win to the local organizer who won the tournament on goal-difference. Templeuve will hold another tournament on Tuesday, July 20 at 6.30 pm to celebrate the National Day! Details by e-mail at vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Top 3 of the night

Standings of the night:

1. Vincent Coppenolle -> 10 pts & 11 (gd)
2. Matthias Averlant -> 10 & 5
3. Geoffrey Marain -> 9 & 12
4. Stéphane Lambert -> 7 & 2
5. Benjamin Marain -> 6 & 1
6. Jordan Bonte -> 6 & 0
7. Eric Caillaux -> 4 & -1
8. Didier Moons -> 3 & -6
9. Anthony Meireaux -> 3 & -12

Malta: great success in Attard

The club of Attard was back in action in the WASPA circuit with a great tournament attracying 12 players including a few famous names.

George Ebejer and Samuel Bartolo

For his very first WASPA appearance, Samuel Bartolo (Valletta SC took the honors after defeating Bormla's George Ebejer (4-1) in the final. Semi-finalists were John Zammit (Bormla Subbuteo Club) and Jean Carl Tabone (Barcellona Mortellito). Huge thanks to the Attard club for supporting the WASPA circuit!

Norway: test-match in Oslo

Alfredo (left) and Riccardo

We are happy to see the Oslo playing continueing to play. We received results of a "WASPA lockdown testmatch" in Oslo, Norway on July 11, 2021. The results were as follows:

We played a "WASPA lockdown testmatch" in Oslo, Norway today 11 July 2021. The results were as follows:
Riccardo Destefanis - Alfredo Gianoglio 1-0
Riccardo Destefanis - Alfredo Gianoglio 1-0
Riccardo Destefanis - Alfredo Gianoglio 0-2
Winner: Riccardo Destefanis

As both players are vaccinated, this time they appear without wearing the mask. :-)

April 2021: results from Australia, Italy and Norway

Even if the virus is still there, there are tournaments or Subbuteo games played under WASPA banner in different countries.

Here is a quick summary of recent event held in Australia, Italy and Norway.

Sydney: Fabrizio Coco wins Easter Cup

Steve Dettre reports: "Congratulations to Fabrizio on taking the Northern Falcons Easter Cup, and to Adrian G for making his second consecutive WASPA final, before losing to Fab 2-0.

Group 1 ended up being a true 'Group of Death' with Fab, Steve and Eliot. Steve took the lead against Eliot before being pegged back before the break, as they battled a 1-1 draw. Then Steve battled hard against Fab, surviving three shots that hit the post before registering only their third 0-0 draw since first meeting in 2015. Fab then decided the group with a late winner against Eliot.

In Group 2, Adrian continued his great form after resuming play, holding Tony Credentino 0-0, while Torben accounted for Paolo Credentino 2-0 in his first competitive match in a year. Adrian then beat Paolo, while Tony registered his second 0-0 of the night against Torben. Tony had a chance to progress, but was held 0-0 (again) by his son, while Adrian wrapped up the group beating Torben 1-0.

In the semis, Fab overran Torben 3-0, while Steve and Adrian battled to a 1-1 draw aet, with the tie decided 4-3 on shots after a marathon 13-shot effort.

Many thanks to all who came and the fabulous staff at Willoughby Park Bowling Club who continue to host us."

Original post from the Northern Falcons Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/854801904538974

Mick DeVincentis winner in Perth

Some of you probably ignore there is a new club in Perth, Australia. The "Sports Table Football Club of Western Australia" organized a first WASPA tournament last week-end with a small field of four players but many interesting games.

You can see some videos of the tournament here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1233903783292458

The winner was Mick DeVincentis who finished on top of the group after winning two of his three games. Arjuna Hanafi (Melbourne TFC) was runner-up while host Hugh Best was third and Chris Thorn was fourth with one victory.

Two trophies for Marco Perotti

In Italy, the club of Terni is still very motivated. The club held two more events with traditional rules (old subbuteo). Marco Perotti won the two tournaments while Simone Perotti was runner-up twice.

Alfredo Gianoglio wins test-match

Riccardo Destefanis and Alfredo Gianoglio

We also received results from Norway where a "WASPA lockdown testmatch" was played in Oslo on April 5, 2021. The results were as follows:

Riccardo Destefanis - Alfredo Gianoglio 2-0 (2-0)
Riccardo Destefanis - Alfredo Gianoglio 1-2 (1-1)
Riccardo Destefanis - Alfredo Gianoglio 0-2 (0-1)
Winner: Alfredo Gianoglio

Alfredo scored 2 beautiful goals in the third and decisive match winning April's lockdown testmatch competition!

What about you?

If you are kind to play games under WASPA banner, don't hesitate to send your results to vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com
The doors are always open for new players so feel welcome!

Subbuteo results from Australia, Italy, South Africa and Norway

Some short news from around the world as Subbuteo fans from several countries continue to play when local rules allow it.

In Australia, the club of Sydney TFC was back in action after a long break. Six players were competing. and Eliot Kennedy managed to defeat Fabrizio Coco on shots after a draw (1-1) in the final. Steve Dettre and Paolo Credentino were the semi-finalists.

In Italy, the club of Teramo organized a tournament earlier this week. Germano Di Corinto managed to win his first tournament. Thanks to Massimiliano Bonomo for organizing the tournament.

South Africa was also in action with a tournament held in Cape Town. "Great to have a few flicks again! Just 4 stalwarts gathered to have only the second event in Cape Town since the advent of Covid. It did mean that it could be played in a garage, which is always a fun throwback to days of old. Wayne hadn’t played for a while, but was back at his absolute best, winning the round robin event by some margin", commented clinton Gahwiler. Congratulations to Wayne McKenzie for winning the tournament.

Destefanis and Ellefsen

Finally, 2 WASPA lockdown test matches were played in Norway. On Saturday, Terje Ellefsen (Kragerø BFK) met Riccardo Destefanis (Subbuteo Oslo). Terje won the test match after winning three individual games. After the games both players had a shoot-out just for fun, Terje won 2-1 but Riccardo had the best goal (always important). :-)

Terje Ellefsen is the current Norwegian Champion and also no. 1 in the Norwegian rankings so he is a tough opponent for Riccardo who is back playing Subbuteo after 30 years away from the subbeatiful game. But Riccardo is learning and improving for every game and he hopes to reach a better level of play soon through playing games and practicing on his excellent training pitch. He also plays against two other Italians who live in Oslo (Alfredo Gianoglio and Alessandro Cataliotti) as well as the very experienced Norwegian Svein Arne Brekke (Skien Wildcats). Destefanis is doing a great job at promoting Subbuteo in Oslo and is hoping to find and recruit even more players in the near future. Please check out Subbuteo Oslo on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/subbuteoslo

Destefanis and Gianoglio

On Sunday, Riccardo Destefanis played another test match against clubmate Alfredo Gianoglio. Results were close (0-0, 1-0, 0-0) and Riccardo won the series. We wish a warm welcome to Alfredo in the WASPA circuit.

There should be more results coming up in the next few days so stay tuned!

If you have results of tournaments or test matches to send, don't hesitate to communicate by e-mail to vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

More test matches in Norway and Italy

For the second week, we are glad to publish results of two "WASPA lockdown test matches". We are very happy that players show interest for this kind of games and we thank players who send their results.

Destefanis (left) and Brekke

Riccardo De Stefanis (Subbuteo Oslo) played his second test match on Saturday against a new opponent. This time Riccardo had the visit of Svein Arne Brekke (Skien Wildcats). Svein Arne proved to have more experience to win the series. Resutls of the games were as follows:

Svein Arne Brekke - Riccardo Destefanis 6-0 (4-0)

Svein Arne Brekke - Riccardo Destefanis 3-0 (2-0)

Svein Arne Brekke - Riccardo Destefanis 8-0 (4-0)

Svein Arne Brekke - Riccardo Destefanis 7-0 (4-0)

In Italy, the very first "test match" was played on Saturday between Massimiliano Bonomo (Subbuteo Teramo) and Francesco Pochetti (Old Subbuteo Club Giulianova). The games was played on a original Subbuteo pitch from the 70s and results were as follows:

1. Bonomo - Pochetti 0-2

2. Pochetti - Bonomo 2-0

3. Bonomo - Pochetti 0-3

4. Bonomo - Pochetti 0-4

5. Pochetti - Bonomo 2-2

First WASPA lockdown test matches in Belgium and Norway

Earlier this week we announced the creation of the first "WASPA lockdown test matches" and we got very positive feedback from several players. We are pleased to receive the first results from Belgium and Norway.

Stéphane Lambert (left) and Jos Ceulemans had the first games in belgium

In Antwerp, Jos Ceulemans (SC Flanders) and Stéphane Lambert (OSC Yokohama) met on Tuesday. Games ended with the following scores: 1-0, 2-2 and 2-0. Jos won the series.

Riccardo Destefanis (left) and Terje Ellefsen met in Oslo

On Saturday, there were also games in Oslo, Norway, between Terje Ellefsen (Kragerø BFK) and Riccardo Destefanis (Subbuteo Oslo). Results were 11-0, 7-0, 5-0, 5-0 with Terje winning the series. This was also the first appearance of the Subbuteo Oslo club in the WASPA scene.

We are looking forward to getting more results from other test matches played around the world!

Results can be sent to vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Terje Ellefsen wins Romjulscup in Norway

Sørensen (on the left) and Schjølberg. The luckiest price winners

Brekke (left) against Schjølberg

The "Romjulscup '19" was played on the 28th of December in Kragerø, Norway. Organizers decided to go for a NBFF+WASPA tournament again. It was a very nice tournament played in a round robin format. Hosts had sponsored prices for all players that were randomly picked. The most lucky one was Sørensen who won a cruise for 4 people from Larvik to Bergen with Fjordline. Second most lucky was Schjølberg who won a wireless charger for cellphone. :-) The most exciting match was probably the narrow 4-3 win for Brekke against Sørensen. Sørensen who made a comeback last month after 10 years away from the sport is already showing signs of old greatness. Sørensen was the junior Champion of Norway in 1994 and played in the Paris World Cup the same year. It will be very interesting to see how his form develops in the coming weeks and months. The two other comeback players F. Ellefsen and Schølberg plus the beginner Aabøe are also making good progress for every game.

Finals standings:
1. Terje Ellefsen (Kragerø BFK)
2. Svein Arne Brekke (Skien Wildcats)
3. Fredrik Sørensen (Kragerø BFK)
4. Frode Ellefsen (Kragerø BFK)
5. Geir Kristian Aabøe (Kragerø BFK)
6. Kenneth Schjølberg (Kragerø BFK)

Jon Henning Bergane and Christian Schulze win first WASPA events in Norway

Jon Henning Bergane (on the left) Astro Cup 2019 winner. On the right is Frode Ellefsen who was the main organizer of the tournament together with Terje Ellefsen and Svein Arne Brekke. Photo taken by Martin Eikeland.

Last week-end was a very important date for the WASPA circuit as the first WASPA tournaments in Norway took place in Kragerø. over the week-end, two tournaments with seven players each but a total of 11 different players were held. It was nice to see representatives of different Norwegian clubs as Kragerø BFK, Skien Wildcats, TFC Wildgrizzlys but also Yorkshire Phoenix (England).

The "AstroCup '19" (for "elite" players) saw the domination of national Legend Jon Henning Bergane who defeated Svein Arne Brekke in the final while semi-finalists were Christian Schulze and Terje Ellefsen.

The "Lumbago Cup '19" (for beginners and players making a comeback) had Christian Schulze dominating the games and winning the final against Birger Hokholdt (2-1). Semi-finalists were Geir Kristian Aabøe and Fredrik Sørensen.

Both tournaments counted as NBFF events but also got WASPA status as decided by the Kragerø BFK representatives.

Also the big news in Norway is that Norwegian table football players now have a new president: Thomas Flaaten Fredriksen. The whole community has to thank Anders Grorud for his 26 years as president of the NBFF.

Link to the official article: http://bordfotball.no/article/1506

Huge thanks to Terje Ellefsen for making things happen and for the constructive talks with WASPA. We hope to see more events like this in the future in Norway!