News from England, Wales and Northern Ireland

We are sorry we didn't put give more exposure to the latest events in the UK but it deserves for sure a lot of respect has a lot of work has been done to make Subbuteo popular again in different areas.

On July 23, there was a small tournament in Brighton with just three players taking part but it was good to see Alan Lee taking the honors while Dave croucher was runner-up and Ian Maskell took the third place.

On July 25, the Wolverhampton club was back in action after a long break. Here again, it was a small event with four players and Richard Badger was the winner with Justin Scott being 2nd, Mick Hammonds 3rd and Peter Sleeth 4th.

"Congratulations to Richard Badger on his win in the first WTFC post lockdown tournament - the July WASPA. The small competition, played at a home venue was limited to invite only. It was a closely fought contest, played in league format. It came down to the final game, and Richard's draw with Mick was enough to edge out Justin, winning the league by a single point. It was a great afternoons play, and a good start for the club hopefully returning in the near future, once our room is available again. Well done to Richard, Justin, Mick and Peter who took part, and played for their respective supported clubs", reported the organizers. See the Wolverhampton Facebook page here.

The day after, Haverhill Rovers TFC was holding a very first WASPA tournament with a good turnout of 8 players. Elliot Bellefontaine defeated his father Martin in the final (2-1) while semi-finalists were Alan Lee and local player Marco Barqueiro.

In England again, the first Stanway Rovers Flickers SC tournament took place on July 29 with 6 players competing in a group format. Martin Hodds was the winner with 5 games won while Martin Bellefontaine was runner-up. Other involved players were Alan Lee (3rd), Howard Romain (4th), Cieran Dadds (5th) and Francesca Bellefontaine (6th).

In August, the first tournament of the month was held in Wrexham, Wales where the London Road club was glad to be back in action. Here again, there were many close games but Brian Daley finished on top of a league of 9 players. The final standings were as follows:

1. Brian Daley
2. Alan Lee
3. Cayne Matthews
4. Chris Bedford
5. Ruby Matthews
6. Dan Nicholls
7. Mark Tilling
8. Lucasz Whittle
9. Michael Bennett

In Northern Ireland, the Derry City players held their first event for a long time with 4 players involved. Nick Pearson from England finished on top of the leagu with all games won.

Final table:
1. Nick Pearson
2. Martinog Bradley
3. Oisin Mór
4. Jude Morrow

Finally, Liverpool TFC was also back in action last Sunday. As the venue of the club was not available, the tournament took place in Wrexham with 8 players. brian Daley defeated Alan Lee in the final while Cayne Matthews and Ruby Matthews reached the semis. Chris Bedford beat Nick Pearson in the plate final and it was good also to see Gavin Roper of the new club from Burnley taking part!

Forthcoming events

The future is promising with more events to come. See hereunder a list of forthcoming events:

Sunday 30th August: WASPA Event at Haverhill Rovers Table Football Club Flick off at 10am. This is an open invite. The venue is at Haverhill Rovers FC, Contact Gerry Harrington Email: gerryharrington131060@gmail.com

Monday 7th September: Bristol Subbuteo Club WASPA Event at Bristol Manor Farm FC. The Creek, Portway Bristol BS9 2HS. 7pm Start. All Welcome. Free event with Trophies. Contact- Bernard OConnor 07720593398.

Tuesday 8th September: Surrey Saracens tournament. Contact is surreysaracens@gmail.com

Wednesday 9th September: WASPA event at Stanway Rovers Flickers SC. Flick off 7pm. All welcome. The venue is at Stanway Rovers FC, Colchester. Contact Alan Lee Email: alanlee@lewiswaterman.co.uk 

Monday 21st September: Cardiff Bluebirds WASPA Event at Bristol Manor Farm FC. The Creek, Portway Bristol BS9 2HS. 7pm Start. All Welcome. Free event with Trophies. Contact- John Lauder or Bernard OConnor

Wednesday 23rd September: Solent Subbuteo Club WASPA Event at QE2 Activity Centre Southampton. 7pm Start. All Welcome. Contact Corey Martin Email: coreymartin89@hotmail.com or 07947471078

Australia: latest results from Brisbane and Perth

Things continue to go well for our friends in Brisbane and Perth. The 2 Australian clubs had tournaments played under WASPA banner in August and players had great fun.

In Brisbane, the tournament took place last Sunday. it was a good day and players had talks about the future of the Club. Unfortunately they where just 4 players. Giuseppe Tardiota won the tournament.

Final table (6 games for all)
1. Giuseppe Tardiota 16 pts
2. Gareth Whalley 11
3. Wayne Miller 3
4. Kevin Halliday 2

The Perth tournament had six players competing in a group format. Singapore's Tan Yew Loy was unbeaten and took the honors while Alan Kimber was runner-up.

Final table (5 games for all)
1. Tan Yew Loy 15 points
2. Alan Kimber 12
3. Hugh Best 7
4. Chris Thorn 4
5. Ron Byrne 3
6. Noel Mani 2

Sankt Pauli players are back in action

Tuesday 11th August saw the first Subbuteo Sankt Pauli WASPA tournament since March. Six regulars battled it out, finally getting to scratch the subbuteo itch after the Covid19 lockdown eased in parts of Germany. 

Simon won the competition thanks to three wins and a scoreless draw with runner-up Sven, who drew with 4th placed Marius to finish 2 points behind the leader. Fred rolled in with the bronze thanks to his win over Marius and two draws with Andre (5th) and Ralf (6th)

Final table

1. Simon Stewart   5-1   10P.
2. Sven Schilling   5-1   8P.
3. Fred Elesbao   1-1   5P.
4. Marius Willhaus   3-4   4P.
5. Andre Lange   0-2   2P.
6. Ralf Offenborn   0-5   2P.

WASPA standings of July 2020

 Dear fellow flickers,

we are glad to communicate the updated WASPA standings and results.

WASPA Season results 2019-2020

WASPA ranking - July 20

July has been a very special month for several reasons. Some nations are still unable to hold tournaments again and we want to send your full support to our clubs, players and organizers who are waiting the green light to be back in action. For some nations, it was simply fantastic to see some new clubs organizing their very first WASPA tournament. Huge welcome to Worthing Fivestar (England), Haverhill Rovers TFC (England), Lions Zante SC (Greece), SC Fonte Nuova (Italy) and Stanway Rovers Flickers SC (England) for being part of our community. Special thanks to Panos Panagiotides in Greece and Alan Lee in England for the amazing job to get new clubs involved!

For several reasons the blog hasn't been updated much in the last three weeks so please accept my sincere apoligies. We hope things will be back to normal soon.

Among the great news, I would like to point out that:

- Johanneburg TFC was back in action in South Africa with players from 3 clubs and 2 nations taking part in their come-back tournament;

- Greece had a lot of events run by different clubs;

- SC Fonte Nuova in Italy had an inaugural tournament played with the old rules;

- our friends in Australia are happy to have games in Perth and Brisbane but we send your full support to the people in Sydney and Melbourne with the hope they will be allowed to play again soon;

- Bormla in Malta had a good events with 12 players;

- many events have been played in England;

- TSC Royal 78 (Austria) held their second event in July and a third tournament in August.

We are glad to see 25 players attended their very first WASPA tournament in July.

As for rankings, Alekos Apatzis is now number 2 in the ranking. Congratulations!

For August we have already received results from Ilioupoli (Greece), Vienna (Austria), Perth (Australia), Wrexham (Wales), Derry (Northern Ireland) and Singapore. Don't hesitate to send tour results and possibly your tournament requests to vincent.cop@rsca.com or vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Huge thanks to all organizers who give their continued support and we are hope that many more clubs and players will join this season.

Well, that's all for now. Please remember you only need 3 players to register your tournament. Don't be scared to join. It's free and tournament requests can be sent by e-mail to vincent.cop@rsca.com

Keep an eye on the WASPA blog at http://waspa-circuit.blogspot.com as there are updates almost every day.

Please invite your friends to join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/waspasubbuteo/

We also have a WASPA page here: https://www.facebook.com/WASPA-World-Amateur-Subbuteo-Players-Association-231789816834700/

 Keep in mind WASPA is also looking for partners. If you know any company ready to support us (we don’t ask for money but we want some win-win agreements so that we can promote each  other), don't hesitate to contact me at vincent.cop@rsca.com or vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

We stay at your disposal for more info.

Yours sincerely,

Vincent Coppenolle, vincent.cop@rsca.com , ++32/477/221902

First WASPA tournament on Zakynthos island

The first tournament of the Lions Zante is in the books. The tournament took place on Zakynthos island (Greece) under WASPA banner and 6 players competed in Swiss system. The winner was Nikos Monos who defeated Kostas Argiris in the final while Dimitris Stravolemos took the third place. Congratulations to all for the great games in the WASPA spirit and a warm welcome to the new club!

Australia: latest results from Perth and Brisbane

Australia still has an active Subbuteo scene as some cities are in a position to organize tournaments. Perth and Brisbane had WASPA events last week-end.

In Perth, 7 players attended the latest event and were divided into two groups. Alan Kimber finished on top of group 1 while newcomer Brian Pearson won group 2. In the semi-finals, Alan Kimber beat Noel Mani (5-1) while Brian pearson defeated Ron Byrne on shots after a 1-1 draw in regular time. Alan Kimber won the final on shots after a scoreless game while Noel Mani won the game for the tird place against Ron Byrne.

In Brisbane, 5 players competed in a tournament run under the theme of the English Division 1 of 1970 and they also managed to do a FA Cup 1970 so that everyone had a lot of games. The league was won by Kevin Halliday to claim the WASPA tournament. A great effort by kevin who started to play six months ago. The Cup was won by Giuseppe Tardiota. The club also welcomed a new player, Kevin Puglisevich.

Thanks to the clubs in Perth and Brisbane for their efforts to organize WASPA events!

Italy: results from Firenze and Fonte Nuova

Tonight we have some news from Italy where two events have been held this week.

The Firenze players met on July 9 to play the Sicurtek Cup, a small tournament with 6 players. Marco Bonciani defeated Alessandre Neri in the final (4-0) but more importantly it was a perfect moment to meet again, to play some games and to have a few drinks.

The other tournament was played in the Rome area where the "Subbuteo Club Fonte Nuova" (Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/subbuteoclubfontenuova/) had a "Bavaria Cup", also with six players. This was the club's first WASPA event. The tournament was played with the old rules and Alessandro Lupi (Stoke City) defeated Flavio Balice (Borussia Monchengladbach) in the final (3-1). Special thanks to Chris Florido for making the tournament a WASPA event with another tournament already in the agenda...

Johannesburg: Back to the Tables after 100 Days of Lockdown

Saturday the 4th of July saw the Joburg TFC aka The Eagles, host the first official Subbuteo Tournament since Lockdown was announced in South Africa exactly 100 days ago. 

Once again, Randburg AFC played host to the tournament that saw a good field of 10 players from the three Subbuteo clubs in the Gauteng Province flicking for the title.

Four newbies were also playing in there first tournament and by all accounts they will definitely be back on the tables for future tournaments.

The 10 participants were drawn into two groups of five players with each group playing on their own dedicated field. 

Group A saw pre-tournament favourite Clifford Graaff, Fernando Rodrigues, Alex Rodrigues and newbies, Liam Chapman and under 13 player Declan Wright. Final positions went according to ranking with Clifford pipping Fernando to top spot by virtue of a better goal difference. Liam ended third, with Alex and Declan claiming positions 4 and 5 respectively.

Group B saw favourite Jason Kennedy claim top spot with Gary pipping Carl for a runners-up spot and qualifying for the semi finals. The first Malawian to participate in a South African Tournament,Paul Seemu, surprised all by claiming a vital victory to claim 4th spot with Andrew in 5th spot.

To maximise games, additional fixtures were held for positional placings which saw Andrew and his son Declan draw to share the 9th place.

Paul continued his good form by defeating Alex to capture a very good 7th place.

Newbie Liam Chapman, was the surprise package of the day by defeating a very good Carl to claim a superb 5th position.

The semi finals saw Clifford and Jason secure the final spots by eliminating both Gary and Fernando in very tight semi-final encounters. 

The Final was a very tight affair which was decided by a defensive slip by Jason to allow Clifford to score the winner half way through the game.

Special mention must go to Mrs Subbuteo, Nita (Clifford's missus) for the delicious spread laid down to all the participants. 

All in all, a very successful return to the tables after an enforced lockdown. For obvious reasons, the games were strewn with basic mistakes as expected. 

This tournament was the first in a series of four to celebrate the relaxing of Lockdown rules. 

Further information will be advised for the next tournament which should be flicking off in the next few weeks. 

(Report by Clifford Graaff)

WASPA standings in the end of June 2020

Dear friends,
you will find in the enclosed files the updated results and rankings of the WASPA circuit.

Results file
Ranking file

Things are slowly getting back to a more normal situation. We had 10 tournaments in June, which is much less than usual but it's encouraging for the future.

Roligans regional tournament in Greece

Greece was the most active nation with 5 tournaments held in Ilioupoli and Kallithea. Italy saw two small events run in Firenze. The first event of the season in Austria took place in Vienna (we are very happy to see the Royal 78 club back in action). Australia is still one of the active nations with clubs in Perth and Brisbane having regular meetings but we are aware the situation is much more complicated in some other parts of the country.

WASPA is back in Austria

Therefore, please be aware health has no price nd safety should remain our number 1 priority. We all love the game but we can't take any risk just to play. Clubs in some nations like Belgium or the Netherlands are currently aware they are not allowed to organize tournaments so they will take the time needed to get regular events again.

Action in Brisbane, Australia

Anyway, it seems like we'll have some events played under WASPA banner in July in Malta and England and we wish organizers good luck!

We stay at your disposal for any info regarding the WASPA circuit.

Yours sincerely,

Vincent Coppenolle, WASPA organizer

Celebrations for the Roligans

Players at the promotional event

Our Greek friends of the Roligans club in Ilioupoli had a great month with 2 WASPA events held in June. The first tournament was a "promotional event" with a good turnout of 11 players. Anastasios proftis was the winner of the day with all games won. 

Priftis finished on top of the Swiss lader while local organizer Georgios Dimakeas was runner-up and Evangelos Kotrotsos was third.

Presentation of the trophies at the Regional tournament

A few days later, 16 players attended the "WASPA regional tournament" organized in the premises of the club. it was a knock-out event with Georgios Dimakeas defeating Anastasios Priftis (3-2) in the final while Thresyboulos Gagas and Angelos Foutrakis were the semi-finalists. Athanasios Karamanis defeated Georgios Pityhoutis in the final of the consolation tournament.

A good turnout for the Regional event played under WASPA banner

It was a great day of table football and we hope to see more Greek clubs able to organize tournaments again in the near future!