Big flick-off in Gouda

The first leg of the 1st "Simons (vloer&wand) Subbuteo Competitie" took place on Wednesday in Gouda, the Netherlands. It was fantasic to see the revival of the game in this part of the country with old and new names. The competition will consist in a league format. Players will get some WASPA ranking points in the end of the season. Huve thanks to Xavier for the hard work to make things happen and for managing to get a great field of 10 players. The next evening will be played on October 3.

Jos Ceulemans ready for new season

On Monday the Belgian club of SC Flanders gave the start of the newly-born "Challenge WASPA Belgium 2018-2019". This year, all WASPA events held in Belgium will count for a special competition where, in the end of the season, the top 3 clubs with the most total entries will get some special prizes. SC Flanders was holding their 51st WASPA tournament as the beginning of their 6th season under WASPA banner. As always, the Swiss system was used for the 8 players taking part. Jos Ceulemans managed to win another tournament while Frank Lourdon was runner-up and Geert Leys was third. The rest of the standings were as follows:  4. Bart Vandevliet, 5. Philippe Thys, 6. Danny Degreef, 7. Johan Lourdon, 8. Willy Debandt.

Arnold and Skinner winners in England

Kye Arnold winner in Kent 

Kent Invicta had another really good WASPA night on the 10th August which went right down to the final round with Kye Arnold taking the honours on goal difference over Rob McCormick at the top of the table with both players unbeaten.

With 7 players in action, there were a lot of games, as the action ebbed and flowed with the lead changing constantly as the sessions progressed.

In the end 4 players could have still won entering the last round with Kye ending up at the summit at Playfootball Gillingham.

Table (all KIV veterans except stated):-
1. Kye Arnold (u19) 10pts +4
2. Rob McCormick 10pts +2
3. Paul Frank 7pts 0 (beat Dave 3-1 on shots decider)
4. Dave Collier 7pts 0 (lost to Paul 103 on shots decider)
5. Terry Arnold 7pts -2
6. Louis Singh (u19) 6pts -1
7. Josh Foreman (u15) 5pts -3

WASPA Summer Cup 28th August 2018 in Bristol

It was another WASPA Cup night at The Eastfield Inn, last night, with witty repartee, club merchandise distribution and payments, subs collections and talk of the Primary Coaching UKI national League and pitch replacement strategy - it was all very dynamic.
As was action on the baize with our newest members showing how far they have come in a short time. Bernard has a tactical decent rearguard setup and just needs to hone his final third skills. Taylor's blocking skills are second to none and will make it hard for the opposition in Division 2 this season.
Tim shot across the bow of the First Division with an eye-catching 2.1 win over Bob and a 0.0 against Aaron. Simon served notice that he is primed for taking Division 2 by a storm with another creditable set of performances - he would have taken the title last night had he not fallen at the last hurdle. Simon's last game defeat allowed Aaron, with his bedrock of a parsimonious defense, to win his second Bristol SFC WASPA title.

WASPA Cup w d l f a GD pts
1 Aaron Skinner 3 2 0 5 0 5 8
2 Simon Donadel 3 1 1 9 2 7 7
3 Bob Fairbrother 3 0 2 7 3 4 6
4 Tim Mourant 2 2 1 5 4 1 6
5 Bernard O’Connor 1 1 3 2 10 -8 3
6 Taylor Randles 0 0 5 0 9 -9 0

Brener and Ollnow winners in Sydney

The Northern Falcons in Australia recently held two WASPA tournament for their juniors. The first one saw Jonty Brener finishing on top of a small league with Olivier Ollnow being runner-up. The second one was held on August 31 with 8 players taking part, including two new players. Oliver Ollnow defeated Phanna Engelhardt (3-1) in the final.
Congratulations to Hermann Kruse for his hard work of promotion with youngsters!

News from around the world - August 2018

Several small events have been held during the month in many different countries.

First trophy for Richard Ruffolo

In Toronto, Canada there was a turnout of 4 players for the latest TSC tournament with Richard Ruffolo winning the final against local top player Mike Sgro. Dan Santianni and Mike Devey also had some great games and prove to be improving au lot.!

In Scotland, Dundee United had two small events also to prepare the trip to the world cup. Steve Bennett won both event with Andy Beskaby being runner-up int he first event, David Baxter taking the second place of the second tournament.

In Australia, the Brisbane club organized a tournament under the theme of the world cup. Gus Gillespie defeated Gerry Vickers in the final to claim the honors.

In England, the Bristol club held a pre-season tournament with a small turnout of four players competing in a league format with home and away games. Simon Donadel took the honors while Bob Fairbrother was runner-up. Adam Fraser and Tim Mourant also managed to win some games!

Big game between Arudyo and Winaldo

Steve Dettre (left) in action

We have been glad to see some action in Indonesia after a long hiatus. During Steve Dettre's visit in Jakarta, the FISTF president managed to play a small tournament with Arudyu Putro Rudy and Winaldo Swastia Artaraya. Steve won the event but more importantly it was a good time to meet and discuss and the future of the game in the country.

The "Sporting Club 18", part of the "Podjistan Subbuteo Association", a new club based in Northern Ireland, held a first tournament last week. Martinog Bradley took the best on local organizer Simon Stewart and Lawrence Watson. There should be more events to come in the near future.
See the club's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/podjistanflickers/

Players in Vreese

In Belgium, the club of Semois SC based in Vresse had a preseason event with four players. Pascal Droeven finished on top of a group format with Grégory Berte as runner-up, Philippe Thys being 3rd and Marc De Vos also playing some good games.

In Spain, the latest promotional tournament in Javea had a small field of 3 players with Pasquale Carrassi taking the best on Bill Dunham and Lisa Carrassi. It was a good way for Lisa to prepare for the forthcoming world cup in Gibraltar where she will proudly represent her club of Marina Citerior!

Finally, Knighton TFC in Wales had a promotional event last Friday with 5 players taking part. Dan Nicholls took the honors with Tom Taylor being 2nd. Rory Gittoes, Matt Booth and Kenny Evans confirm they are very motivated for the new season and the Knighton club will continue to grow in the future!

Walter Attard winner in Malta

Last week-end there was action in Attard, Malta where the club of Attard was organizing a tournament for their members. After the group stage and the quarter-finals, Walter Attard and Joseph Agius managed to qualify for the final. Attard took the honors after a close win against Agius (2-1). Claude Cuschieri won the game for the third place against Brian Aquilina (4-0). it was goodf to see thre players competing in their very first WASPA tournament. There are already plans to hold another WASPA tournament on Friday 21st September 2018 during Indipendence Day National Holiday.

Two international guests in Templeuve

Players in templeuve

 

Paul and Vincent

Last week the Belgian club of Templeuve United had the visit of two international friends.

On Tuesday Paul mercer from Australia was visiting during his european trip in order to prepare for the forthcoming FISTF World Cup to be played in Gibraltar. A WASPA tournament in Swiss system was organized and 8 players were taking part. Geoffrey Marain won the evening with no surprise as he won his four games.

It was very hard to decide who would take the third place but in the end Matthias Averlant managed to score more goals to finish on the podium.

In the end of the evening, Paul Mercer offer a shirt of the the Australian national team (with signatures of the top Australian players) to local organizer Vincent Coppenolle as a sign of thanks for the work into WASPA over the last couple of years, a much appreciated gift.

Top 3 of the evening

Standings of the WASPA tournament:
1. Geoffrey Marain (AS Hennuyer)
2. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve United)
3. Matthias Averlant (Templeuve United)
4. Benoit Lagneau (AS Hennuyer)
5. Michaël Dupret (Magic Team Tournai)
6t Paul Mercer (Northern Phoenix, Australia)
6t Jean-Luc Canfin (Magic Team Tournai)
8. Florian Renaut (Templeuve United)

Matthias and Cezar

Vincent and Cezar

On Wednesday, Romania's Cezar Stoilescu was visiting. during his business trip in brussels, Cezar was glad to take the train to Tournai to discover the Templeuve club and he played 2 test-matches against Vincent Coppenolle (0-2) and Matthias Averlant (1-2). The player from Bucharest showed he has a very good level thanks to his regular games against local opponent Massimo DalPrá. The evening ended in a good spirit around a pizza with the hope Cezar could make another visit in the near future.

Stanton Nortjie wins the 2018 League 2 Cup

Saturday 25 August 2018, Pretoria, South Africa
During the 2017 edition of this event, it was Stanton Nortjie who was the only player to push the eventual 2017 winner (Bevin Reed) all the way as Stanton had to settle for 2nd place due to an inferior goal difference over Bevin.
When Sherwin Reed won his opening match over another pre-event favourite Osvaldo van Niekerk, it was Sherwin who topped the standings as Stanton had drawn the "bye" for Round 1. Then the defining moment arrived in Match 3 as Stanton's first match-up pitted him against Sherwin - an exciting and open ended match played out with Stanton claiming the victory by 1-0! Osvaldo was battling all day, struggling to find the control and touch on his flicks - probably due to his own inactivity from the game over the past few months?
Imtiaz Ahmed had another satisfying day - only suffering one loss in Match 10 to Sherwin, the result confirming Sherwin as runner-up to Stanton by only 1 point in the end. Neilon Waterson, still in celebratory mood from his birthday two days prior to this event, could only muster 1 point on the day - thanks to a 0-0 draw against Imtiaz in Match 2. In the end, Stanton posted an undefeated run on the day - just as he did during the same event in 2017. This time however, Stanton was rewarded with the title of 2018 League 2 Champion - which eases the agony of missig out on the same title a year ago!

(report by Julian vd Merwe)

As always…..a big thank you to all who participated and especially to the non participants (League 1 players) for their support on the day!

The PFC website & facebook page will be updated shortly with photo's & news content at :
http://pfctest.leaguerepublic.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PFC-SA/519566284755728

Daniel Cranston winner in Virginia

Gregg Deinhart of the Washington Tuesday Subbuteo League and Bryan Arnold of NoVA Union Subbuteo Club were very glad to host their first combined effort in hosting the inaugural 2018 Virginia Heatwave tournament, which was held in Alexandria, Virginia USA. It was an awesome friendly and competitive tournament ending with a proficient display by Daniel Cranston to win the title against his foe, Paul Eyes. Congratulations to Austin Reinhart for winning the barrage bracket final against runner up Braden Reinhart! And a big greeting to Rick Wilcox for returning to the game after several years away. Gregg and Bryan hope this tournament is just the first of many!

Richard Stock wins London Road tournament

A good field of 13 players with three players travelling from Wolverhampton to play

Richard gets trophy from local
star junior player Ruby Matthews

Last Sunday London Road Subbuteo Club had another great tournament with 13 players. the event was held at the usual venue, the Parrot in Drury, North Wales. Players were dropped into two big groups of 7 and 6 players, giving a lot of games to everyone. Group A saw Brian Daley finishing on top with 5 wins and a draw while Martin Blanchard also qualified for the semis. Group B saw Mick Hammonds from the Wolverhampton club finishing in first place while Richard Stock took the second place. In the semis, Blanchard and Stock managed to surprise the group winners to qualify for the final. In the last game of the day Richard Stock took the honors after winning by a single goal (1-0). Danny Bird won the plate tournament after beating Justin Scott in the final game.

LRSC will have a big tournament on September 15 and 16 with the individual tournament on Saturday (limited to 24 players) and a team event on Sunday.

Congratulations to LRSC and thanks to Cayne for putting so much energy to get people playing together and making the game popular again in North Wales.