Forthcoming event in Pretoria

Huracan wins the Copa Libertadores

The Flaming Flickers in Athens (Greece) recently held their "Copa Libertadores" with 12 players taking part. After the group stage, serious things started in the knock-out stage.

Spyros Stratoudakis (Huracan) defeated Panos Panagiotides (Gremio) in the final (1-0). Nikolaos Liakopoulos (Corinthians) and Chris Panagiotides (Sao Paulo) were the semi-finalists.

Congratulations to everyone.

Number 5 for Christophe Dheur

Dheur, on the right, at the world cup in Frameries

16 players were present last Friday in the season opening of the "Black Devils Subbuteo", a club based in the East of Belgium. There were some big names taking part besides less experienced players from Seraing and in the end, it was with no surprise Christophe Dheur claimed the honors to win his 5th WASPA title. Dheur (SC Charleroi) defeated local player Ludovic Ponthieux (Black Devils) in the final. Pascal Scheen (Stembert) and Tony Braham (Verviers-Herve) reached the semi-finals. There will be another WASPA event in the premises of the Black Devils in October but the date is still to be confirmed.

Junior Jason has great run at Panorama Festival

This past Sunday saw 11 year old, Jason Pienaar, continue his impressive recent performance at the Panorama Subbuteo Festival by making it all the way to the Final. On his impressive route he accounted for various senior players and received the plaudits from all attending players.



Although a smaller than expected crowd attended the tournament, 10 players were divided into two groups with the top 2 players qualifying for the knock-out stages.

Abraham and Greg

The final qualifying position in Group B had to be contested via a barrage game as both Greg Green and Waynne Pienaar ended with identical points and goal difference. Greg defeated Waynne in a penalty shoot-out by 3 goals to one with Greg's winning goal coming from the most acute angle and nestling in the top corner.

There was a few interested onlookers from Malawi and Zimbabwe who are keen to partake at our next tournament. Abraham Siame from Tanzania, who recently received a full Subbuteo set from a kind benefactor, showed his much improved skill by storming to two early victories to claim top spot in Group B. Clifford and Jason qualified from Group A with the only lady present, Alyssa Green showing improvement with each game.


In the semi-finals, Clifford defeated Greg and Jason upsetting form player, Abraham Siame in a tense penalty shoot-out by 3 goals to 1 and showcasing his calmness under pressure against a voiceferous Abraham.


Greg Green found his shooting form in the Third place play-off by scoring three sublime goals without reply against Abraham, who easily won the prize for the player with the most 'passion' on the day.

Jason and Clifford

The final pitted favourite Clifford against Jason who showed some deft touches way beyond his youthful age. Jason proved an extremely capable opponent, however a few defensive errors allowed Clifford to capitalize and score two unanswered goals and claim the title.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was each player enjoying pancakes and ice-cream from tournament sponsor and Clifford's vivacious spouse, Nita.
Thanks to all for attending and enjoying a festive tournament where laughs and friendship was the ultimate winner.

(Report by Clifford Graaff)

Action in Czech Republic

On September 22, David Young, Jiri Uchityl and Marco Zucchi met in a wine cellar in Prague to play some games.

It was not really a tournament, more a way to play games and to promote Subbuteo. It was a nice evening of play without pressure of competition, in particular for David who is recovering after having broken his leg a few months ago. The good news is that David is going better and playing games.

There will be more action on October 15 and, depending on numbers, this might be a WASPA tournament this time.

Well done to Czech Subbuteo Tym 2014 for their efforts of promotion.

Brisbane Subbuteo Club 19th League Cup

The players

This week-end’s tournament had some of the newcomers returning to improve their games, and pitting themselves against BSC regulars. The competition was a league format; everyone played each other once, with semis and final to round off the day.
Player of the day award must go to Andy Rigden, who has really improved his game, no longer chaotic and erratic; Andy has adopted a more measured strategy which saw him almost to the final of last month’s tournament, and pushing Rik all the way for the league top spot this time around.
The table saw Rik at the top, Andy a very close 2nd, Giuseppe 3rd, and Gus making it into 4th.

Giuseppe is the winner

Gus and Andy were both guilty of own goal gaffes, Andy timing his to perfection in a semi-final showdown with Giuseppe, which condemned him to 3rd place playoff, in which he and Gus settled for a 3-3 draw.
So the final was again played out by Rik and Giuseppe, a tough battle, good quality game saw Rik go 2-0, but Giuseppe changed to all out attack to rescue the game, and was rewarded by 2 goals as a result. Extra time couldn’t separate them, so penalty kicks determined the winner, which Giuseppe took 2-0.
It was great to have Derek returning to the game after many years in the wilderness, he showed that he still has a ‘subbuteo brain’. Gareth and Will are going in the right direction, and playing regularly will help their development. Shane did well with 5 draws and a good defensive performance, and Gus battled to recover from a disastrous spillage of his bottle of polish!
Giuseppe as always, hosted a tremendous day for the guys, our members showed friendly rivalry, and courteous sportsmanship in equal measures, which makes BSC a great place to come and take part.

The next BSC dates are:
29/10/2016 at Woody Point
19/11/2016 at Woody Point
17/12/2016 at Woody Point
and the "WASPA Anniversary Club Cup" on 28/01/2017....

(Report by Brisbane SC)

David Busch with no surprise

On 20th of September we had the first training in our new club room and we decided to play a WASPA tournament after a long break. 7 players attended, with Andras Hicz from Budapest Subbuteo (Hungary) and with David Busch from San Remo a bronze medalist of Frameries. We had 5 sessions in Swiss System. It was no surprise that David took the honors, behind him every thing was close like every time.

We hope to have interested players for a WASPA tournament in october, below you can find the ranking of the evening:

1. David Busch/San Remo
2. Thomas Bergholz/TFKN Dragons
3. Mathias Eppensteiner/TFKN Dragons
4. Lukas Eppensteiner/TFKN Dragons
5. Roland Schwacha/TFKN Dragons
6. Thomas Eppensteiner/TFKN Dragons
7. Andras Hicz/Budapest Subbuteo

Gareth Christie on top of the Scottish Circuit

Fourteen players gathered at David Lloyds in Dundee to contest the first of four national championship events and it was superb.

Here is a rundown of the day with some facts and figures.

The day got underway with the draw ,a very exciting moment as all the players gathered and waited to find their fate!

Round 1

got underway and it pitched up a first ever matchup for the two latest recruits to the game as DUTFC's Dave Minty and John Mathieson of Glasgow TFA. To be fair to Dave this was his first ever competative game while John has been a regular at the Glasgow club for a while now, the experience showed and John won it 5-0, fair play to Dave as he didnt let it dampen his day.

There was a battle between Dave Baxter and Greg Dand and it was Dave who took the lead but conceded a late equaliser as Greg scrambled it back for a draw, a very good result for Dave.

Meanwhile the ever improving Craig Thom lost narrowly 1-0 to Baver Bari whilst Glasgow's John Halpin and Dave Gladman shared the points in a 1-1 draw.

Round 2 

saw a real firecracker between Malcolm Lees and Tom Burns, at one point Tom was 3-1 up but the open style of play by both players meant that there was always goals in this one and Malcolm grabbed another two goals to tie the game at 3-3. The battle of Rannoch was eventually won by Rob Conway who beat Andy Beskaby 1-0 with a goal late in the second half, Mr Conway getting the better of his neighbour this time.

Greg Dand got himself back into winning ways with a 4-0 win over Baver bari, Baver competing well and a very creditable result for him.

It was a tough loss for Craig Thom as he went down 5-0 to Dave Baxter who was obviously on a role after his earlier draw with Greg.

Round 3

enter the current Scottish Champion Gareth Christie put an end to Andy Beskaby's hopes with an impressive 3-1 win, this was to be one of only two goals that Gareth conceded all day and that was curtains for Andy.

Then there was a piece of history created, Tom Burns finally beat Steve Bennett, this was coming as games lately have been closer and closer and Tom got the ten year old monkey off his back with a fine 2-1 win.

There was a GTSA battle as John Halpin found his shooting boots and dispatched John Mathieson 4-0 whilst Dave Minty lost 4-0 to the experienced Dave Gladman.

Round 4

saw Dave Baxter qualify from his group with an impressive 3-1 win over Baver Bari, Greg Dand was in full flow as he took no pity on Craig Thom and fired in seven without reply.

In a battle for top spot in group 1 and the bragging rights, there was a 2-1 victory for Gareth Christie over Rob Conway, Rob getting closer!

After Steve Bennett's loss to Tom Burns he was facing elimination as he went into the final group game against Malcolm Lees, Malcolm only needed a draw to qualify but crumbled 6-0 and went out.

Round 5 

only saw two games to complete the group stages, John Halpin fired seven past Dave Minty without reply and a superb result for John Mathieson as he drew 1-1 with Dave Gladman, a great result for John!

Quarter-Finals

and down to the the serious knockout stages, and with the new random draw system implied by the STFA this season it has paid off as we see some new faces in the latter stages of a tournament.

Gareth Christie saw off any challenge from Dave Gladman with a convincing 4-0 victory. Gareth in control of this one and did a real professional job.

Tom Burns did likewise as he repeated that same scoreline over David Baxter but Dave will be kicking himself after all the hard work he put in in the group stages.

Next up was a real cagey affair between John Halpin and Rob Conway and this is one that Conway will want to forget, one goal up at half time and cruising with nothing coming from Halpin at all in the first half and this really was one of those games where you didnt expect it to end the way that it did. In the second half John began to apply a little bit more pressure and scored a brilliant equaliser which rocked Conway and put him off his stride and with only minutes remaining it was John who squeezed one in under the keeper, Conway Robbed!

The last quarter final was worthy of being a final as Dand and Bennett went at each other with real determination, a real end to end match with Steve opening the scoring and Greg replying soon after, Steve took the lead again and Greg fired another one past Steve. The match was on a knife edge and with two minutes remaining Steve got the winner, this thriller was won 3-2.

Semi-Finals

with Dundee United's Christie v Bennett and Glasgow's Burns v Halpin.

You couldn't get two games with as much rivalry as these and nobody wants to lose but as with all games someone has too.

Gareth Christie saw off Steve Bennett with a 2-0 victory in a quite hectic affair, Steve squandering plenty of chances whilst Gareth efficiently took two of his and dumped Steve out of the tournament.

Meanwhile on the other pitch it was Tom Burns who eased his way into the final with a convincing 3-0 win over John, was this to be Tom's day?

The Final

The final match between Gareth Christie and Tom Burns

got underway with Tom's hopes high with the chance of a tournament victory only thirty minutes or so away but there was one snag, Gareth Christie!

A fairly even game for the most part but it was Gareth who fired in a long range effort after ten minutes to take a 1-0 lead into half time.

The second half got underway with all to play for.

Tom starting to get a bit more pressure on Gareth's goal but couldn't find the target, hitting the goal frame a couple of times but it just wouldn't go in and with five minutes remaining Gareth rounded off an emphatic day by scoring a second.

The final score

Gareth Christie 2-0 Tom Burns

3rd/4th Playoff

John Halpin 1-5 Steve Bennett

(Report by Steve Bennett)

First victory for Joseph Agius in Attard

Attard Subbuteo Club was back in action last week-end with the grand finals of their latest tournament. 12 players were taking part and this time, the final was all between novice players as Joseph Agius defeated Nicolai Bugeja to claim the trophy (3-2). Zven Zahra wons the game for the third place against Rooney Agius.

SSISA Tournament in Cape Town

Cape Town City SC - SSISA Tournament 18 September 2016

Cape Town City SC achieved an important milestone for this tournament, in for the first time having more junior than senior competitors. We will keep trying to grow this part of the club, and will institute a junior section for the Cape Town Championship in 2017.

For now though, we look forward to hosting the South African Championships on 20th November… :)



Open final Standings
Clinton 13
John 12
Dave 05
Grant 04

Junior semi-finals:
Rafael vs Thomas 3 - 0
Tarek vs Andy 1 - 1 (penalties 6 - 4)

Final: Tarek vs Rafael 1 - 0

Western Flickers Melbourne 6th WASPA – Clash of the Presidents!

Reported by Benny Ng (Melbourne, Australia)

Western Flickers was formed to cater for players living on the north/west side of Melbourne and provide more opportunities to play the wonderful game of Subbuteo table football.
If you are reading this and new to Subbuteo table football, watch this video for a brief introduction to the game.

Western Flickers Invades the East!

In the lead up to the Australian Open 2016 FISTF tournament, Western Flickers TFC travelled to faraway Melbourne’s east and organised a WASPA tournament (15/9/2016) to provide much needed practice before the big event. It was also a great opportunity test out the impressive venue – Zagame’s Caulfield – and iron out any setup issues.
It was a small but high quality field of players consisting of local table football royalty.
• Luke Radzminski – President of Melbourne Table Football Club (MTFC)
• Steve Dettre – President of Australian Table Football Association (ATFA)
• Benny Ng – President of the Western Flickers Table Football Club (WTFTFC)
• Beth Everleigh – President of the Victorian Women’s Table Football Players Association
• Kevin Grant – President of the Victorian Regional Table Football Players Association

It was a simple round robin tournament with close matches all round. Beth and Kevin showed continued improvement again, keeping their match scores very respectable indeed. Beth in particular showed great dedication turning up even though she was ill. And she still managed to get a solid win over Kevin to score bragging right. Consistent with WASPA rankings though, it turned out to be a 3 way tussle for the title between Steve, Luke and Benny.
Nothing split Steve and Benny in the opening tie which was a tight 1-1 draw. Luke just managed to pip Steve (who was visibly tired after a flight from Sydney) by a single goal. This meant that Benny had to beat Luke in order to win the tournament; something he has not been able to achieve for over a year!
It was an exciting game as usual, but Benny managed to score a couple of quick attack goals to take a commanding lead. Luke never gave up and fought hard to get an unlikely comeback. But Benny managed to hold off the onslaught to get a rare win over arch-rival president Luke and secure the title.

Most importantly, it was a fun night by all with delicious snacks & drinks in a cool venue. Another successful WTF gathering and a great lead-up to the Australian Open. Special thanks to the Zagame’s Caulfield venue and Masita Sportswear (the AO sponsors who was also in attendance).

Final placings:
1.       Benny Ng
2.       Luke Radzminski
3.       Steve Dettre
4.       Beth Everleigh
5.       Kevin Grant

It was fun but now it’s time for the Western Flickers to return to Melbourne’s beautiful West.
Veni, Vidi, Vici.
GO WEST !!

P.S. If anyone is interested in taking part in future Western Flickers events or just popping by for chat and look-see, please visit the Western Flickers Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/WesternFlickers/) or send an email to bennidokk@yahoo.com

Anas wins the Jurong Central September tournament

The Jurong Central Subbuteo Club had its monthly WASPA once again on 17th September. Nine players who participated in the tournament were drawn into 3 groups of 3. The top players from each group would proceed to another round robin in the Cup group. The 2nd from each group would proceed to the Plates group, and the remaining players would proceed to the Bowl group. Anas topped the Cup group with tight games, and edging out on goal difference. The winners of the Plate and Bowl are Nic and Fauzi Respectively.

The opening night for Marios Strommer

Marios (here at the World Cup)

On September 13 TFC Wien West (Austria) had their season debut. Unfortunately only four players were taking part. There were good news though as Jakob Gerstl was back in action after a break of two years? Jakob is also a football player in the Rapid Vienna U15 team but it's good to see him flicking again. The evening was also a WASPA tournament where every player met three opponents and in the end, Marios Strommer won the "mini-tournament" with three wins. Marios was a recent semi-finalist at the FISTF U15 world cup in Belgium and also a finalist in the team event. We wish TFC Wien West a successful season.

Final standings: 
1. Marios Strommer 9
2. Alfred Strommer 6
3. Jonathan Nichtenberger 3
4. Jakob Gerstl 0

Marco Ghigliotti is the master of old rules

In, the first week-end of September, Harrow Subbuteo Club was hosting a tournament played with old rules and classic subbuteo teams, which in reality where handpainted TopSpin sets made by Paul Lloyd. The event attracted 14 players and there were two special guests from Italy, Roberto Piccoli and Lorenzo Rocca.

The tournament itself was named "1st Garry Wright Subbuteo Cup" and players were divided in three groups where easily group B was named as group of death. In the end, Marco Ghigliotti (Bradford Park Avenue) was the big winner after defeating Panos Stemitsiotis (Barrow) in the final. Jeremy Boothman (Grimsby Town) and John Ellis (Halifax Town) were the semi-finalists. Lorenzo Rocca (Bath City) won the consolation tournament. In the end, everyone was happy and there are already plans to hold another tournament with the old rules Early in 2017.

2 in a row for Chessray Jooste

(report by Julian vd Merwe)
Saturday 10 September 2016, Pretoria, South Africa
The first ever September event in Pretoria attracted a field of 9 entries - included in the field was debutant Antonio Abdeziet. The event was played under the theme "MATCHDAY LIVE" as we played out actual scheduled fixtures from the BPL on the day. Round 1 saw the Manchester Derby ending Stonton Nortjie (Man Utd) 0 v 0 Conway Julie (Man City). Elsewhere Rowin Wilson (Watford) beat Antonio Abdeziet (West Ham) by 1-0. The other matches in Round 1 produced two thrillers which ended Kegan vd Merwe (Stoke) 1 v 1 Jayden vd Merwe (Spurs) and Bevin Reed (Liverpool) 1 v 1 Julian vd Merwe (Leicester). By the end of Round 2 matches, Chessray Jooste (Swansea) was top of the standings whilst Rowin Wilson (West Ham) beat Stanton Nortjie (Man Utd) by 1-0 to go 2nd only by way of goal difference !!! Rowin certainly looked confident in his opening 2 rounds of play & was raising some eyebrows with his play on the day.

Chessray vs Bevin

Round 3 action saw Bevin Reed (Liverpool) beat Rowin Wilson by 1-0, with Rowin playing well all game and conceding with only 19 seconds left to play - much to Bevin's relief. That result keeping Bevin's title chances alive. Elsewhere, Julian vd Merwe (Leicester City) took the lead over Kegan vd Merwe (Stoke City) but Kegan done well to come back and win by 2-1 and also keep himself in the hunt for honours! Round 4 matches produced some massive results - firstly, there was a loud cheer as debutant Antonio Abdeziet (West Ham) scored to beat Conway Julie (Man City) by 1-0!
I think the cheer was mostly from the Man Utd fans - who had witnessed, in real time, how Man City had just beat Man Utd by 2-1 at Old Trafford !!??
Kegan vd Merwe (Stoke City) then beat Rowin Wilson (Watford) by 1-0 to go top of the standings on 6 points. Jayden vd Merwe (Spurs) then dispatched of Julian vd Merwe (Leicester) by 1-0 to go 2nd on the standings with 6 points too!
The final match on the day, Chessray Jooste (Swansea) v Bevin Reed (Liverpool) was a true decider. A draw would imply that we had 4 players ending on 6 points, forcing the event into a 4 way play off, as Jayden & Kegan had previously secured that potential play-off places. A win for either Chessray or Bevin would mean the winner would walk away with bragging rights as 2016 Spring Cup Champion ! The match saw Bevin adopt a "park the bus" approach - but surprisingly Bevin took the early lead. As was then expected, Chessray started crafting chances and soon found himself level midway through the allocated time. Chessray then capitalised on a rare defensive error by Bevin to make it 2-1 and thereby securing his 6th WASPA title to date! Finally, a debut to remember for Antonio Abdeziet as he managed to secure 6th place overall!
As always - thanks to all for attending and making the day a success once again.

Final Standings - Points
Chessray Jooste (SWANSEA CITY) 7
Kegan vd Merwe (STOKE CITY) 6
Jayden vd Merwe (SPURS) 6
Bevin Reed (LIVERPOOL) 5
Rowin Wilson (WATFORD) 4
Antonio Abdeziet (WEST HAM UTD) 3
Conway Julie (MAN CITY) 2
Stanton Nortjie (MAN UTD) 2
Julian vd Merwe (LEICESTER CITY) 1

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

Miguel Pereira is back

Josh vs Mig

Rhys vs Adrian

Kye vs Paul

The Kent League returned to action on Friday night with an 8 player line-up in 2 groups. With lots of close games in the groups the Semi-finals saw Kye give his dad a good beating with a 4-0 win whilst Mig’s return to action saw a 3-1 win over Adrian.

The final produced some good goalmouth action with Mig taking the win 3-1 over Kye.

Final standings:-
1. Miguel Pereira
2. Kye Arnold
3. Terry Arnold
4. Adrian Davies
5. Josh Foreman
6. Louis Singh
7. Rhys Williams
8. Paul Frank

2016 September Cup – Subbuteo Parramatta

It was a tale of those who had and those who hadn’t practised their shootout skills in the 2016 September Cup. Shootouts decided both the Opens and the Junior grand finals in high drama, a fitting culmination this season’s edition of Australia’s longest continuously running annual tournament.

Imojjen (left) vs Æowyn

The Juniors were typically tight in their match-ups. Lucas started with two draws, one each against Imojjen and Æowyn. This meant that the final group match between the sisters would have a vital bearing on the final standings. In the second half, Æowyn worked the ball into the shooting zone, but didn’t have any figures close to shoot. Imojjen, thinking there was no danger, didn’t bother picking up her ‘keeper but looked at what defensive flick she might make. Æowyn saw her slim opportunity, and slotted an attacking figure between two of Imojjen’s defenders from distance, getting a perfect cut on the ball. It took both players a few seconds to realise the ball was in the back of the net, and Æowyn’s typically vociferous squeals alerted the entire premises that she was, for the first time against her sister in a competitive match, in the lead. She held on to top the standings. The three decided a grand final play-off between the top two would be good, so Æowyn forewent her chance to take the title outright, laying it on the line in a decider.

In keeping with their 1-1 draw from earlier in the day, Lucas and Æowyn slugged it out for a goalless draw, sending the match to shots. In a tense shootout, the lead changed hands through the duration. With her 5th and final shot, Æowyn hit the far post, the ball rolling across the line and stopping dead half-way across – no goal and no victory! So, to sudden death. Æowyn had been practising shootouts for use in her school competition, and the techniques paid off. She successfully kept Lucas’ next two out and, though she was unable to score from her first sudden death shot, she was able to clinch the title with the next, winning her first ever tournament.

Kostas vs Antonio (background), Steve vs Paul (foreground)

In the Opens, two groups were assembled and players chose their respective classic Subbuteo teams, ranging from 70s heavyweights through to contemporary 21st century Subbuteo brand figures, all to use on vintage cloth and nylon Subbuteo pitches and tiny little Subbuteo goalkeepers. Steve opened his account with a tight 1-0 tussle over Dave. Adrian came out all guns blazing against Tony, scoring 3 but also allowing Tony a goal via a travelling goalkeeper error. Mat was matched up against Kostas, playing his first competitive match since his teen years in Greece. In a good showing, he was pipped 1-0 by Mat. He struggled a little more against Adrian, conceding 4 goals. Meanwhile, in one of the day’s surprising results, Tony scored two early goals and a third later in the piece to put Mat to the sword. Newcomer, Paul (who had only played his first ever game of Subbuteo 4 days earlier), held up reasonably, going down 3-0 to Dave. In the final match up of Group A, Steve went on a bit of a spree against Dave, including one final miracle goal. Utilising the classic Subbuteo curl, Steve managed to use three figures doing a series of curls to touch the ball, then play it forward, for another figure to curl and connect. Then the final curl around a defender to touch the ball, play it back for the final figure to shoot into the top right corner! Mat scored one of the goals of the day – a long range effort chipped into the top corner to beat Adrian, while Kostas scored his first goal of the tournament, though conceded four to Tony.

So Steve faced Tony in Semi-Final 1. Midway through the half Tony took the lead, piling the pressure on Steve. However, Steve settled in to his groove, drew on his years of classic Subbuteo experience to come from behind and win 3-1. In Semi-Final 2, Dave took and early lead against Adrian but Adrian pulled back the equaliser soon after. A tight second half failed to split the pair so shots it was. Neither player was particularly good, each managing only a single successful shot of their first 5. Dave then buried his first from the corner in sudden death to pile the pressure on Adrian. However, in a change of form, Adrian also scored his to keep the game alive. His practise with Æowyn then paid off, as he first saved Dave’s next shot, then slotted home to win the match.

The victor and the vanquished

Mat had to leave early to prepare for a hot date, so Kostas and Paul played a consolation final, Kostas’ childhood experience showing as he put three past Paul, though Paul did, excitedly, have his first ever competitive shot on goal. In the 3rd/4th Play-off, the day’s most surprising result again featured Tony, though this time he was on the receiving end. Dave put him to the sword with 4 unanswered strikes, though claims only 1 of them was a well-worked goal deserving of the title!

In the grand final, Adrian faced Steve. The September Cup, using figures that players are less used to using, had provided Adrian with his only ever victory over Steve in the past, so Adrian was hopeful he might be able to spring a minor upset over the favourite. The game was evenly balanced throughout, but Adrian managed to take the lead towards the end of the first half, positioning himself well for a relatively straightforward shot. But there was drama to come. With just 5 minutes left on the clock, and the taste of victory on Adrian’s lips, he played an innocuous ball across his own goal box with a defender. Except that it didn’t quite go across as planned. The ball trickled gently towards the goal and Adrian’s desperate lunge towards his goalkeeper was not enough to keep the ball, and the own goal, out. Steve doubled his efforts to snatch the victory, employing the world famous ‘Magee Swarm’ for the final few minutes, though neither player could take advantage of their respective late chances. So, another shootout. With Æowyn’s recent shootout victory fresh in his mind, Adrian used his training, keeping Steve goalless in the shootout, taking the match, and his first September Cup title since 2007, with a shot to spare.

Many thanks to all who played, including our two new competitors who were introduced to competition play via this tournament played in the best of spirits with great camaraderie and fun.

(Report by Adrian Elmer)

Christian Filippella claims the honors in Belgium

Christian Filippella and Daniel Cranston

Just before the world cup, the US National team was visiting the premises of the Templeuve United club to practice and play a WASPA tournament. Besides the 8 Americans, 2 French players and 7 Belgians were playing in Swiss system. In the end of the evening, there was no hesitation to calculate the winner as Christian Filippella was the only one to win four games. He defeated Vincent Coppenolle, Geoffrey Marain, Rémi Soret and Michaël Dupret to claim the honors. Dan Cranston from Maryland Subbuteo Club was runner-up of the tournament with 10 points. The final standings of the evening were as follows:
1. Christian Filippella
2. Daniel Cranston
3. Geoffrey Marain
4. Michaël Dupret
5. Jos Ceulemans
6. Mike Tillman
7. Dario Passadore
8. Rémi Soret
9. Patrick Sheridan
10. Alain Flament
11. Paul O'Donovan Rossa
12. Gregg Deinhart
13. Geert Leys
14. Paul Eyes
15ea Matthias Averlant
15ea Vincent Coppenolle
17. Eric Caillaux

Nicolai Bugeja is the Attard champion

The club of Attard recently held their first WASPA tournament after a long hyatus. 12 players were taking part, competing in four groups of three players and then a knock-out stage. Nicolai Bugeja, who is 15 years old, claimed the trophy after defeating Joseph M. Debono (who is much more experienced). Miguel Zahra and Nigel Spiteri reached the semi-finals.

First season win for Vincent Guyaux

Top 3 of the evening

This monday the club of SC Flanders was starting their new season with the first WASPA event, the first of a circuit of 10. The club has a WASPA tournament every first monday of the month and for the first event, 10 players were showing up including geoffrey marain and Vincent Guyaux who travelled from the South of the country. In the end of the eventing, Vincent Guyaux (Bormla SC) took the honors, ending with 10 points in four games but more goals scored than Frank Lannoy (SC Temploux). Jos Ceulemans (London & Essex United) was third with 9 points while Goffrey Marain and David Wouters ended with 6 points. In the scond half of the table, the young Robin Somers ended with 5 points while Bart Van de Vliet had 4, Johan Lourdon 3, Geert Leys 2 and Willy De Bandt 1.

WASPA standings in the end of the seaosn

Dear all, here are the monthly standings in the end of the season of the WASPA circuit.

PDF file
Excel file

US National championship in Maryland

We had 17 regional tournaments and 2 national cups held this month and we can now officially say more than 2500 different players have attended WASPA events (2517 to give the right number).

Romania became the 46th nation involved in the circuit and we currently have players from 43 nations in the standings. The first event in Romania took place in Iasi and 8 players were taking part. Among them, there are a few Italians living in Romania and the young Matteo Cammaratta will be attending the FISTF world cup this week-end.

Action in Hungary

We were glad to see action again in Hungary after a long break and several tournaments in Australia. The national circuit in Cyprus had 3 more events with four different players in the finals.

We finish the season with 1587 ranked players while we had 1607 in August 2015. The good thing is the global number of entries passed from 2981 last season to 3016 this season. The WASPA circuit remains popular and we can be proud we had events organized in 24 different nations. Congratulations to Belgium (53), England (51), Australia (46) and Italy (41) who hosted many events. South Africa (22) was also very active compared to their number of clubs and players. A full season report will be made in the next few weeks for those who like statistics.

A great tournament organized by the Western Flickers

What are the hopes and expectations for the future?
- we hope to see a lot of events in many countries but the important thing should be to announce events in advance so that communication on the WASPA blog can be improved;
- Belgium integrated the WASPA events in the national circuit last season and there were many positive effects: more members for the national association and more involved clubs. other nations need to lear from that;
- more marketing and visibility of WASPA: the creation of stickers is a first step. There should be more things like that in the future (pins for instance).

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

The FISTF website can be found here: http://www.fistf.com

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

Have a great day and for those who attend the FISTF world cup in Frameries (Belgium) this week-end, have a great time. I hope to meet a lot of you and to discuss the future of WASPA!

Yours sincerely,

Vincent Coppenolle

Pascal Droeven again in Vresse

Last Sunday SC Semois was organising a last minute event with a small turnout of 4 but a new player was involved. Pascal Droeven took the honors and proved to be the best local player while Patrick Vanderlinden reached his first WASPA final. The club based in Vresse (Belgium) has strong plans to grow with some new players involved and a players base growing from 5 to 8. Good luck for the new season!