Conan Mullen wins St Paddy's tournament

The Northern California St Paddy’s Tournament took place on March 14 in Santa Rosa, CA.

It was the club's last tournament before isolation.
Conan Mullen is the winner based on scoring 1 more goal than Varant Kurkeyerian. Rumors say an Irishman should win St Paddy's!

Five players were taking part and everyone had a great time!

Good luck to our friends in California as they can only go out to work and get food until April 6th.

Final table
1. Conan Mullen
2. Varant Kurkeyerian
3. Vincent Vidal
4. Sam Omiotek
5. Jordan Olenberger

5th WASPA victory for Davide Visani

In the beginning of the month, the club of Firenze organized the fourth tournament of the domestic circuit with games being played under WASPA banner.. As always, the Swiss system was used to decide the winners and Davide Visani took the honors after winning three of his four games (he also tied against Tiberio Becucci) to claim his 5th WASPA title. Stefano Barducci was runner-up. A total of 13 players took place with Gabriele Allegria (Seagulls Viareggio) as only "foreigner" besides 12 members of the local club.

Huge thanks to the club of Firenze for the good work. All our support is given to the Italian Subbuteo Community who is living a sad period nowadays. We'll be back stronger soon!

Final standings:
1. Davide Visani
2. Stefano Barducci
3. Marco Bonciani
4. Matteo Cherici
5. Emanuele Cattani
6. Tiberio Becucci
7. Mirko Masini
8. Alessio Riccio
9. Francesco Gori
10. Gabriele Allegria
11. Riccardo Ferri
12. Gabriele Casati
13. Luca Pini

Rasmus Lund wins in Sankt Pauli

The third edition of the "Subbuteo Sankt Pauli Cup" was a success. The tournament was played on March 8 with guests travelling sometimes from far away to play.

The tournament consisted in a Swiss system with 6 games for all 18 players so a total of 54 games were played over the day.

Rasmu Lund from Denmark was the great winner of the day as he was able to win his six games. The fight for the second place was very close with four players sharing the honors with 12 points but Anders Buhl Hansen had a better goal-difference (+5) than Marcus Tilgner (+4), Edin Mulasmajc (+3) and Thomas Petersen (+2). There were also representatives from Greece, Northern Ireland and Spain taking part so it was a very international event!

Everybody had a great time so the appointment is made for next year already!

Final standings (all Germans unless noted):
1. Rasmus Lund (Denmark)
2. Anders Buhl Hansen (Denmark)
3. Marcus Tilgner
4. Edin Mulasmajic
5. Thomas Petersen (Denmark)
6. Sven Schilling
7. Fred Elesbao
8. Daria Prazynski
9. Simon Stewart (Northern Ireland)
10. Marius Willhaus
11. Charis Chatziplaton (Greece)
12. Nico Pretzel
13. Philip Hansen
14. Christian Emil Christiansen (Denmark)
15. Marian Flemer (*junior player)
16. Ralf Offenborn
17. Marcos Perianes (Spain)
18. Andre Lange

WASPA results and standings in the end of February

Dear all, you will find in the attached files the standings of the WASPA circuit in the end of February.

WASPA ranking - February 20
WASPA Season results 2019-2020

We have added results of 28 regional events, 1 tournament with the old rules. Results of the NETFA mini-leagues and the Dutch league in Gouda have also been added.

Table football in Oberbachern, Germany

We were glad to see great events taking place in February, among them, here are a few highlights:
- The 2nd leg of the Irish Championship had a good turnout of 8 in Strabane;
- Two events have been held during the Australian GP with Malaysia's Mike Dent winning his first WASPA tournament;
- For the first time a US player won a tournament in Canada;
- the yearly tournament in Hoogezand, the Netherlands, had a great turnout of 16;
- Subbuteo.ch held their first WASPA tournament in Switzerland;
- the Live Subbuteo Cup in Greece had many elite players taking part for a total field of 32 entries;
- We were back in Gibraltar with a tournament during the recent Gibraltar FISTF tournament;
- We had more events in Greece, Spain, Australia, Belgium, Singapore, the US, Germany, Wales, South Africa.

First tournament this season in Auvelais, Belgium

Apologies if the results of all tournaments have not been published on the WASPA blog but you can find all details of registered results in the attached PDF file.

Maybe a few results are missing in the PDF file. If you see missing data, please get in touch so that I can correct the files.

If some juniors (born in 2003 or later) don't appear in the ranking, it means we don't have their birthdates so please send your feedback.

Players at the Roligans tournament in Greece

In the different rankings of clubs, we are glad to see the Knighton (Wales) and Black Rose (Italy) joining the Development league.

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

Great atmosphere in Hoogezans, the Netherlands

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/

Bryan Arnold (right) after his win at the Toronto tournament in Canada

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

Ideas to develop the WASPA circuit, to get new clubs/nations involved or to make things more attractive are always welcome. We stay at your disposal for more info.
Yours sincerely,
Vincent Coppenolle, vincent.cop@rsca.com , ++32/477/221902

Giannis Vlassopoulos wins Live Subbuteo Cup

32 elite Greek players competed in the "3rd Live Subbuteo Cup" taking place in X77, home of the Flaming Flickers, in Kallithea, Athens, Greece.

The first stage was a knock-out round in home and away games with away goals being important in some cases while the next rounds were played in direct knock-out.

The winner was Giannis Vlassopoulos of the Proteas club after a final against with Dimitris Dimopoulos of the italian club Bologna Tigers.

It was a great tournament that was covered live on the Internet and here is the link for the final (with soon a video to follow with the highlights of the day): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuvV9nQB6sU

Mark Farrell wins the Tallaght Open

John Moore and Mark Farrell

The third round of the Irish Championship Circuit took place in Dublin this past weekend. Nine players descended on the west Dublin suburb of Tallaght to take part in a league event to determine the winner in what was the first Dublin WASPA event since 2015.

Notable entries on the day were John Moore playing his first event for five years and also, a new addition to the circuit this year from Dublin was Cormac Lennon, showing good potential for the future.

Each player played eight games over the day in this new format for the circuit and indeed the winner’s trophy was still up for grabs going into the final games of the day.

As it went, Martinóg Bradley from the Derry City club took third place after some improving performances while his teammate Kenny Beggs took the Runner-up spot. Mark Farrell from White Star TFC narrowly took the honours on the day. The next round will be hosted in Derry next month

Milan Knezevic winner in Oberbachern

Earlier in February, a tournament was played in Oberbachern, Germany. Unfortunately 2 of the 6 registered could not make it dur to illness and only four players took part. Milan Knezevic finished on top of the table after home and away games while Roland Popp was runner-up. Renato Parussini and Maurizio Zironi were also taking part. Everybody had a good time and players are already waiting for the next tournament.

Crystal Palace wins the 3rd Anglo-Italian Cup

On February 8, the Flaming Flickers organized a tournament with the old rules in Kallithea, Greece. The "3rd Anglo-Italian Cup" had a good turnout of 12 players with 6 of them playing for Italian football clubs while the 6 other players were representatives of English clubs. In the end Sotiris Korologos (Crystal Palace) defeated Alekos Apatzis (Tottenham) in the final. The semi-finalists were Scotiniotis and V. Dragossis. Thanks to Panos and his friends for another great tournament!

Belgium: wins for Marain, Heyvaert and Wouters

Some news from Belgium where several events have been held in the last few weeks.

The monthly Templeuve tournament was held on February 21 with 7 players competing in Swiss ladder. Geoffrey Marain was the clear winner of the night but the was a close fight to decide who will finish on the podium. Matthias Averlant was finallt decided runner-up thanks to more goals scored then Michaël Dupret. Eric Caillauw was 4th, Vincent Coppenolle 5th, Olivier Bodelle 6th and Sébastien Sorge 7th.

Players in Auvelais (picture by Dominique Massart)

In Auvelais, the tournament held on February 21 had also 7 players taking part. It was nice to see the WASPA debut of Nicolas Wagner (SC Temploux). Players were divided into two groups. Pol Serwy finished on top of group A but couldn't resist to Jérôme Heyvaert (Master Sanremo) who won the final (3-1). Vincent Guyaux defeated his brother Fabrice to take the third place.

Finally, the March tournament of the SC Flanders club took place on Monday with 8 players taking part.

We were very happy to see some players coming back, not only Gary Moore (Ireland but based in Belgium) but also Dimitri Schuermans. Dave Wouters took the honors this time with more goals scored than Jos Ceulemans.

Three players tied for the third place with 6 points and once again the goals difference was needed to give Johan Lourdon a place on the podium.

2020 Lake Effect Trophy in the books

2020 Lake Effect Trophy participants (from left): Peter, Eric, Paul, and Bryan.

On Sunday, February 10, Grand Rapids TSC hosted its traditional winter tournament: the Lake Effect Trophy. For the second year in a row, the event took place in East Lansing and was part of the WASPA circuit.

For the first time in the event’s history, we had the great pleasure of welcoming a player from the East Coast: Bryan Arnold of Northern Virginia Union TSC and Team USA.

After an interesting group stage, both semifinals ended 2-1: with Peter Alegi and Bryan Arnold edging out Paul Pate and Eric Walton, respectively. Peter claimed the title with a 4-0 win in the final. Eric won the consolation game. As is typical this time of year in Michigan, snow fell as we made our way home. It wouldn’t be the Lake Effect Trophy otherwise!

GROUP STAGE
Peter Alegi – Eric Walton 4-0
Paul Pate – Bryan Arnold 0-3
Bryan A. – Peter A. 0-1
Eric W. – Paul P. 1-1
Peter A. – Paul P. 4-0
Eric W. – Bryan A. 0-1

STANDINGS
Peter A. 9 points (GF 9 GA 0)
Bryan A. 6 (4-1)
Eric W. 1 (1-6)
Paul P. 1 (1-8)

SEMIFINALS
Peter A. – Paul . 2-1
Bryan A. – Eric W. 2-1

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Peter A. – Bryan A. 4-0

3rd PLACE FINAL
Eric W. – Paul P. 2-1

Derry City Winter Cup 2020

Well the winter cup lived up to its name , with a significant snowfall on the eve of the competition in Derry the event looked in doubt , but 5 hardy souls finally assembled at the DerryCity SocialClub to contest the WASPA event .

Stewart (Belfast) Mór and Rodgers (Donegal) all made the trip while local lads Morrow and Watson (Derry) completing the line up it was all set for a cracking event .

The first round of fixtures threw up the arch rivals Stewart and Watson to contest the Stand Firm Cup a competition played between 2 rival Scottish football fans of the old firm. Stewart the current holder was under the cosh for most of the first half but a one of counter attack and his first shot on target was enough to seal the win and retain the trophy despite a second half of sustained pressure that seen Watson have 10 shots on target, in the other game Jude Morrow and his Melchester Rovers side took on competition favourite Brendan Rodgers and it was a early statement from Rodgers with a 3-0 victory for the Donegal man.

The next round of results seen a brace of Draws with Watson and Mór tie 0-0 and Morrow and Stewart also opting for the bore draw.

Round 3 seen a thrilling 1-1 draw between Stewart and Rodgers enough to see Stewart go top of the table and a 1-0 victory for Mór against Roy of the rovers Jude Morrow .

Round 4 was seen Watson revive his title ambitions with a 1-0 victory over Donegal subbuteo’s Brendan Rodgers while Oisin Mór held on for a 0-0 with Craig Stewart to put the final round of games into a exciting climax .

With Stewart playing all his games he sat top of the table going into the final round of games , a draw for Mór against Rodger would be enough for a shootout with Stewart for the win with both having the same goal difference , a win for Rodgers would be a
Enough to walk away with another title , while in the other game a win for Watson against Jude Morrow and a draw in the Rodgers Mór game would hand Watson the title . Despite efforts by all it was a double 0-0 draw that seen Mór and Stewart both finishing top on same points and same goals to head to a penalty shoot out , both players have never won a monthly WASPA so it was going to be one hack of a shootout.

A early goal for Stewart was followed by a early miss by Mór which  would be one of 4 misses that would see Craig win 2-0 on shots and take his first ever WASPA completion proving his experience in the Europa league as a guest player for Wolverhampton was good enough for the Belfast to take home the top prize . Oisin Mór will go back to Donegal happy with his first runners up prize and them vital WASPA points while Brendan Rodgers took 3rd spot on goal difference to Lawrence Watson and Judd Morrow took 5th place with 2 fantastic draws against Watson and overall winner Stewart to back up in amazing 2-2 draw with Mark Farrell earlier this month in the championship round 2. Morrow is starting to prove his Roy of the Rovers side are the real deal.

Hermann Kruse wins in Berlin

We are happy to get news from Berlin, Germany. Last Wednesday the SC Berlin players organized a WASPA tournament with two categories. 8 players were competing divided intou two groups of 4. The experienced players competed in the main event with Hermann Kruse winning the tournament. In Division B newcomer Ronny Lange topped the table and will play a playoff for promotion against Nico Müller who came fourth in the Division A.

Division 1 table:
1. Hermann Kruse 12 points
2. Oliver Kruse 10 points
3. Alberto Tarantino 5 points
4. Nico Müller 3 points

Division 2 table:
1. Ronny Lange 12 points
2. Erik Klossowski 11 points
3. Hermine Kruse 4 points
4. Peer Fülster 3 points