News from Ireland and Northern Ireland - February 2023

 Irish Subbuteo Championship Circuit Round 1 Donegal

Venue: Orchard Bar, Letterkenny

A good venue, central to the town. The room was probably big enough to host something 2 or 3 times the size of competition if needed. Did the job perfectly.

Competition: Round 1 of the 2023 Irish Championship. 15 participants. 3 groups of 5. Top 2 plus 2 best 3rd placed teams played out the main event with the remaining 7 playing out a plate competition.

Outcome: In the end no real surprises. Mark Farrell beating Kenny Beggs in a close final. In the Plate Oisín Mór lost by 1 goal to Mark McCrossen who is returning to the game after a few years out.

Although the usual suspects fought out the main prize this competition was a bit closer than meets the eye. We had plenty of close games in the groups as well as the knock-out. The final could of been quite different as both semi's went to penalties with neither victor getting a comfortable passage to the finale.

The standard of Subbuteo is improving big time in Ireland and this competition was proof. The youth policy in young Daniel is really starting to bear fruit as the youngster gave one or two established players a fright in the group stage and only lost on penalties in the Plate Semi. This boy will be lifting trophies in the near future.

Many thanks to Donegal SC and their stalwards Brendan Rodgers and Classically Trained (Frankie) for organising a great day.

The road show moves onto Ballymena next month.

Kenny Beggs at ken@nitfa.org.uk is the contact if you are interested in playing. http://www.nitfa.org.uk/

NOTE: The Irish Subbuteo Championship Circuit is run in 5 venues over the year. The event is open to none Irish players ie. all players are welcome. 

Link: Irish subbuteo Championship on Facebook

Tralee & Munster SC results

On February 20, 2023 the Tralee & Munster SC players had a very entertaining night with many close games. Final standings were as follows:

1. Dave Elton 6 pts
2. Jeff Murphy 6
3. William Magnier 5
4. Cian Hogan 5
5. Greg Molone 5

Link: Tralee and Munster SC on Facebook

Derry City Winter cup

Martinog Bradley narrowly tops the table ahead of Oisin Mór, in our hastily arranged winter cup. The shed welcomed Nick Pearson back for his 4th shed appearance.

Link: Derry City TFC on Facebook

Poster of the next Irish Subbuteo Circuit tournament

Australia: more wins for Kennedy and Tardiota

Another wonderful night at Willoughby Park Bowling Club (Sydney) where the Northern Falcons had a four round Swiss.

Congrats to Eliot Kennedy, well done to Adrian Elmer, and great to see Daniel Sirmai, Johnny Ball and Louis Dettre back in action.

Having fun and sharing lots of laughs was the order of the night.

In Brisbane, five players competed in group format. Giuseppe Tardiota took the honors but the great news was to see Ordon Orr playing his first tournament.

Another good tournament in Brescia

We are pleased to receive more results from Brescia, Italy where the latest tournament played with the old rules was a success as 15 players took part. "It was the third stage of the Lombardia Challenge, a tournament played with Old Subbuteo rules and counting already 21 registered players. It is no longer a local event, but more likely a Northern Italy happening, with challengers coming from Liguria, Lombardia, Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Trentino. The formula is very much appreciated. A late start for a smooth Sunday wake up, many games for everybody and no refereeing. But above all, a priceless friendly atmosphere", commented Vittorio de Pascale.

It is Genova player Enrico Frisone taking the honor of the first place, defeating Vittorio de Pascale at shoot out 5-4, after regular time ended 2-2.  Great performance of the new entry from famous Subbuteo Club Vecchia Talpa Fidenza, Gian Marco Taverna and Francesco Molinari. The last, well deserving the final, after a wonderful match of group 1, won 5-2 against V. de Pascale. It was his last match, a draw 1-1  against Girelli, where Molinari lost two points, thus ending second in his group. Great to see two brothers Mentasti, Lorenzo from Varese and Giorgio from Trento playing their final for the 7th place.

Final table of the day:

1. Enrico Frisone (Ligures Genova)
2. Vittorio de Pascale (Ligures Genova)
3. Gian Marco Taverna (Vecchia Talpa Fidenza)
4. Francesco Molinari (Vecchia Talpa Fidenza)
5. Claudio Colpani (Papata Ponticino)
6. Federico Milan (Subbuteo Verona)
7. Lorenzo Mentasti (Trento)
8. Giorgio Mentasti (Trento)
9. Giancarlo Riva (Ligures Genova)
10. Luigi Bauleo (Ligures Genova)
11. Luca Rajna (Prato Verde Subbuteo Club)
12. Silvano Corleto (Vecchia Talpa Fidenza)
13. Alessandro Girelli (Subbuteo Verona)
14. Abramo Bartolini (Vecchia Talpa Fidenza)
15. Pietro Torri (Vecchia Talpa Fidenza)

First tournament in Buhl, France

Saturday was a day of history for French table football as a "Subbuteo meet" was held in Buhl (68, Haut-Rhin), a city located between Colmar and Mulhouse, in Alsace. Due to place restrictions, the event was limited to six players and guys travelled from several areas to play. In the end, after games played in a fair and positive spirit, Hervé Rakowski was the big winner of the tournament as he won his five games. He was surprisingly using Toccer figures, which is not really usual in table football nowadays. Organizers were kind enough to ask the WASPA status, which is greatly appreciated and shows that there is space in France to create regional events as done in many different countries. It was therefore the first WASPA tournament in France this season. Another meet is already in the plans for the players from the East of France!

Final standings:

1. Hervé Rakowski (FTC ST Symphorien sur Coise)
2. Hervé Fino (Alsace Subbuteo Club)
3. Jérôme Deffolin (unattached player)
4. Lorenzo Lo Preti (FTC ST Symphorien sur Coise)
5. Pierre Troestler (Alsace Subbuteo Club)
6. Frédéric Staine (Alsace Subbuteo Club)

More pictures of the meeting in Buhl

Australia: News from Sydney and Melbourne

Francis Cozzarin wins Western Flickers tournament

The Western Sydney SC had a tournament last week. Here is Adrian Elmer's report:

With the Australian Grand Prix being held in Melbourne on this weekend, and a few of our players really wishing they could have been there, the club decided on a hastily organised WASPA tournament, our first for the year.

The initial starting line up of six players had shrunk to four by the start of play, with illness and the speed of life taking their toll. So, a four player league with a grand final was decided on. Playing in just his second tournament, Greg brought along his new Brazil team and pitted them against Adrian. Still learning the ropes, he succumbed 2-0, but learning was definitely the main factor for all Greg's games this evening, and he was able to do a lot of this. On the other pitch, Dave brought out the shooting skills he had been practising at home over the summer, and was able to pull off a great 1-1 draw against Franck, who had been favoured to win the match. 

Franck was stung into action. He took an early lead in his next game, against Adrian, with a move on the run seeing the ball in the back of the open goal and Adrian still at the other end of the pitch. Adrian managed to pull back an equaliser but, Franck, not to be denied, received a yellow card for his over-the-top celebrations after a deft chip put him back in front a few minutes before full time. He was able to hold, in spite of renewed pressure from Adrian, for his first ever win against that opponent. Meanwhile, Dave rode a wave of shooting, putting three past Greg to go to the top of the table, alongside Franck.

While Franck was already assured a place in the final, Dave just needed a draw against Adrian to join him. The mind games started early as Adrian encouraged Dave to park the bus. Adrian got an early goal to settle his nerves but took until late in the game to score the second and put the result beyond doubt. Meanwhile, Franck was giving Greg a range of tactical pointers as Greg's Subbuteo education continued.

Adrian changed his glasses in preparation for the Grand Final rematch against Franck, but this didn't have much positive effect as the game got going. Within eight minutes, Franck was up by two goals and could have had a third following a stranded 'keeper from Adrian, though messed up his first flick to let Adrian off the hook. However, within a minute of Franck's second, Adrian jagged one back to give a breath of life to his challenge by the half way mark. The game became tense from there, but Adrian was gaining the upper hand, scoring an equaliser with 5 minutes to go. Referee Dave then began heckling Franck - "I can't believe you've given up a 2 goal lead!". Franck was holding out, though, forcing Adrian into a 'Magee Swarm' from a goalkick in the final 30 seconds. With the clock ticking down, desperate defending was blocking gaps, but also giving up free-flicks which Adrian was taking rapidly. Then, with literally 2 seconds on the clock, Adrian found the slight gap he needed to trickle the ball past Franck's diving 'keeper and take the win.

An epic struggle to conclude a great night of Subbuteo fun. Every player learned new things, every player built on their skills and knowledge. 

The full original report can be found here: https://sites.google.com/view/westernsydneysubbuteo/tournaments?fbclid=IwAR1acSY9_n12BybTMbFPzZso5-y_2106ZDiglR_8wCpE1DFU6MNVOyc1IuQ

Final table:

1.  Francis Cozzarin
2.  Adrian Elmer
3.  David Rudd
4.  Greg Adams

Chandiramani and Tardiota take honors in Melbourne

During last week-end's FISTF Grand Prix in Melbourne, two WASPA tournament have been played under WASPA banner.

Vikas (right) in action

On Saturday, the consolation tournament of the individual Grand Prix had 9 players taking part. Brisbane's Giuseppe Tardiota defeated Geoff Sirmai on shots after a 2-2 draw to claim the title. Beth Eveleigh and Richard Wilson managed to make it to the semi-finals.

Giuseppe (right) in action, too

On Sunday, a WASPA event was organised for those who couldn't play the team events. here again, 9 players from many different clubs where taking part. In the end it was Singapore's Vikas K. Chandiramani who defeated Adrian Connolly in the final (3-1) while semi-finalists were Nick brill and Geoff Sirmai.

To be noted the two events were played by New Zealand's George Edeson who travelled from Auckland to play the tournament. It's amazing to hear george is active in the "Northern Line Flickers TFC" (Facebook link: Northern Line Flickers TFC), which is the first Subbuteo club in the country.

You can see amazing pictures of the tournament on this Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.3277365609192249&type=3 and here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.654015466727339&type=3&mibextid=ncKXMA

A good turnout in Gouda

Last Wednesday Dutch subbuteo fans met in Gouda for another WASPA tournament. As there is a revival in the country, there was a good turnout of 13 players and, among them, 2 foreign visitors: Stéphane Lambert (Belgium) and Erza Aripin (Singapore). The tournament was played in 4 groups with then knock-out games for places 1 to 13. Fabrizio Cavazza defeated Nicol marks in the final while Patrick de Jong took the third place after beating Erza Aripin.

There will be another Subbuteo meet in Gouda on February 15.

The Dutch legends are also trying to build som enew tables and are trying to get some sponsors. interested partners can contact subbuteonederland@gmail.com

Besides all this, the Dutch Championship tournament to take place on May 13 in Wageningen is already sold-out as the maximum entry of 34 players is now reached. Congratulations to the dutch organizers for the great job!

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/Subbuteonederland

WASPA Subbuteo is back in Japan

 After a long absence due to covid restrictions, there was a WSPA tournament again in Yamato City, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan on February 5. 5 players were taking part and Suguru Fujino (Tokyo Sunzeol TFC) finished on top of the group format after winning his 4 games.

Final standings:

1. Suguru Fujino (Tokyo Sunzeol TFC)
2. Masahiko Takayama (OSC Yamato WildBlue)
3. Tomoyuki Yoshimura (Adachi TFC)
4. Hideaki Wada (OSC Yamato WildBlue)
5. Tomoyoshi Ikeya (OSC Yamato WildBlue)

Please note there will be another WASPA tournament in Japan on February 23, this time organized by Andrew Martini in Kuki City.

WASPA rankings at the end of January 2023

Dear all, you will find in the attached files the updated rankings, statistics and results of the WASPA circuit.

EXCEL file (rankings and statistics)

PDF file (results)

A new record is in the books as we added 54 sets of results in January 2023. The 43 regional tournaments, the 2 promotional events and the 9 tournaments played with the old rules made it's just amazing!

Great field of players at the old rules tournament in Brescia

Top stories from January 2023:

Chris Thomas, Alex Scott and Richard Badger receiving prizes after the first leg of the English Championship in Stanway

1) The tournament of the month was more than probably the first leg of the English championship held in Stanway and 43 players competed in Swiss system. Martin Hodds made a fantastic job organizing fixtures (without computer!!!) and all players had 5 games. Chris Thomas was the big winner, whoch also proves the quality of the field of competitors!

2) The player of the month award goes to Jason Christopher. The Solent player is the new leader of the season ranking but the fight for the first sport os very close with players such as Clifford Graaff, Patrick de Jong, Mark Farrell or Alan Lee. We are sure there will be interest from the involved players to finish the season on top of the table.

3) Juniors: some people ask me why some players don't appear in the ranking of juniors. Either they are too old already (juniors are players born in 200+6 or later) or maybe it's because we don't have the birthdates. If you see missing names in the junior ranking, drop us a line.

Presentation of the trophies in Bormla, Malta

4) More nations: we are glad to see the first WASPA events in Malta and czech Rrepublic took place in January. Good news as there will be another event in Bormla on February 11 and the Czechs have plans to meet again in a couple of weeks.

5) England had 21 regional events in January. With so many local clubs meetings on a regular base, this is the key of success. Once again, England is a real source of inspiration for other nations.

6) We wish a huge welcome to the Greek club of Achaioi in the Development League.

Players in Stembert

7) Belgium had events in Stembert, Antwerp, Templeuve, Auvelais and Bande. It's great to see 5 different club holding tournaments in the country.

8) South Africa: Good to see four events held in South Africa. The recent Cape Town event was emotional has it was Clinton Gahwiler's last appearance before moving back to Switzerland. Fortunately the club will continue and there are several enthusiasts ready to take over in Cape Town while Clinton will for sure meet Swiss players to play more good games in the future! Good luck Clinton!

9) Big games in Derry: the recent leg of the Irish Championship in Derry had a good turnout of 10 players competing in a league format. Great to see every player had 9 games, which is awesome!

Players at the latest Singapore tournament

10) We sometimes forget to thank some isolated clubs who keep on running great events. Congratulations to the Maryland club (USA), the Flaming Flickers (Greece), the Dutch Legends (the Netherlands), the Table Football Association of Singapore, Tralee and Munster (Ireland), Brisbane, Perth, Sydney TFC and the Northern Falcons (Australia) for hosting good events!

11) Welcome to the new groups of players in Italy who ran their first events with the old rules under WASPA banner: DLF Gorizia (in Aviano) and ASD Alba Subbuteo Roma. The club of Ligures Genosa also held a tournament with 14 players in Brescia and we welcome back the club of Teramo. The Rebels Genova held a tournaments with FISTF rules for juniors ony, which is also much appreciated!

12) Club jerseys: we would like to update the page with the best club jerseys. Link: https://waspa-circuit.blogspot.com/p/best-waspa-club-jerseys.html

Please send your pictures to vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Help for the blog

You may have noticed it's really hard nowadays to publish reports of all tournaments on the WASPA blog. We are now looking for some help from one or two persons able to write some articles and publish them on the WASPA blog and also to share them on social networks. If you are interested, please send a message to vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

National organizers

Some nations are doing an amazing job to develop WASPA tournaments and to recruit new players. Once again, I believe England must be a source of inspiration for other nations. We believe some other nations are trying to do great things but unfortunately the local projects are much too isolated. We are trying to find people ready to share their passion for the game and to be the link between the WASPA circuit and their national associations. We are looking in particular for national organizers in the following countries: France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Scotland, the US, Canada, Austria. Of course ideas to start something in a new country are also more than welcome as there are many nations with absolutely no Subbuteo activity nowadays. If you are interested, please send a message to vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Don't hesitate to run tournaments under the WASPA banner. It's a great way to promote your club, to attract new players and to create local or regional development and we all agree this is what the game needs nowadays.

All your ideas to make the WASPA circuit more attractive are more than welcome. Don't hesitate to send your feedback. We also hope to see more and more clubs running events under the WASPA banner in the future.

We also take to opportunity to thank our partners:

- SubKits at https://www.facebook.com/subkits

- Flicks for Kicks at http://shop.flickforkicks.com/

- MAD ABOUT GAMES at http://subbuteo2012.co.uk

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 vincentcoppenolle@gmail.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 new 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 vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Vincent Coppenolle, WASPA organizer

Great festive spirit at Joburg Eagles for the Christmas Cup

Johannesburg TFC recently held 2 events under WASPA banner. We received reports from Clifford Graaff and we are pleased to share to news on the blog.

The Johannesburg Table Football Club aka 'Joburg Eagles' hosted their fourth in the series of 'Eagles Nite Series' Events on Monday the 5th of December, namely the annual Christmas Cup. Once again, the Randburg Astro Hockey, home ground of the Joburg Eagles, played host to a record turnout of 16 players. 

All participants were seeded in 4 groups of 4 with the top 2 players qualifying for the Cup section and the bottom 2 for the Plate section.

Before proceedings got underway, everybody was treated to a delicious 2 course meal with small Christmas presents for all.

Once again, the catering was sponsored by 'Just for You Meals' who also sponsored all the gifts and goodies. As usual, Nita Graaff arranged and organized the above which was greatly appreciated by all.

The action dished up was as hot as the supper with the only surprise in the group stages seeing local Eagles player, Chris Dimmer out qualifying the higher ranked Liam Chapman from ETS Subbuteo Club.

The Joburg Eagles players claimed 5 of the top 8 spots marking this as one of the most successful Nite Series Events for the home club.

The top 4 ranked players namely, Sean, Clifford, Ian and Jason qualified for the semi finals.

The semis saw Sean eliminate Clifford by the odd goal in three and Ian and Jason dishing up a classic which saw Ian win through by 2 goals in a six-goal thriller. 

The final pitted the 2 most on form players in Johannesburg against each other which ended in a thrilling goalless draw. Unfortunately a penalty shoot-out had to be played to separate the two protagonists. Ian held his nerve to claim his first 'Eagles Series Nite' title and enhance his ever increasing popularity on the local circuit.

A special entrant from ETS Subbuteo Club, namely Stephen Matthews who is the grandson of the legendary and great friend of South African soccer namely Sir Stanley Matthews. Sir Stan guested for a number of South African clubs and was a perennial visitor to our sunny shores. Stephen made it through to the Plate Final and will be now seen regularly around the local Subbuteo tables.

Once again, the Joburg Eagles would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Small turnout at New Years Challenge

The Johannesburg Table Football Club aka 'Joburg Eagles' hosted their fifth in the series of 'Eagles Nite Series' Events on Thursday the 26th of January, namely the annual New Years Challenge. Once again, the Randburg Astro Hockey, home ground of the Joburg Eagles, played host to a small turnout of 4 players. 

All participants played each other twice insuring that everybody played 6 competitive matches.

Rui dos Santos, a returning player travelled all the way from Centurion (Pretoria) to play in his maiden Randburg Nite Series event.

Once again, the catering was sponsored by 'Just for You Meals' and delicious toasties were served to all.

As usual, Nita Graaff arranged and organized the above which was greatly appreciated by all.

Even though the field was limited, this did not detract from the great time had by all.

After the double round robin phase, Clifford claimed top spot followed by Fernando Rodrigues, with Rui and Paul Seemu claiming third and fourth placings respectively.