February 2025: news from Ireland, Australia and Belgium

We are always pleased to see excellent Subbuteo events played under WASPA banner so thanks to the clubs of Donegal, Northern Phoenix and Templeuve for their latest tournaments.

Ireland: Irish circuit in Donegal

The first round of the Irish Circuit 2025 took place last week-end in Donegal. Thanks to Brendan Rodgers and his crew for organising the tournament. 10 players from all over Ireland took part and Derry's Martinog bradley took the honors after defeating clubmate Barry Spence in the final.

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

Group A

1. Martinog Bradley (NIR/Derry)
2. Frankie Connolly (IRL/Donegal)
3. Andy Fitzpatrick (IRL/Irish Premier League)
4. Cian Hogan (IRL/Tralee)
5. Louis Herbert (NIR/Cherrytree)

Group B

1. Barry Spence (NIR/Derry)
2. Brendan Rodgers (IRL/Donegal)
3. Stephen McAllister (NIR/Derry)
4. Oisin Mór (NIR/Derry)
5. Donal Convery (NIR/Belfsat)

Semi-finals: Frankie Connolly - Barry Spence 0-0* ; Martinog Bradley - Brendan Rodgers 2-0
Final: Barry Spence - Martinog Bradley 1-0
Plate final: Cian Hogan - Oisin Mór 1-2sd

Australia: Northern Phoenix WASPA – Thursday 06th February 2025

A relaxing and chilled Northern Phoenix WASPA was the perfect lead in event for the weekend’s AGP a couple of days later.

The occasion was marked by the participation of a number of interstate and overseas players wanting to secure a last minute hit-out prior to the Big Dance.

Conrad Mudge, Mike Phillips and Yago Dee made special appearances, the Tasmanian making his entrance fashionably late after a delayed flight meant he arrived in the Victorian capital six hours late.

Benji Batten had a great outing winning all his four matches to take out the evening’s honours. Beth Robin however pushed him all the way in their third round encounter, Mr MTFC scoring a buzzer beater in the final seconds to get over the line and keep his impressive record in check.

Having been absent from the game for a couple of decades, Mike Phillips strung together a number of impressive performances and showed great close control and tactical awareness. Conrad Mudge made the most of his trip across ‘The Ditch’ playing an exhausting six matches and Nathan Urbaniak keeps on going from strength to strength finishing up as runner-up.

Another enjoyable evening and needless to say.......

Subbuteo was the Real Winner!

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/780610992079187

Final table (Swiss system)

1. Benji Batten (Melbourne TFC)
2. Nathan Urbaniak (Melbourne TFC)
3. Beth Eveleigh (Northern Phoenix TFC)
4. Christos Garagounis (Northern Phoenix TFC)
5. Conrad Mudge (NZL/Northern Line Flickers)
6. Mick Phillips (Adelaide TFC)
7. Yago Dzelalija (Hobart TFC)
8. George Theocharis (Northern Phoenix TFC)

Belgium: New premises for Templeuve United

The first WASPA tournament of the Templeuve United club in their new premises in Néchin (a small village in the town of Estaimpuis, known for being for former place of citizenship of famous French actor Gérard Depardieu) took place last Friday with 10 players taking part, which included newcomes Nicolas Malfait. Congratulations to Geoffrey Marain who won his four games to claim the title of the day.

Final table (Swiss system)

1. Geoffrey Marain (Hennuyer)
2. Sébastien Rochez (Stembert)
3. Benjamin Marain (Hennuyer)
4. Vincent Coppenolle (Templeuve)
5. Raphael Dhondt (Templeuve)
6. Sébastien Sorge (FRA/Wattrelos)
7. Franck Santer (FRA/Templeuve)
8. Ursule Dhondt (Templeuve)
9. Eric Caillaux (FRA/Templeuve)
10. Nicolas Malfait (FRA/Wattrelos)

Facebook links: https://www.facebook.com/TempleuveUnited & https://www.facebook.com/groups/25637672693

Georgios Zangylos wins national circuit tournament

Runner-up Kalopsidiotis and winner Zangylos

The 6th stage of the national circuit in Cyprus took place last Sunday in the remises of Famagusta TFC. The tournament had 8 players competing in 2 sections of 4 players. Georgios Zangylos (famausta) took the honors in the "Serie A" after winning two of his three group games while Markos Kalopsidiotis was runner-up. In the Serie B, Christos Panaretos (Phoenix) was the undisputed winner and claimed the honors while Christos Andreou was runner-up. To be noted two new players were taking part in the tournament. Welcome to eleni Kapsali and Victoras Koumas!

WASPA results of tournaments played in England in January 2025

Dear Subbuteo friends, you are aware there are a lot of WASPA tournaments run in England and it's really complicated to publish a story for every tournament. Most of the time we only get results from organizers buyt no picture or report. We are pleased anyway to publish a summary of the resutls collected in January. Some clubs do an amzing job running WASPA nights and the English Subbuteo Association is doing a fantatsic job organising national circuit events under WASPA banner. We really appreciate that. Thanks to all organizers and congratulations to all the winners! If anyone is ready to write monthly article about events held in England, it would be nice contacting me at vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

We could therefore put the lights on events played in England!

Dagenham, January 7 2025

1. Martin Bellefontaine (WAL/London TFC)
2. Adam Jackson (Chasers)
3. Mark West (Chasers)
4. Samantha Levy (Chasers)
5. Daniel Vensyk (London TFC)
6. Mark Francis (Chasers)
7. John Kiely (Chasers)
8. Francesca Bellefontaine (London TFC)
9. Gary Gladwell (Chasers)
10. Michele Claydon (Chasers)

Leicester, January 8 2025

1. Richard Roper (Pedmore)
2. Mark Weaver (Leicester)
3. Nigel Edwards (Leicester)
4. Henry Baker (Leicester)
5. Jay Williams (Leicester)
6. Sean Wenlock (NIR/Leicester)
7. Kevin Coleman (Leicester)
8. Scott Hunt (Leicester)
9. Alex Ashcroft (Leicester)
10. Paul Taylor (Leicester)
11. Stephen Hack (Leicester)

Haverhill, January 8 2025

1. Joe Harrington (Haverhill)
2. Peter Holmes (Haverhill)
3. Mike Williams (Haverhill)
4. Rob Fitch (Stanway)
5. Euan Grieg (Haverhill)
6. Callum Course (Haverhill)

North Shields, January 10 2025

1. Ben Staples (Yorkshire)
2. Tom Heslop (North Shields)
3. Rob Heseltine (North Shields)
4. Nigel Lamond (North Shields)

Dudley-Kingswinford, January 16 2025

1. Derek Air (SCO/Dudley-Kingswinford)
2. Jordan Clee (Dudley-Kingswinford)
3. Campbell Air (SCO/Dudley-Kingswinford)
4. Andy Lane (Dudley-Kingswinford)

Leicester, January 18 2025 (English Championship tournament)

Rudi Peters (right)

Quarter-finals: Rudi Peters - Sam Curtis 2-1sd  ; Kevin Cordell - Aaron Skinner 2*-2 ; Paul Sutton - Richard Badger 2-1sd ; Mick Hammonds - Justin Scott 0-0*

Semi-finals: Rudi Peters - Kevin Cordell 1- 0 ; Paul Sutton - Justin Scott 3- 2

Final: Rudi Peters - Paul Sutton 2-1sd

Joe Harrington

Plate Semi-finals: Steve Wonnacott - Joe Harrington 2- 3 ; Ian Sharp - Nick Pearson 0*-0

Final: Joe Harrington - Ian Sharp 1- 0

Stourbridge, January 23 2025

1. Richard Roper (Pedmore)
2. Derek Air (SCO/Dudley-Kingswinford)
3. Andy Pountney (Pedmore)
4. Carl Taylor (Stourbridge)
5. Arthur Collins (Stourbridge)
6. Matthew Reynolds (Stourbridge)
7. Campbell Air (SCO/Dudley-Kingswinford)
8. Jordan Clee (Dudley-Kingswinford)
9. Andy Lane (Dudley-Kingswinford)
10. Sam Taylor (Pedmore)
11. Neil Walker (Stourbridge)

Braintree, January 27 2025

1. Martin Hodds (Yorkshire)
2. Joe Harrington (Haverhill)
3. David McCartney (White Notley)
4. Peter Holmes (Haverhill)
5. Gerry Harrington (IRL/Haverhill)
6. Nico Brannigan (White Notley)
7. Ciaran Brannigan (White Notley)

Andover, January 27 2025

Semi-finals: Jason Christopher - David Samuel 2-1 ; Malcolm Jamieson - Chris Burford 2-1

Final: Malcolm Jamieson - Jason Christopher 1-1*

Plate Semi-finals: Mark Weaver - Dave Cope 1-0 ; Stuart Briffett - Connor Gregory 1-1*

Final: Connor Gregory - Mark Weaver 1*-1

Old rules

London, January 7 2025

Tony Banks

1. Tony Banks (London SC)
2. Gianluca Zucchelli (London SC)
3. Lindsay Reid (London SC)
4. Troy Cowdrey (London SC)
5. Luke James Hearn (London SC)

Vicenç Prats prevails in Montornès

Last Sunday, February 2, 29 players met in the 3rd Catalan Circuit tournament of the season in Montornès del Vallès. The competition brought together a total of 29 participants from all over Catalonia and Mallorca. This equals the record for attendance at a Circuit tournament.

The tournament ended with the victory of Vicenç Prats (Sarrià – Barcelona), who defeated Fabio Mastroianni (Mallorca) in a contested final that ended with the result 2-1. In fact, this was Prats' first participation in the Circuit this season, which explains his current position in the general classification. However, his victory has allowed him to regain first position in the individual ranking .

The young Mataró player Julià Rosa was the winner of the consolation tournament, beating his Iluro teammate, Cesc Vidal. In this way, he continues with the great progression in his sporting career, consolidating himself as one of the young promises of the Circuit.

Fabio Mastrioanni, Vincenç Prats and Julia Rosa

With this tournament, the Catalan Circuit reaches the midpoint of the season. Therefore, the next event, which will take place on March 30 in Girona, will be decisive for the players who aspire to qualify for the end-of-season playoffs. Thus, the participants will continue to accumulate points to secure a position among the top sixteen in the general classification.

Below, you can see the link to the results.

WASPA rankings of January 2025

The WASPA rankings of January are now available.

Excel file (rankings)

PDF file (results)

We have added 32 regional tournaments and 2 tournaments with the old rules in the records.

We are happy to see Germany, the USA and Japan hold their first tournaments, which means we have had tournaments in 20 different countries since the start of the season in September.

There were all types of events, sometimes very small with 3 players taking part, sometimes very big like the Leicester tournament, part of the English circuit, with 48 players. England had many tournaments in many different clubs but there is also a fantastic domestic circuit in Australia with tournaments held in many different cities.

Sometimes tournaments have the chance to attract players from different nations. It was great to see the Karlsruhe tournament attracted players from France, Switzerland and Italy.

Keep in mind all organizers are welcome in the WASPA circuit and that it's totally free to be included in the records.

For any question regarding the WASPA circuit, don't hesitate to send a message to vincentcoppenolle@gmail.com

Please use the same address for sending results.

I will stay at your disposal if you need details ;-)

Have a great week and keep on flicking!

Vincent Coppenolle

Some pictures of January events

Adelaide players back in action

Action in Tokyo, Japan

Sankt Pauli players in Hamburg, Germany

Action in Melbourne, Australia

Players in Limassol, Cyprus

Tournament in Ocean city, Maryland, USA

Players in Johannesburg, South Africa

Old rules tournament in Grottaferratta, Italy

International field in Karlsruhe, Germany

Group picture in Derry, Northern Ireland

January 2025: more results from Northern Ireland, Germany, Japan and Australia

More WASPA results from around the world. For the final note of January results, we received news from Northern Ireland, Germany, Japan and Australia. it's always exciting to see returning players and some new faces. It's also extremely important to remember that small events are also part of the development process in many different nations.

Thanks to contributors Martinog Bradley, Simon Stewart, Andrew Martini and Steve Dettre.

Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry City TFC recently held the ’Paul Boyle New Year Cup’ with 7 players divided in two groups. In the semi-finals, Martinog bradley defeated Ian Greer (3-0) while Barry Spence took the best on Lawrence Watson (4-1). Martinog won the final against Barry (1-0) while Dee Jenkins won the Plate final.

Hamburg, Germany

The Sankt Pauli players held their first WASPA for several years at their new venue on January 30. It was the club's first tournament for several years. The new venue, situated under the iconic South Curve at the Millerntor Stadion hosts many sports activities officially affiliated with the football club. On the night Marius took the honours but special mention to father and son Julian and Levy making their debuts who both recorded wins.

Tokyo, Japan

This week-end the Tokyo Sunzeol players held a small challenge cup under WASPA banner. Suguru Sugino, Tomoyoshi Ikeya and New Zealand's Andrew Martini were taking part. Andrew won the tournament on goal-difference while Suguru was runner-up.

The group is hoping to attract more players next time.

Another tournament will be held in March (see attached poster) and all ideas to promote the game in Japan and WASPA tournaments are always welcome!

Adelaide, Australia

We are extremely happy to see the first WASPA tournament taking place for years in Adelaide, Australia. It's a great example of how ATFA has been encouraging players in Adelaide, and now one is making the pilgrimmage to the FISTF AGP25, while they staged their first WASPA in 10 years!

Final table:
1. Stephen Wilson (12 points)
2. Mick Phillips (4 points)
3. Richard Gwynne (1 points)