December 2019: news from around the world

Here is a quick review of some events held under WASPA banner in December. We are waiting for the last few results of last month to publish the december rankings. Hopefully everything will be ready by the end of the week.

3 dedicated players in Javea

Spain: one more tournament in Javea
The Marina Citerior Club held a 15th "Tea Time Tournament" int he beginning of the month. Unfortunately the club is struggling to get new players but the usual members of the clubs are still very motivated to play together. italy's Pasquale Carrassi finished on top of a small league (with home and away games) with David Mc Aulay being runner-up and Bill Dunham taking the third place.

Presentation of trophies in Ilioupolis

Greece: Roligans Christmas Cup
The Roligans club organized a Christmas tournament on December 21. There were 13 competitors including a special guest of the new club of Ippovotes Chalkida Club. Evangelos Kotrotsos (U15) won the tournament while the runner-up was Tassos Priftis. This time the event was a knockout tournament and the players eliminated played for Category B. Therefore the winner of the B tournament was Dimitrios Rembis.

Players in Thessaloniki

Greece: Panorama still doing well
Also in Greece, the Panorama 1978 SC Thessaloniki organized a tournament with 6 players involved. This time Ioannis Terzidis took the honors after defeating Constantios Giapoutzis in the final (2-0) while Stavros Giapoutzis won the game for the third place.

Some good games in Donegal

Ireland: action in Donegal
Also the Republic of ireland saw some Subbuteo action in the end of December with three players competing in a group format in Donegal. Local organizer Brendan Rodgers finished on top of the table while clubmate Oisin McKeogh was runner-up and special guest from England Nick Pearson took the third place.

Richard Ruffolo - Howard Christie - Mike Sgro

Canada: Howard Christie does it again
This month's tournament in Toronto had a small turnout of three but there were many close games. Defending champion Mike Sgro could not win another event as Howard Christie won the final against Mike to win the "tournament of the decade".

Isle of Man: Joseph Kinrade is a winner
We have been extremely glad to see some action on the Isle of Man where Joseph Kinrade won the "Ellan Vannin WASPA Christmas Cup" after defeating brian Kinrade in the final. The tournament had a good turnout of four players including first time player Lisa Warren from England. The tournament was played as a group of five with the top 2 qualifying for the grand final.

Martin Wiesmann bringing Switzerland back on the WASPA map

Switzerland: Test match in Wil
Just a few days before the WASPA tournament in Eschenbach of January 5 (results coming soon), there was a test match between local player Martin Wiesmann and South Africa's Clinton Gahwiler from Cape Town. The game ended as a draw but more importantly it was a good way to have Switzerland coming back to the WASPA circuit with more good news coming up soon.

Mark Farrell wins first stage of the Irish Championship

1st Round of the Irish Championship – Falcarragh, Co. Donegal Saturday 30th November 2019

A new name for the Championship for this new season as we expand out of Ulster and head south to Leinster with Dublin set to host a round later in the season. No change though in the host county for the opening round, as once again Donegal welcomed some of the best players on the island. Eight players headed to Falcarragh on the far west coast for Europe’s most westerly Subbuteo competition with Kenny Beggs and Mark Farrell the favourites to take the title. As well as Irish Championship points at stake, the tournament also doubled as a WASPA competition so it was also an opportunity to make inroads on those world rankings.

Group Stage

Group A hosted last season’s champion Mark Farrell, the current all-Ireland champion Kenny Beggs, last seasons 4th place championship finisher Martinog Bradley and newcomer Brian McCorkell who was playing in his first competition since childhood. Beggs and Farrell won their opening two fixtures with relative ease making their final group game largely academic with both already qualified for the semi-finals. But there’s always pride at stake when the two best players go head-to-head and Mark was looking for revenge following his defeat to Kenny in the final of All-Ireland Championships hosted in September. In a tight high-quality game Mark edged it 1-0 to top the group. Bradley meanwhile won his wooden spoon game 3-0 against McCorkell to finish 3rd. The debutant was handed the hardest imaginable group containing 3 of last year’s top 4 players, and he performed well to only go down 4-0, 3-0, 3-0 to high quality opposition.

New Derry City TFC player Jude Morrow was also making his first appearance at competition, this time in Group B alongside Oisin Mor, Brendan Rodgers and Strabane’s Mark McCrossan. Brendan started well beating Jude Morrow 3-0 in his opening fixture and then edging McCrossan 1-0 to top the group, but the top-spot was thrown into doubt when Oisin Mor beat him 2-1 in the final group game. How Oisin must have rued his 0-0 draw Jude as a win there would have seen him tied on points with Brendan and Mark. In the end it was Rodgers who topped the group courtesy of his 1-0 win over McCrossan who finished second on the same points.

Knock-out Stages

Mark Farrell faced Strabane man Mark McCrossan in the first semi-final who was hoping for his first win over the Dubliner. The pair met in the semi-final of last season’s Strabane round of the championship in a game that Farrell won 1-0, and there was to be no change in winner with Farrell this time romping home 4-1. In the other semi-final Beggs beat Rodgers 3-0 to setup yet another final decider between Beggs and Farrell. In the third place playoff McCrossan and Rodgers locked horns for a second time. This time however there was to be no winner in normal time, both players scoring good goals to take the game to shots after a 1-1 draw, but it was Rodgers who landed the points winning the shoot-out 2-0. The final saw Farrell hold lots of possession in the first half, possession he turned to his advantage as he took a 1-0 lead into the second half. In the second period Kenny called himself for a finger-foul when lining up a shot that could have seen him equalize. It was a piece of sportsmanship that demonstrates why we call him “The Legend”, and acts as a reminder to all of us about the spirit in which we play the game. It was also perhaps Kenny’s last chance as Mark took advantage and added a second goal to ensure he would see out the game and be re-crowned “High King of Donegal Subbuteo”. In the plate Derry City TFC’s Martinog Bradley beat club mate Oisin Mor 5-0 in the Plate Final to make sure he stayed in touch with the top four going into the second round in Strabane in January.

Kenny Beggs wins the 2019 All Ireland Championship

A brilliant days Subbuteo was had by everyone. The quarter finals saw Martinog Bradley go out to Brendan Rodgers following a tense sudden death shoot out, with Barry Spence sending Mark McCrossan home for an early bath with a 1-0 defeat. The two other quarters came to an inevitable end with both Mark Farrell and Kenny Beggs heading comfortably into the semis. Farrell stormed into the final on a 5-0 high against Rodgers, whilst Spence made the road a bit rockier for Beggs. The final played to a fairly one sided tune, with Beggs having the best of the play and an early goal in the second half. Farrell responded in kind to bring the game level, but it was a legendary strike from Beggs in the dying seconds that secured his victory to become All Ireland Champion and unseating Farrell for the first time in many years.
The plate competition saw Nicky Moore from Wexford lift his first Subbuteo silverware after defeating his two opponents, Oisin Mor and Paul Boyle.
Special mention must go out to DCTFC’s newest member, Jude Morrow, who on his first tournament and after only 2 months playing the game, got out of his group and into the quarter finals of the main competition.

March 2019: news from around the world

Here are some late reports of events held in March. We didn't have the time to publish all the news so here is a summary.

the final four in Attard

The club of Attard in Malta held another tournament in March. 12 players were involved and experienced players took the best as Joseph M. Debono defeated Claude Cuschieri on shots in the final while Walter Attard and Natalino Tanti were the semi-finalists.

In Spain, the Marina Citerior club had two small events with 3 players involved. Pasquale Carrassi won two time with David Mc Aulay finishing as runner-up on both days.

Martinog bradley winner in Derry

In Derry, Northern Ireland, there was a small turnout of 4 players on March 19. We played a round robin league format with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd for the semi-finals. Martinog Bradley took the honors. Oisin Mor put on an impressive display for someone so recently playing the game, reaching his first final after a sudden death shoot out with Donegal’s Brendan Rodgers. Great fun!

Leonidas Koutromanos won the latest Pireas Lions tournament in Greece after defeating Stamatis Syrmos on shots in the final. Lambros Tekos and Andreas Eleftheriou were the semi-finalists.

Players at the sydney TFC tournament

Fabrizio Coco won the latest Sydney TFC event, finishing as best of 6 players and defeating Tony Credentino in the final.

In Wales the club of Knighton TFC held a WASPA tournament on March 3. Five players were taking part and Danny Bird finished on top of a group of 5 with Tom Taylor ending as runner-up.

A great day of Subbuteo in Ireland

In Ireland, Derry’s Martinog Bradley won ‘Europe’s most westerly’ WASPA tournament. Many thanks to Donegal Subbuteo and Brendan Rodgers (who was also runner-up) for hosting and organising a great event and a great days craic.

Some words finally from Finland where four players met to play a very international tournament. George Papadopoulos from Greece finished on top of a group robin with Australi's Robert Green finishing second. Finnish players Kari Hakkarainen and Jarkko Lindholm were also taking plart. there are already plans to organize another tournament in Helsinki on April 28.

3rd Round of the Ulster Championship

Mark Farrell receives trophy from Craig Stewart

The Oval in Belfast, Sunday 27th January 2019
15 players attended what was the biggest domestic competition on the Irish circuit in many years, hosted at the home of Glentoran FC in Belfast. Three of the highest quality domestic competitors made their debut in the competition; 1984&85 NI and 1985 UK Champion Keith Greene, former NI Junior Champion & 1990 World Cup representative Neal Hermon and former ROI Junior Champion and also 1990 World Cup representative Michael O’Brien. Also making his Ulster Championship debut was German Sven Schilling from Subbuteo Sankt Pauli club in Hamburg a regular traveller on the WASPA circuit.

Group Stage
Debutants Keith Greene and Michael O’Brien joined Lochlin Bradley, Nicky Moore and Derry’s Mark McCrossan in Group A. McCrossan topped the group with 4 straight wins but the real battle was for 2nd place and one of the best 3rd place berths. O’Brien and Greene were tied on 4 points as they faced each other in the last session with Moore able to pass the loser if he could beat the winless Bradley. Dubliner O’Brien won the game 1-0 to clinch 2nd and with Bradley recording his first win on the circuit beating Moore 2-1 to overtake him with Keith Greene holding on to 3rd to qualify.
Group B saw the other 2 debutants Sven Schilling and Neal Hermon lock horns with All Ireland Champion Mark Farrell as well as Lawrence Watson and Oisín Mór of Derry City TFC. Tournament favourite Farrell scored 12 goals without reply finishing 3 points clear of Schilling in 2nd. Watson claimed 3rd spot but his negative goal difference ensured he didn’t claim a quarter final spot and instead he dropped into the Plate semi-final. Hermon claimed 4th ahead of Mór courtesy of his scoreless draw with Watson.

Second place for Sven Schilling

In an open draw there is always the chance of the clichéd “Group of Death” and so it proved for the third time in three tournaments. Any local semi-final could easily see any of the 5 Group C players figure. Kenny Beggs, Barry Spence, Martin og Bradley, Simon Stewart and Brendan Rodgers went head to head to claim 2 guaranteed places out of the group. With Beggs winning his 4 games it was Stewart who claimed 2nd by way of wins over Rodgers and Bradley and a draw with Spence. With Bradley, Spence and Rodgers all recording victories over each other it was the draw with Simon Stewart that saw Barry Spence claim 3rd and also a place in the next round.

Knock-out Stages
The finalists from the last Ulster Championship Round, McCrossan and Stewart met in tetchy affair which Stewart edged 1-0. O’Brien’s trip north ended in a close game with “Sankt Schilling”, the German triumphing 2-1. Kenny Beggs played Keith Greene for the first time in 35 years in the third quarterfinal which he took 1-0 and Farrell knocked out Spence courtesy of a 2-0 victory.

Martinog Bradley won the Plate

In the semi’s Farrell beat Beggs 1-0 and Sven eventually fell over the line after a scoreless draw and goalless shot marathon against Stewart. It was a something he relied on again as he held off Farrell in the final to finish the game with a draw after already losing to the Irishman in the group. This time however it was the home player who scored the decisive shot and Farrell claimed his second Ulster Championship win and go top of the table.

In the Plate Brendan Rodgers and Martin og Bradley were reunited after their Group C encounter but this time it was Bradley who won the game, 2-1 on shots.

More wins for Rodgers and Stewart

There was some more Subbuteo action last week-end in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

After Derry Cuty TFC organized their Anniversary Cup ealier this month, Donegal also had a tournament on Saturday. Unfortunately only three players attended as bad weather was to blame for another few players not being in attendance. Brendan Rodgers won the group format while Caoimhe Rodgers was runner-up and Brian Mc Corkell took the third place.

Players in the Ulster Subbuteo Championship

Finally, on Sunday Round 2 of the Ulster Subbuteo Championship took place in the premises of Sporting Club 18. Simon Stewart hosted an impressive and enjoyable event with 10 players taking part. Players were divided in two groups of five but the winners of each group later failed to qualify for the final as Barry Spence lost to Simon Stewart (0-1) while Mark McCrossan defeated Kenny Beggs on shots. In the final, Simon Stewart took the best on Mark McCrossan (3-0) to take the trophy and the lead of the Ulster Subbuteo Championship. Derry's Martinog Bradley won the Plate tournament after beating Lawrence Watson on shots in the final.

Mark Farrell first leader in the Ulster Championship

Nine players attended the Donegal Leg of the Ulster Championship, hosted by Donegal Subbuteo, last Saturday 13th October. This was Donegal Subbuteo Club's 9th tournament and 6th WASPA event. Players were divided in to groups with knock-out games in the second round and consolation games. Mark Farrell from Dublin took the honors after defeating Derry's Martinog Bradley in the final. Brendan Rodgers and Nicky Moore made it to the semis and Lawrence Watson defeated Craig Stewart in the consolation final. It wa sa good day of table football played in a great spirit.

Four other events are planned for the 2018/19 season. Down, Strabane, Derry, Belfast will be the next venues. To be noted the date is confirmed for the second round of The Ulster Championship, Sunday 18th November, hosted by Podjistan's finest 'Sporting Club 18'. Interested players can contact Simon Stewart at simonmcstewarty@gmail.com
Donegal SC website: http://www.donegalsubbuteo.webs.com
To be noted Derry City's 2nd anniversary cup will be held on November 5 at the Delacroix Bar, Derry.
Donegal Subbuteo have another WASPA tournament scheduled for 9th November. Contact: donegalsubbuteo@hotmail.com

Mark Farrell is All Ireland champion

Mark gets his trophy

Finalists Kenny and Mark

DCTFC played host to competitors from all over Ireland, from Co.Wexford, Co.Dublin, Co.Donegal, Co. Down, Co.Antrim, Co.Tyrone and Co. Derry. Group A drew as the group of death with last years winner Mark Farrell and Derry Open champ Kenny Beggs the firm favourites. The excitement came from group B though with only 1 point separating the top 3 going into the semifinals. Craig Stewart and Nicky Moore finished all square for joint second place, with a shoot out sealing defeat for Stewart and Moore facing Mark Farrell in the semi.

Kenny Beggs triumphed over Martinog Bradley in the other semi final, when a saved shot from Beggs was dragged into the net by Bradley’s own keeper.

The final was a repeat of last year after Farrell saw off Moore with a 4-1 victory. The drama never stopped as a 0-0 draw after full time and extra time was settled on shots. A shots marathon followed with Farrell defeating Beggs after 17 shots a piece, final score Farrell 6 Beggs 5.

SEMI FINALS
Kenny Beggs 1 Martinog Bradley 0
Nicky Moore 1 Mark Farrell 5

FINAL
Mark Farrell 0 (6) Kenny Beggs 0 (5)

Ciaran Rodgers wins in Donegal

In Donegal, Ireland, four players attended the tournament held on April 13. Ciaran Rodgers took the honors after finishing on top of the league with 7 points while Brendan Rodgers was runner-up. A good day was had by all. We are very glad to see action in the Republic of Ireland!

Action in Donegal, Republic of Ireland

"Donegal Subbuteo" had a four player tournament on Friday evening. Cormac played for the first time in 2 years. He first played back in December 2011 as a 10 year old! Anyway there was some great games between Brian, Cormac and Caoimhe. They haven't played a lot lately so there was plenty of goals and action in every game. We played a group format with players playing each other once. Brendan used Heavyweight bases and the other 3 used the more modern bases. The idea of this was to make the tournament more equal for everyone. And as you can see from the final table, Brendan just pipped Caoimhe on goal difference! But great to see the younger ones having so much fun and determination to beat each other in this great game we all love.

Here is the final table:
Brendan Rodgers...3...7...+4
Caoimhe Rodgers...3...7...+2
Cormac Coyle...3...1...-3
Brian McCorkell...3...1...-3

Brendan Rodgers is a Donegal champion

Donegal Subbuteo in the Republic of Ireland had a small tournament on Saturday with three players meeting each other twice. In the end, Brendan Rodgers (see picture) took the honors with 10 points while Gary McLaughlin was runner-up (5 points) and Ciaran Rodgers took the third place (1).

Mark Farrell is All-Ireland champion for the 4th time

Kenny Beggs and Mark Farrell

The All-Ireland championships took place this week-end in Derry, Northern Ireland. It was a great tournament with a superb field of 10 players. It was difficult to predict who would be able to stop Mark Farrell (Yorkshire Phoenix) to win a 4th title. In the end, Farrell defeated Kenny Beggs (Irish Premier League) in the final (1-0) while Martinog Bradley (Derry City) took the best on Mark McCrossan (Derry City) in the 3rd place play-offs (3-1). It was a great day with also the come-back of Neil Hermon who came from Belfast and was the representative of Northern Ireland in the Junior FISA world cup back in 1990. Congratulations to Mark for the victory and huge thanks to Derry City TFC for hosting a great tournament.

Donegal back in action

After a long hyatus, Donegal Subbuteo Club was back in action on Saturday with a small tournament gathering three players. Each player played each other twice meaning everyone played 4 games in a league format. Here were the final standings.
Brendan Rodgers 12 points
Gary McLaughlin 4 points
Ciaran Rodgers 1 point

It was the Ireland's club first tournament since September 2013! Hopefully the club will have more regular meetings in the future and hopefully a circuit of 3 to 4 tournaments per season.

Farrell retains title

The players

Mark Farrell won the All-Ireland Championships for the 4th time in five seasons. The four entrants played each other three times in a mini-League. Farrell remained unbeaten throughout to top the table seven points ahead of runner-up, Kenny Beggs.

Mark and Nicky

Kenny and John

Final table:
1. Mark Farrell, 23pts
2. Kenny Beggs, 16pts
3. John Moore, 11pts
4. Nicky Moore, 0pts

Mark Farrell and John Moore win in Celbridge

The first Irish tournament this year held last Saturday and was called "The Celbridge open". Organizers had a low turnout of 5 players but played two tournaments. Both were on a league system with 4 games each. The first was to fistf rules in the morning which Mark Farrell won on 12 pts from John Moore on 9, Ken McKenzie in 3rd on 6pts.

In the Afternoon we played an old rules with 1980's style figures. John Moore (his first WASPA title!) won this on 10 pts, Mark Farrell in 2nd on 7, Nicky Moore 3rd on 6pts.

Farrell is All-Ireland Champion

Dublin's Mark Farrell won the title for the 3rd time in four seasons, beating Kenny Beggs 4-2 in the decisive match. Both players had won all their matches in the 7-player league before they met in the final fixture. Great to see new player, Craig Stewart, in attendance and Brendan Rodgers from Donegal. Mark's victory means that he has won all four Irish Circuit events in 2013/14 to become Circuit Champion for the 4th successive season.

Mark Farrell vs Brendan Rodgers