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Northern Ireland
Table Football History
Subbuteo Table
Soccer was popular in Northern Ireland in the
1970s & 1980s, when we were part of the
United Kingdom Subbuteo Association. Our National Championships were sponsored by Subbuteo
headquarters and the winners represented Northern
Ireland at British, European & World level.
The main clubs were run by Laurence Cummings in
Rathcoole, Davy Clegg in North Down, Kenny Beggs
in Ballyclare and Jim Fleming in Belfast.
Rathcoole produced the best players in those
days, with Jim Skelly reaching the 1982 World Cup
semi-finals and Keith Greene becoming UK Champion in 1984, with his club-mate Brian
Cairns being runner-up. In the 1990s, clubs were
formed in Dunmurry (Simon Stewart, Barry Spence),
Bangor (Eoin Adams), Comber (James Lappin) and
Strabane (Cahill McGirr). These clubs ran a
series of Regional Opens, co-ordinated by
National Organiser, Neil Hanna and dominated by
Rathcoole's Trevor Cummings.
With the formation
of FISTF (The Federation of
International Sports Table Football) in the early
nineties, the sport had a more global aspect and
several of our members played in foreign open
events. In 1993 & 1994 we hosted two FISTF International
Opens in Bangor which attracted top players from
UK & Ireland, mainland Europe & even
Australia. In 1996, Davy Clegg organised a Northern Ireland Premier
League and
National Championships in Donaghadee, leading to
qualification for the 1996 European Championships
at Wembley
where Kenny Beggs reached the Quarter-Final and
Bangor's Gary Smyth was the junior
representative.
There was a lull
and then a revival when Simon Stewart, Barry
Spence & Kenny Beggs entered the 2002 FISTF World Cup in
Birmingham.
On their return home, they formed NITFA and organised a National League and Open Events in
Belfast. As the player base grew, the National
League was replaced by clubs. Belfast
Barbarians Subbuteo Club was formed by Barry Spence and Davy
Clegg's North Down Subbuteo League was revived after years of
dormancy. New clubs were developed in Ballyclare
by John Barrons and Bangor by Brian Moore and
there was a renewed interest in players
travelling to overseas FISTF events. From 2004-2008, Northern
Ireland participated in the UK & Ireland
Internationals, a new annual event which signified
the general growth of the sport in the home
nations. We were represented at the 2005 World Cup in Belgium by Kenny Beggs, Trevor
Cummings and Donal Convery.
The 2005 Belfast International
Grand Prix
was held in W5,Odyssey. With 64 entrants from UK, Ireland
and mainland Europe, it was the biggest ever
Subbuteo Tournament in Northern Ireland. We
continued to host FISTF events for the next few
years - 2006 Belfast GP, 2007 Belfast International
Open, 2008 Belfast GP & IO, 2009 Belfast IO and 2010 Belfast IO at various venues. We also
hosted the 2007 UK & Ireland
Internationals in Park Avenue Hotel, which was a success in
both organising and performance terms, with
Northern Ireland finishing 2nd.
From 2009-2014,
the two Irish Associations NITFA and TFAI jointly organised the Irish Circuit, with Open Events north
and south of the border contributing to the
overall circuit table. The Northern Ireland
Championships was superceded by the All Ireland Championships in 2009, to be held in
alternate years North & South and still
continues to the present day.
In 2012, NITFA
became affiliated to the World Amateur Subbuteo
Players Association (WASPA), headed by former FISTF
President, Vincent Coppenolle. The Dunmurry Open in Beechlawn House Hotel was the first of many
Northern Irish events to be played under the
WASPA banner.
In 2016, Martinog
Bradley and Lawrence Watson formed Derry City Table Football
Club and
started organising monthly WASPA tournaments in addition to
a local League. The events attracted players from
Derry, Donegal, Strabane, Cookstown, Belfast
& Ballyclare, sparking another revival of the
game here and the resurrection of the Irish Circuit. Thanks to Martinog's
promotional and video skills, the club has a huge
Facebook following, with live streaming of events
for the world to watch on. Connections have been
made with Wolverhampton, Glasgow & London
Road (Wales), which resulted in an annual
invitational event between the four clubs. The Derry Leg was in 2018, consisting of an Individual Event and a Team Event. Trophies were presented
by Micky Bradley of the Undertones..
Following the
Covid-induced break from 2020-2021, Derry went on
to host successful FISTF International Opens in 2022 and 2023 at the Nerve Centre.
Northern Ireland
were back in World Cup action in Rome
2022,
represented by Simon Stewart, Martinog Bradley,
Lawrence Watson, Eoin Adams and Craig Stewart.
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