Football is finally coming home – to a table near you.
The chance to end nearly 60 years of hurt will be in the hands of Subbuteo players when England hosts the 2024 Table Football World Cup.
Our Three Lions tabletop battlers will be pitting their fancy fingerwork against rivals from 31 nations.
A £50,000 fundraising drive has been kicked off to host the tournament. The Sunday People has made a donation to get the ball rolling.
Today we’re urging sport-mad Brits to get behind the competition.
Organiser Alan Lee, 51, is thrilled by England’s chance of lifting its first football World Cup since Bobby Moore in 1966. And to give the team luck its mascot has been inspired by 1966’s World Cup Willie.
Alan, the England Subbuteo Association vice chairman, played for four years from age 12, including in national championships.
He said: “I came back to it three years ago and I haven’t looked back. I love the social aspect – we go all over Britain and Europe to play. I started up a team and the dream is to win our own World Cup in 2024. That would be great.
“I’ve been speaking to people all over the world about it, even people in Brazil, and they’re all really excited about the World Cup being held here.”
Alan said there are about three million “dormant” players in England. In the early 80s around seven million people played here. He said: “It’s massive for the game in this country.”
A bid was lodged last month with the world governing body, the Federation International Sports Table Football, to host the competition in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
The game was invented at nearby Langton Green in March 1947 by Peter Adolph after he was demobbed from the RAF.
Gerry Harrington, 61, of Haverhill, Suffolk, where Valter Baroncini, Marco Barqueiro and Peter Holmes also play, said there had been a Subbuteo boom during lockdown – with 30 recognised teams popping up across the UK.
He urged hopefuls to dust off their table football games and start practising so we can beat world leaders Belgium and Italy.
He said: “It’s the chance to wear the Three Lions on your chest and represent your country. It’s a game of skill but it’s also been so important for people during lockdown.
“One lad I met said he’d been really struggling and that if it weren’t for Subbuteo then he wouldn’t be here. The social element saved his life.”
World Cup hopefuls will have to qualify to represent their country, with a team of four players entering the tournament.
Chelsea fan and shop owner Alan, of Faversham, Kent, said they had the enthusiastic support of Tunbridge Wells borough council to deliver the “best World Cup ever”.
He said: “Our bid is a celebration of our modern sport, proud of our origins and proud of the journey we are on. Let’s bring Subbuteo back to Tunbridge Wells, let’s bring it home!”
Funds raised will go towards signage, new tables, equipment and to stream it across the globe.
- Donate at gofund.me/611ea641
