Tabletop football is a class of tabletop game simulating mainly association football, but also either of the codes of rugby, or some other form of football such as American football or Australian rules football. The games employ miniature figures of players on a bounded playing board or table that looks like a football pitch (field).
Implementations vary:
Inspired by home-made games involving children flicking marbles, bits of paper (as in paper football), coins and other discs (as in penny football and early button football), and other objects with their fingers to crudely simulate team sports, tabletop football games have been developed and released in commercially available packages under various trademarked titles over many decades. The earliest was Newfooty in 1929, and this style of game was popularised much further by Subbuteo in 1946 (later also available to simulate non-football sports like cricket and various forms of hockey), and in franchise-branded versions like Lego Soccer [3] in 2000.
A computer simulation of tabletop soccer was created as a video game, Magnetic Soccer , developed by Nintendo.
As a competitive activity – something of a sport in its own right – tabletop association football (some countries call it soccer) with freely movable figures on weighted bases is known as sports table football, played under rules published by the Federation of International Sports Table Football (FISTF), with an annual world cup competition since 1993, and Confederation Championships or Cups, hosted in a rotating fashion in one of the countries with a national FISTF-affiliated Association (called Member National Association, MNA). Though originally begun with Newfooty-brand (1929) and Subbuteo-brand (1947) equipment, many specialist companies now produce game pieces, such as bases, figures, goalkeepers, goals, pitches, complete playing board and tables, boxes or coffers for sets and many other fine accessories, for serious players.
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.
Subbuteo is a tabletop football game in which players simulate association football by flicking miniature players with their fingers. The name is derived from the Neo-Latin scientific name Falco subbuteo, after a trademark was not granted to its creator Peter Adolph (1916–1994) to call the game "Hobby".
Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor soccer, as it is most often known in the United States and Canada, was originally developed in these two countries as a way to play soccer during the winter months, when snow would make outdoor play difficult. In those countries, gymnasiums are adapted for indoor soccer play. In other countries the game is played in either indoor or outdoor arenas surrounded by walls, and is referred to by different names.
Paper football refers to a table-top game, loosely based on American football, in which a sheet of paper folded into a small triangle is slid back and forth across a table top by two opponents. This game is widely practiced for entertainment, mostly by students in primary, middle school, and high school age in the United States. Though its origin is in dispute, it was widely played at churches in Madison, Wisconsin in the early 1970’s. The youth group at Grace Baptist Church held weekly events and competitions including monthly championships.
Soccer is a sports video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in Japan and North America in 1985, and in Europe in 1987. It was released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986. It was released on the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console on June 12, 2014. It was released on Nintendo Switch Online in 2018.
Button football or button soccer is an association football simulation game played on a tabletop, using concave buttons or special-made disks to represent players on the pitch (field), often with a larger rectangular block as the goalkeeper piece. Board dimensions, markings, and rules of play are modeled to simulate standard football. It is popular in Brazil, as well as various countries in Europe, including Hungary, Georgia and Slovenia.
Electric Football is a tabletop American football game played on a metal vibrating field.
Sports table football is a competitive form of tabletop football which simulates association football. Since 1992, the sport has been governed worldwide by the Federation of International Sports Table Football (FISTF). Informal play of such games date back to Newfooty Company in 1929, with Subbuteo Sports Games introducing the style of figure used in modern sports table football in 1947.
Lego Sports was a Lego theme that was launched in 2000 and discontinued in 2007. The theme focused on a variety of sports-themed toy sets, including football, basketball and hockey.
Table football, or table soccer, is a tabletop game that is loosely based on association football. The aim of the game is to move the ball into the opponent's goal by manipulating rods which have figures attached. Although rules often vary by country and region when the game is played casually, at the competitive level table soccer is played according to a unified code.
Swedish football was a code of football devised and played in Sweden from the 1870s to the early 1890s, when the modern association football was introduced. Swedish football rules were a mix of the association football rules and the rugby football rules, most closely resembling the former.
Table cricket can refer to
MicroProse Soccer is an association football video game published by MicroProse in 1988. The original Commodore 64 version was developed by Sensible Software and ported to other systems. In the United States, the game was released as Keith Van Eron's Pro Soccer, named after Keith Van Eron.
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word football normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly called football include association football ; Australian rules football; Gaelic football; gridiron football ; International rules football; rugby league football; and rugby union football. These various forms of football share, to varying degrees, common origins and are known as "football codes".
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to association football:
Magnetic Soccer is a European-exclusive Game Boy video game that was released in 1992; the concept of the game is based on the board game of tabletop football.
Table football (foosball) is an in-table game using player figurese attached to rotating rods.
Newfooty was a table football game. The Newfooty Limited Company was established in Liverpool by Mr. William Lane Keeling in 1929, the year when the patent was officially registered at the patent office in Liverpool. The initial Newfooty Patent ran from 1929–1934, followed by a further five year period of 1934–1939.
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