Category: International

A full GTSA team of Tom Burns, Dave Gladman, John Halpin and Malcolm Lees headed south for this 2-day event in Heckmondwicke, Yorkshire. There was a large Scottish participation with one quarter of entries to the Open and Veteran categories being STFA members.

It was to be an excellent Saturday for Tom Burns, qualifying second in his group to earn a quarter final place against Italian Marco Ghigliotti. A stunning 5-1 victory saw Burns set up a semi-final clash with Steve Bennett. This was to be the closest Burns has come to overcoming the Scottish champion. Bennett took the lead but Burns pegged him back only to lose a goal two minutes from the end. Burns had the chances to get the winner himself but it was not to be.

Dave Gladman also qualified in second place and this set up a place in the barrage against Colin Tarry. The game finished 1-1 and with no goal scored in extra-time the tie went to shots. Gladman was unable to find the net with any of his efforts and a single goal was enough to put Tarry through.

Although neither John Halpin nor Malcolm Lees qualified out of their groups, both reached the semi-finals of the Plate, Halpin losing to DUTFC’s Rob Conway and Lees losing to Brian Daley of Yorkshire.

In an all Scottish Vet final Steve Bennet got the better of Dave Baxter (Perugia) by 1-0. In the Open, Dave Pawsey was victorious over Elliot Bellefontaine but only after the game going to extra-time and Pawsey scoring a golden goal.

It was a tough draw for Glasgow in Sunday’s Team Event where the opponents were London Essex, GSCDC (Glide, Slide, Chip and Dip Club) and Yorkshire B. Glasgow were narrowly beaten 1-0 by London. Three matches ended in draws so a victory was very close. Against GSCDC GTSA were dismantled in all matches as they lost 4-0. Pride was restored with a 3-1 win over Yorkshire B.

DUTFC had a very successful day, winning their group then beating London Essex in the semi-final with an extra-time golden goal scored by Steve Bennett. It was a tough ask in the final against GSCDC but a 2-1 scoreline reflected a great effort.

The competition was featured on BBC News.

Congratulations and thanks are also due to Yorkshire Phoenix for a very well-organised and enjoyable tournament!

More pictures from the weekend:

 

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Twenty eight players took part in Glasgow’s second FISTF international event of 2015 at the Normandy Hotel in Renfrew. This was also the first event of the new British Circuit for season 2015/16. Both individual and team competitions were keenly contested over two days of competitive but sporting subbuteo. Congratulations go to winners Dave Pawsey (LEU) in the Open, Dave Baxter (Per) in the Vets and Elliot Bellefontaine (LEU) in the Under 19s. Yorkshire Phoenix were victorious in the Team Event.

As far as Glasgow players were concerned, Barry Corr reached the semi-finals in the Open and Tom Burns, the barrage in the Vets. Glasgow’s A and B teams finished fourth and fifth respectively in the team competition.

The Plate competition was won by Australian Rob Green who defeated LEU’s Martin Blanchard in the final.

Many thanks to all the players who supported our event.

Full results can be seen here.

 

100 pictures from the weekend:

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England’s top competition of the season was held at the 44Two Sports and Social Club, Gillingham over the weekend 18/19 July. There was a big entry list with 75 taking part in the individual events on the Saturday and 12 teams on the Sunday. Tom Burns, Dave Gladman and John Halpin were there on the Saturday to compete in the Veteran individual competition and they were joined by Dave Butler on the Sunday for the team event. Scotland were also represented by Dundee United TFC.

Individual Events

The Veteran event comprised 7 groups of 4 and one of 5. Neither Tom Burns nor John Halpin progressed beyond the group stage. Burns was drawn in the group of 5 which included Olivier Pere, Dave Pawsey and Darren Barnes. Halpin found himself alongside number 1 seed Lucio Cannichio of Italy in his group. Each Glasgow player managed one win but were defeated in their other matches. Dundee United’s Rob Conway and Andy Beskaby also were unable to qualify.

Good fortune, however, befell Dave Gladman. One of his group, Dave Samuel of Wales, withdrew just before the competition began. A 1-0 victory over Rudi Peterschinnigg and a draw against Tony McCann were enough for Gladman to win the group and go to the last 16. There he faced Australian, Bob Green. No goals were scored in normal time or indeed after extra-time and so the game went to shots. Gladman won 3-2. So to the quarter-final where Gladman’s opposition was Martin Hodds. Gladman played well in the first half and kept the score at 0-0 but Hodds stepped up in the second period to run out 2-0 winner.

Burns and Halpin went on to play in the Plate. Burns defeated Colin Tarry but then lost 3-2 to Dundee’s Rob Conway. Two victories saw Halpin reach the semi-final where his opponent was Tony McCann. Two goals down at half-time, Halpin came back to draw 2-2 and force a shoot-out. In the previous round Halpin had beaten Darren Barnes on shots but this time he was unlucky, just failing to reach the final.

The Veteran competition was won by Justin Finch, beating Lucio Cannichio 1-0 in the final.

Steve Bennett was Scotland’s only representative in the Open category. He qualified out of his group and reached the quarter-final where he lost 3-1. The Open was won by Belgian David Vantassel.

Team Event

The 12 teams were drawn into 3 groups of 4. The winner of group 3 along with the runners-up in all groups would play in a barrage to decide who would join the winners of groups 1 and 2 in the semi-finals. Glasgow were drawn in group 3 along with seeded Yorkshire, Kent A and Cardiff B. First up for Glasgow was Yorkshire and a famous victory was recorded, 3-0. Dave Butler beat Ben Staples 6-0, Tom Burns beat Paul Lawrenson 3-0, John Halpin beat Tony McCann/Luca Martinelli 3-1 and Dave Gladman drew 0-0 with Martin Hodds. There followed a disappointing 3-1 loss to Kent. Dave Butler managed a victory but the others all lost. A victory over Cardiff B was needed to finish runners-up and the team stood up to the plate with a 4-0 victory. The reward in the barrage was a match against Belgians SC Eugies. But it was a match which Glasgow lost 3-0. Dave Butler again did well (3 wins in his previous matches) and achieved a draw. Dundee United TFC also finished runners-up in their group but they won their barrage match to reach the semi-final where they lost to London and Essex. The competition was won by Belgian club AS Hennuyer who defeated London Essex 3-1 in the final.

 

 

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Trophy winners:

Open:
David Vantassel BEL/ASH 2-1 Remi Soret FRA/ASH

Veterans:
Justin Finch ENG/VAL 1-0 Lucio Canicchio ITA/FIA

U19:
1st Steffen Despretz BEL/HEN / 2nd Elliott Bellefontaine ENG/LEU

U15:
Corentin Bouchez BEL/EUG 2-1 Kye Arnold ENG/KIV

U12:
Joseph Kinrade ENG/KIV 2-0 Thomas Price ENG/KIV

Open WASPA Plate:
Ralf Gregorie BEL/EUG 4-2 Ben Staples ENG/YOR

Veterans WASPA Plate:
Thomas Vulpes GER/RAI 1-0 Tony McCann ENG/YOR

U15 WASPA Plate:
Rhys Williams ENG/KIV 4-1 Louis Singh ENG/KIV

U12 WASPA Plate:
Conor Atkin ENG/KIV 1-0 Flynn Barnes WAL/CAR

Teams:
AS Hennuyer BEL 3-1 London & Essex Utd ‘A’ ENG

Team Plate:
London & Essex Utd ‘B’ ENG 4-0 Cardiff ‘A’ WAL

Sunday Junior WASPA:
1st Thomas Lacey ENG/KIV / 2nd Dylan Staples ENG/YOR

Sportsmanship Award:
Gabriele Silveri ITA/FIA

 

GTSA congratulates the English Subbuteo Association and Kent Invicta TFC on a very enjoyable and well-run tournament!

 

 

Twenty players from Scotland and England took part in the Tayside IO at Tannadice Park in Dundee. All competitors were drawn in four groups and entered for the Open category. Four GTSA players, Baver Bari, Tom Burns, Dave Gladman and John Halpin made the trip north. Only Tom Burns qualified out of his group to reach the quarter-finals. There he lost to Scotland’s number 1, Steve Bennett. It was Bennett who went on to win the competition defeating Yorkshire’s Trevor Schott in the final. Dave Gladman, however, was successful in winning the Plate.

 

 

Only four teams took part in the Team event on the Sunday. With only a 3-man team Glasgow lost all their matches though they did manage some creditable performances. The competition was won by Dundee United’s A team who won all 3 matches.

 

 

Many thanks are due to Dundee United TFC for a well-organised and very enjoyable tournament.

The nine teams were drawn into 3 groups with Perugia, Athinaikos and London Essex seeded. Glasgow A found themselves in an extremely tough group with Perugia and Yorkshire Phoenix A. The Perugia team consisted of the de Francescos, fresh from their victories on Saturday as well as experienced campaigner Bob Varney and former Hot Club d’Ecosse stalwart Mike Burns. Yorkshire are popular visitors to Scotland and indeed were victorious in last year’s Glasgow International Open. Turning out for Glasgow were Tom Burns, Barry Corr, Colin Day and Dave Gladman. Against Perugia Glasgow suffered a 4-0 defeat then went on to lose 3-0 to Yorkshire. Colin Day managed a draw against Martin Hodds (Veteran finalist the day before) and Tom Burns and Dave Gladman both lost by a single goal. Perugia proved too strong for Yorkshire, winning the group with a 3-1 victory.

In group 2 Athinaikos were in firm control winning both their matches against Dundee United B and Yorkshire B 4-0. Only Tony McCann of Yorkshire was able to score against the Greeks as he lost 5-2 to Dimitris Kosmopoulos. It was Yorkshire who qualified for the barrage, overcoming the Taysiders 2-1.

Glasgow B were also in a tough group. The seeded team was London Essex, ranked 27 in the world. Dundee United A made up the group. They had Scotland’s number 1, 2 and 4 players in their team. Glasgow B were represented by Colin Berry, John Halpin, Fraser McKenzie and Ronnie McKenzie and they lost both their matches, 4-0 to London Essex but only 2-0 to Dundee A. Ronnie Mckenzie drew with Greg Dand and John Halpin with Dave Baxter. But it was Dundee United A who won the group with a shock 4-0 win over London Essex.

In the barrage London Essex swept past Yorkshire B but the Yorkshire A – Dundee United A match was a closely contested affair, the Scots winning 2-1. This was revenge for their loss to Yorkshire in the final of last year’s International Open. If anything the Yorkshire team was stronger this year with the inclusion of Brian Daley but it was the match between Daley and Steve Bennett which was to prove decisive, with Bennett scoring at the death to win 2-1.

Both semi-finals were close. Athinaikos beat Dundee United 2-1. Bennett defeated Panos Aliadis and Gareth Christie drew with the new Open Champion, Kostas Sesses 0-0 but the Greeks won the other two matches. In the other semi London Essex had a fine 2-1 victory over Perugia. The key match was between Mike Burns and Nick Maclochlainn. Burns led 1-0 at half-time but London Essex substituted Elliot Bellefontaine who came on to score a second half equaliser which turned the tie.

The final was also an exciting match and ended 2-2 with Athinaikos winning on goal difference. Dave Pawsey and Kevin Cordell both won their matches by a single goal but it was the comfortable victories of Kostas Sesses and Dimitris Kosmopoulos which made the difference.

Glasgow A were winners of the Plate. In a round robin of matches they defeated Dundee U B 3-0 and Glasgow B 4-0. Glasgow B were 2-0 winners over Dundee U B.

 

Photo Gallery

 

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Fifty players from all over the UK as well as Italy, Malta and Greece took part in the individual categories. This was a good increase on the 2013 Glasgow Grand Prix, also in the Normandy Hotel. With the help of sponsors McCrea Financial Services the event had been publicised in the Daily Record, Evening Times and by STV Glasgow. Partick Thistle’s Lyle Taylor had visited visited GTSA on our club night at Woodend.

In the Open, 24 players were drawn into six groups. Angelo Borg of Malta was pre-tournament favourite but Borg failed to win his group losing to London Essex’s Dave Pawsey. This meant that Borg, after beating Antonio de Francesco in the barrage, had to face number 2 seed Kostas Sesses in the quarter-finals. This was the key match and after deadlock at 2-2, it was Sesses who was to win on shots. Indeed, it was Sesses who went on to take the title with a 1-0 win in an all Greek final against Dimitris Kosmopoulos. No Glasgow player managed to get beyond the group stage though Barry Corr went out on goal difference. It was a good tournament for Dundee United’s Steve Bennett who, after winning his group, reached the semi-finals only to lose in extra-time to Kosmopoulos.

Though only seeded four, Stefano de Francesco of Perugia swept everyone before him to take the Veteran title. In his six matches he scored 35 goals and conceded none! The best result against him was by Manchester’s Malcolm Lees who lost 3-0 in the semi-finals. It was a successful day for Lees who earlier had beaten number 1 seed Giorgos Aggelinas in the group stage. Martin Hodds of Yorkshire Phoenix also performed well, taking the scalp of fellow club-mate, Brian Daley on the way to the final where he met the unstoppable de Francesco. Glasgow’s Tom Burns, Dave Gladman and Ronnie McKenzie all qualified out of their groups in second place but all were to lose in the barrage.

The Under-19 final did not start until 6.45 pm. This was because both finalists, Elliot Bellefontaine and Antonio de Francesco had performed well in the Open, the former reaching the quarter-finals and the latter, the barrage. It was an excellent and very close final. Bellefontaine scored in the first half and kept that lead until half-time. But de Francesco equalised in the second half to take the tie to extra-time. It took de Francesco only 2 minutes to score the all important golden goal, finding a gap in the middle of the Bellefontaine defence and driving home. It was unfortunate for Kent’s Joseph Kinrade that the delay to the competition meant that he was unable to play in the barrage. Glasgow’s Fraser McKenzie, however, qualified out of his group and went on to the semi-final losing to de Francesco. Joseph Kinrade had enjoyed earlier success in the Under-12 category winning the round robin against fellow Kent Players Thomas Price and Christopher Atkin.

Fifteen players took part in the Plate. In the final, Mike Burns, scoring the only goal of the game, defeated Trevor Schott.

 

Picture Gallery

 

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GTSA are delighted to have the support of McCrea Financial Services for the Glasgow Grand Prix at the Normandy Hotel. McCrea FS are involved with many sporting sponsorships including golf, tennis and cricket but most notably with Partick Thistle and Glasgow Warriors. Therefore, as well as funding trophies for our competition they are also contributing tickets for games at Partick Thistle and Glasgow Warriors! You can read the McCrea take on their sponsorship by clicking here.

Entry to the tournament closes on Wednesday 8th April and currently we have 48 individuals signed up together with 9 teams on the Sunday. This compares with 43 individuals and 8 teams at the 2013 GP in Glasgow. For a pictorial reminder of that tournament click here.

The latest world rankings were released today and Chris Thomas saw his Open ranking drop from 12 to 23. This means that Angelo Borg is now the top ranked Open player at 17. Borg, from Malta was an Open finalist at last month’s Major de Frameries in Belgium. Greeks Kostas Seses (27) and Dimitris Kosmopoulos (60) will be seeded 3 and 4, Steve Bennett (73) will be 5 and Gareth Christie (110) 6. In the Vets, Giorgios Aggelinas (22) will be top seed then Colin Tarry (34), Brian Daley (46), Stephano De Francesco (48), Tom Burns (71) and Martin Hodds (78).

Chris Thomas referees Rob Conway’s match at the Major de Frameries

 

There will probably be 3 seeded teams on the Sunday. ACS Perugia (6) will be number 1 seeds, then Athinaikos (26) number 2 and London Essex (27) number 3.

Athinaikos at the Cardiff Grand Prix 2013

 

 

GTSA joined newly named Dundee United Table Football Club to represent Scotland at the Major de Frameries 2015 over the weekend of 7th-8th March. Tom Burns, Dave Gladman and John Halpin were GTSA’s players which meant that they were a man down in the Team Event on the Saturday. GTSA were in a group of 5 where the other teams were TSC Falcons Athens, SC Brussels, TSG Rain from Germany and SC Lions Eugies D from Belgium. Glasgow drew 2-2 with Lions but lost 4-0 in each of the other matches.

Dundee United were in a group of 4. They lost 3-0 to SC Fiamme Azzurre (Italy), 3-1 to SC Stembert B (Belgium) and 4-0 to AS Hennuyer (Belgium).

Only the first 40 in the FISTF Veteran rankings qualified automatically for the Veteran category on the Sunday. This meant that John Halpin, Dave Baxter, Andy Beskaby and Rob Conway had to play in a qualifying round on the Saturday. Unfortunately only Andy Beskaby managed through.

On the Sunday Tom Burns, Dave Gladman and Andy Beskaby all failed to win a match, Burns going down 7-0, 5-3 and 5-1, Gladman 7-0, 4-1 and 4-1 and Beskaby 5-0, 5-0 and 8-2. In the Open category Craig Thom also had 3 losses, 5-0, 4-0 and 10-2. Steve Bennett on the other hand won his group (3-0, 1-0 and 0-0), only to lose in the barrage.

The Major de Frameries is one of the biggest tournaments in Europe where many of the top players compete. The gulf between these players and most of the Scottish players who travelled to Belgium is a considerable one. Much thought about how that gap can be closed is needed.

Only Steve Bennett showed that he could compete at the top level.

 

More pictures from Major de Frameries

 

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It proved to be a very successful tournament for Glasgow’s Tom Burns. He reached the semi-final in the Veteran Category without losing a single goal. Daniel Scheen, World number 3 ended the Burns’ challenge. Here is his report:

 

‘My group was Rudi Peterschinnig (London Essex), Brett Price (Kent Invicta), Darren Barnes (Cardiff) and me. First match was against Brett Price and although I had the lion’s share of possession, goals proved hard to come by, but I did eventually score late in the half. The second half was similar this time I managed two goals. The other two players in the group fought out a 2-2 draw and so this gave me an early lead in the group. In the next match it was my opponent, Rudi Peterschinnig who had long spells of control but good defending limited his opportunities. I scored midway through the first half but against the run of play. The second half was a more even affair and I added a second to put me well in control of the group.’

 

With Rudi Peterschinnig

 

‘I went into the last match against Darren Barnes knowing a defeat would still get me through but a draw or better and I would top the group. I played a good match and controlled it for long spells, eventually getting the only goal of the game midway through the second half. It was a goal that was to knock Darren out as Rudi had racked up a bigger win against Brett.’

 

With Darren Barnes

 

‘I went into the Barrage and came up against Andy Boyer (Yorkshire Phoenix) who I had never played before. This time the goals flowed and I ran out a comfortable 5-0 winner. Then I had a step into the unknown against Spaniard, Julio Candelas. The match was a fairly even affair and I more than held my own, scoring late in the first half. The second half was similar but I had two or three gilt edged chances to finish it. As it was one goal proved sufficient.’

 

With Julio Candelas

 

‘It was on to the semis where I came up against Daniel Scheen, a player with whom I struggled with in our two previous meetings. I took an early lead in the match but after five minutes he equalised. He then produced three good finishes to lead 4-1 at half-time. I had a decent second half where I created a few chances and managed another goal but went down 6-2. The other semi-final was between Brian Daley and Luis Mendez with Mendez victorious. In the final Daniel Scheen edged out Mendez 3-2.’

 

Daniel Scheen, Veteran Champion

 

‘In the Open Category another Scot was doing well too. Steve Bennett produced some excellent performances to take the title beating Paulo Gouveia 3-1 in the final. All round it was a very good day for our country as there were some quality players on show.’

 

Steve Bennett, Open champion

 

Team Event

 

Tom Burns was GTSA’s only representative in the tournament and therefore GTSA did not compete in the Sunday event. Tayside, however, had a team of Steve Bennett, Andy Beskaby, Rob Conway and Paul Andreas. They performed admirably winning their group and qualifying for the semi-finals. There they lost to Yorkshire Phoenix who in turn went on to lose the final to London Essex, a team which Tayside had beaten in their group.

 

Team Champions, London Essex United

 

 

 

 

The Cardiff GP is becoming one of the most popular events on the FISTF calendar. 116 individuals took part on Saturday 22nd November with the Open category being won by Austrian, Wolfgang Haas and the Veterans by fellow countryman, Robert Lenz. In Sunday’s team event Valletta Lions were victorious in a field of 21 teams. Two teams travelled from Scotland – Glasgow and Tayside. Unfortunately Glasgow were at a disadvantage having only 3 players – Tom Burns, Colin Day and John Halpin. Three nations, Austria, Scotland and Wales took the opportunity to play in a mini International tournament.

 

 

 

Tom Burns reports from Cardiff:

 

The draw for the Glasgow players was reasonable with all having a decent chance of advancing beyond the group stage. I was fortunate enough to have an easy start against Paco Fernandez and had a 6-0 win. My next match was against Greek, Chris Aggelinas of A S Hennuyer and I lost 4-0. I played poorly, conceding 2 soft goals but he is a very good player. Colin probably had the toughest of the groups with Phil Dacey of Cardiff and Spaniard Antonio Montano who is one of the world’s best Vets. He lost 7-0 to Montano and then had a real ding-dong battle with Dacey eventually going down 3-2 although he missed  a great chance to level at the death.

 

 

 

Making his debut at a major event, John’s first match was against experienced Lucio Cannuchio and lost 8-0. He then played Matt Atkins of Kent and a very close encounter ended with Atkins shading it 1-0.

 

 

 

I progressed to the barrage where I played Fred Vanton of Brussels. Despite dominating large spells of the match and taking the lead, I lost 2-1. Vanton went on to reach the semi-finals. Colin made it to the semi-finals of the Plate where he was edged out 1-0 by Yorkshire’s Paul Lawrenson.

 

 

 

The team event was always going to be difficult as we were a man down. We were drawn with Tiburones of Spain and Cardiff A. We played Cardiff first and I was up against David Lauder. Despite taking the lead and dominating I contrived to lose 3-1. I was very disappointed since I felt the result was much against the run of play. Tiburones are an excellent team with two Vet World Cup winners. I played Ferran Coll and despite a reasonable effort went down 3-1, the Spaniard’s superior defending being a deciding factor.

 

 

 

All the Glasgow players went on to represent Scotland in the International friendlies against Wales and Austria. Steve Bennett, Andy Beskaby and Dave Baxter of Tayside made up the rest of the Scottish team. We had a good 3-1 win over Wales. Steve won 7-0 against Davies/Lewis whilst Colin had a great 5-1 victory over Barnes/Samuel. I went down 5-3 to Phil Dacey in a rip-roaring match.

 

 

 

The Austrians are an awesome outfit. Wolfgang Haas won the Open title and Robert Lenz and Gunther Bamberzky played in the Vet final. We lost 3-1 and it was Colin who had our one victory against one of the Eppensteiners. I lost 7-2 to Christian Haas. We therefore finished second which was the best we could have done. We all had a great weekend and would thoroughly recommend it to all our club members.