Subbuteo: Preparing for the World Cup in a garden shed

When you think of players preparing for a World Cup, a garden shed may not be the first place that comes to mind in terms of an ideal training location.

But when it comes to Subbuteo, the much-loved table-top football game, Martin Óg Bradley’s garden shed in Londonderry is a perfect spot to prepare for the upcoming World Cup in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Some players representing Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have been playing Subbuteo in the shed ahead of the World Cup starting on Friday.

Hugely popular in the 1970s and 80s, Subbuteo sees competitors take turns to flick miniature models of football players around a replica stadium in an attempt to push a ball into a goal.

The World Cup is taking place from Friday 20 September to Sunday 22 September in Royal Tunbridge Wells, which is where the game was invented back in 1946 by Peter Adolph.

The first Subbuteo World Cup was then held in 1987 and this year’s iteration, like previous years, will see see players compete both individually and in teams for their countries.

More than 26 nations are expected to be represented at the tournament this year.

Hoping to leave their mark on the competition are Martin Óg Bradley, Oisín Mór and Lawrence Watson from the Derry City Table Football Club.

Martin Óg Bradley told BBC News NI his passion for Subbuteo came from playing as a young child and then, like many others, he fell back in love with playing the game when he was older.

“My father played it, my uncles played it, my brother, everybody on our street played Subbuteo growing up,” he said.

“I drifted away from it for awhile in my teenage years for a time, but then I met Lawrence and we started the club and about ten years later here we are.

“We now have an all-Ireland circuit, we travel to competitions all over the world and it has just grown and grown.”

He said there is obviously a competitive element to the game, but one of the best things about Subbuteo is the social aspect.

“We have made friends with people from all over the world through Subbuteo – we had an Australian guy in the shed with us playing Subbuteo recently – it’s just a fantastic way to meet people over a shared love of something.

“The game is open to absolutely everyone and one of the best things about it is that anyone can give it a go.”

Lawrence Watson said Subbuteo is very much like “chess but with miniature footballers” and loves the tactical element of the game.

For Lawrence, he is hoping to perform better than he did at the last World Cup in Rome 2022 and has high hopes for the Northern Ireland team.

“I enjoyed being there in Rome, but there were a lot of heavy defeats,” he told BBC News NI.

“Qualifying out of the group is the goal this time and we do have a really strong team this year,” Lawrence said.

“Northern Ireland have never finished bottom of their group at any World Cup so it’s about getting out of the group and qualifying – that would be a massive, massive achievement.”

Oisín Mór, who will be representing the Republic of Ireland in this year’s tournament, has also been using the shed to get some games in before flying across the Irish Sea.

For him, like many others, his first experience of Subbuteo was a child and he has carried that passion for the game right into adulthood.

“Subbuteo was obviously big in the 70s and 80s and was the big thing before computer games, but we’ve found, especially after the Covid-19 lockdown, that there’s been this huge resurgence of Subbuteo,” he said.

“I think so many people went up to their attics during that time and dug out their old Subbuteo sets and fell back in love with it.”

Oisín says the Republic of Ireland team is hoping to perform well this year, but knows they will be up against some fierce competition.

“Much like in the football World Cup, there are countries who traditionally perform well in major tournaments, so in terms of Subbuteo, players from countries like Malta and Italy will always do well.

“So for us, we are hoping to put ourselves up against some of the best players in the world and see how far we can go.”

The location of this year’s tournament makes it extra special for fans of the game.

“Tunbridge Wells is the birthplace of Subbuteo,” Martin Óg Bradley explained.

“It is where it was invented and all the first sets came from, so without that, we wouldn’t have anything.”

At the height of its popularity, more than 300,000 team sets were sold every year as players could not get enough ‘Flick to Kick’ action.

Martin Óg said both teams from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are hoping to do well in the tournament and will be cheering each other on throughout the World Cup.

“This year is looking like one of the biggest tournaments in a long time, so we can’t wait for it and the fact it is in England is also handy for all of us because it’s only a short trip across the water.”