Traditional National Subbuteo Championship in Pisa

Pisa, October 20, 2023 – Once the first round of the table tennis team championship has concluded, the athletes of the Italian Sports Federation of Table Football (FISCT) will arrive in Pisa, in Sergio Carlesi gym, for the National Team Championship (Serie A, Serie B and Serie C) for the traditional Subbuteo system. This event is sponsored by the Municipality of Pisa and organized by FISCT in collaboration with the National Subbuteo Sector of the Organization of Sports Education (OPES, a sports promotion body recognized by CONI).

In a time context in which mini-football finds great importance again, thanks to the successes achieved by the Italian national team during the European Championship last table football, in Gibraltar, the return of an important event such as the traditional national Subbuteo team tournament in the city of Pisa, takes on a historical and valuable aspect. Completely basic. In fact, he grew up in the Tuscan capital Andrea Picaloga Who in 1978, in London, became the first world junior champion in Subbuteo. An epic triumph, it brought the young Piccaluga (born in Genoa in 1964, but adopted Besan) into the headlines, so much so that, immediately after the global success, he was also invited to go on a 20-day tour of the UK (where hundreds of children lined up patiently to play with him). While his finger, the “architect” of that all-important victory, was insured by the trip organizers for the (astronomical, at the time) sum of around £25,000.

Traditional National Team Championship. The National Championship for Traditional Subbuteo was held for the first time in the 2016 season, and was strongly supported by FISCT with the aim of giving an organized dimension to many enthusiasts in Italy to what is considered the traditional game of the sport, derived from circuits inspired by the original Subbuteo materials (i.e. those used even proprietary English Waddington Games LTD, i.e. until 1996). The first tournament was held in Livorno (which also hosted the next edition) and was won by ACS Perugia. In 2018, the competition was held in Rome, and then, as of 2019, in San Benedetto del Tronto.

In the last edition, held in 2022 in the city of Marche, Salernitana won the title, while the record of honor currently sees the double success of Perugia and the Scudetto for the Black and Blue of Pisa, the Leopards of Bologna and the Leopards of Bologna. The aforementioned Campania team. A total of 52 teams from all over Italy will participate in the 2023 Traditional National Subbuteo Championship (an absolute record for this competition) which will be divided into an A Series, a B Series of 12 teams each and a C Series of three groups. Of these 52 teams registered in the traditional FISCT Subbuteo circuit, 24 teams practice this discipline exclusively, which confirms how important it is to open and organize dedicated tournaments (team and individual) for the further growth of the federation solely for this activity.

2023 series. The following teams will participate in the traditional Serie A 2023: ACS Perugia, Aosta Warriors, Atletico Pisa, Black Rose Roma, Bologna Tigers, Fiame Azzurri Roma, F. El Bari Reggio Emilia, SS Lazio TFC, SC Ligure, S. Si Abruzzo Vis. Gintis, S. C. Labrunico and S. C. Sombrero. At the end of the matches (round robin with one round), the first team in the standings will be declared national champions, while the bottom two teams will be automatically relegated to the second division and will then be joined by the defeated team in the tournament. Play-off matches were played between the ninth and tenth-placed teams that reached the final.

2023 B series. The teams that will play in the traditional Subbuteo second division for 2022 are the following: Catanzaro, CCT Roma, SC Bari, Spes Livorno, Subbuteisti Modena, SC Ascoli, SC Samb, Grifo Sombrero, Old Lions Macerata, Team Campania, US Valponte, Vecchia Talpa. Fidenza. The top two teams will be promoted to the Italian League, along with the winner of the qualifiers between third and fourth places. However, the bottom two teams and the club defeated in the play-off played between the teams ranked ninth and tenth in the standings will be relegated to the third division.

2023C Series. Finally, the 2022 Traditional Subbuteo Series will see 28 teams at the starting line who will be divided into three groups. The participating teams are: Subbuteo Casale, Talpe Junior, Alba Subbuteo Roma, Granducato Subbuteo, Subbuteo Verona, Pantere Lucca, CCM Livorno, Bulldogs Vicenza, SC Ravenna, Torino 2009, Real Sombrero, SC Pisani all’uscio, Fides Livorno, Eagles Supporters. Subbuteo, SC Pescara, CS Solvay, Trento, SC Pavia, Viterbese Subbuteo, Subbuteo Taranto, Maremma Subbuteo, SC Castelfiorentino, Subbuteo Grosseto, Marassi Academy, Palermo, Rosa Nera Subbuteo Roma, Apulia Table Soccer and Volterrana. The top four teams in each group will participate in a play-off stage, at the end of which the three promotions to League Two will be determined.

Live broadcast of the traditional national team championship. The entire event will be broadcast live on the Facebook page “FISCT Live” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/fisctlive). On the website of ItaliaSubbuteo, the official device of the federation, the calendar containing the classification of all tournaments will be available, which will be constantly updated, together with the results of all matches, during the two days in Pisa.