Australia’s largest table football club, founded in Altona, will this weekend compete against some of the world’s top-ranked players in the fourth Asian Cup.
Western Flickers Table Football Club (WFTFC), affectionately known as the Pelicans, is co-hosting the event.
More than 60 players from Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia are competing in what is on course to be the biggest sports table football event ever held in Australia.
WFTFC president, Altona’s Benny Ng, said table football or subbuteo was a tabletop replica of a real football match.
“The game has been around since the 1940s,” he said.
“It was really huge in the ’80s and ’90s and then it kind of died down a bit because of video games and kids got interested in different things.
“It started out as a toy but there is a lot of skill involved – in fact it’s a combination of chess and pool.
“Most of our players are first and foremost soccer fans, people who love the sport of soccer and they want to be able to play at home.”
Spectators are invited to attend the Asian Cup at South Melbourne’s Lakeside Futsal stadium from January 19 to 21.
For more details visit facebook.com/asiancuptablefootball2018/
