Soccer has many flavors. So many that we could talk about variants for hours and possibly leave some in the inkwell. In Bubble Football it goes without saying what our favorite variety is, although this does not mean that we do not know how to appreciate the emotion of many others, such as the modality we are going to talk about this time. Let’s review the history of futboñin, table football that you have probably practiced sometimes.
The Origins at the End of the 19th Century
Back in 1890, the first attempts to invent a table version of football began to appear. Countries like England, Germany, France, and even Spain presented different models. This is one of the reasons why some claim to be the birthplace of table football. Anyway, at that time they were only attempts and this date is not considered as the one that saw the birth of this game. We would have to wait a few decades to see the first.
Harold Searles Thorton, Inventor of Table Football in 1922
The first patent application accepted and registered as such dates from 1922 in Great Britain. This had to wait more than a year to be certified. Therefore, the birth of table football has to be set on November 1, 1923, when Harold Searles Thorton became the father of this game.
They say that the idea came to him when watching a game, and thinking about how fun it would be to be able to play inside the house. While holding a matchbox in his hands, it occurred to him to cross it with a few from side to side. Just think about it a bit to see how the invention came up.
The first sketch of the British patent is very similar to what we have today. A goalkeeper accompanied by two defenders, 5 players in the center of the field and 3 strikers, interspersed by teams.
The First Patent in The United States
It was not until 2 years after accepting the patent its inventor in Britain that a petition appeared in the United States. This was carried out by an uncle of the original inventor, who had to wait until January 1927 to see the light. Both the layout of the players and other aspects are practically the same as those of the previous version.
1937, the Spanish Table Football Arrives With Two-legged Players
Until then, the dolls that were attached to the table were similar to small bowling, with the legs joined in a single block. The variant we know today was born in Spain, with players who have legs apart. Its inventor was the journalist Alejandro Finisterre, who after being injured in the Civil War, saw how many hospitalized children could not play football because of their injuries. So he thought about doing with football what had already been done with tennis, taking it to the table.
He commissioned the construction of the game from a carpenter friend, and although it was patented in 1937, no data on it is preserved because its inventor had to go into exile to France and the documentation was lost. So we cannot know what the original form of this two-legged table football was.
Later, Finisterre went to South America, where he perfected his invention by making some changes. From there it spread to that area of the world.
Meanwhile, in Spain and Portugal, the invention was extended. To the extent that in the 60s, when he returned after the exile, football was almost a national sport, driven mainly by the manufacturers of these tables in Valencia.
Years 50-60: Federations arrive
By the middle of the century, the first games between players of different nationalities emerged. To give it a more official character, some national Federations appeared. It began to go from being a simple game to a full-fledged competition.
In The 90s The Thing Starts to get Serious
By the end of the 90s, already at the gates of the 21st century, the federations begin to unite to try to organize an international competition.
2002, The International Federation is Born
With the celebration of the first football world cup, the International Federation also emerged. 8 countries joined to create statutes and a few months later it was registered as a non-profit association in France.
Today, the federation is made up of more than 40 countries. It is affiliated with the association against doping and the general association of international sports federations. The idea is to become an official sport for the IOC.
Also Read: Top 10 best defenses in football history
The Birth of the Spanish Federation
Despite being among the first to invent it, what is now the Spanish Football Federation emerged in 2008. That year the first official Spanish championship was held, and the first national team came out.
A curious fact is that the two-legged table football is not yet supported internationally. So this is subject to domestic competitions.
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