History

Although patents for similar soccer/foosball games may exist from as far back as the 1890's, the game of Table Football / Soocer / Foosball / Jitz etc. as we know it today was first invented and patented in 1923 by an Englishman by the name of Harold S. Thornton of North London.

The concept was conceived after Harold had been to a Spurs football/soccer game. He wanted to provide a game that repolicated football/soccer that could be played at home. The inspiration came from a box of matches; by laying the matches across the box he had formed the basis of his game.

His uncle (United States resident Louis P. Thornton, who lived in Portland Oregon visited Harold and took the inspiration back to the States where it was patented in 1927.

Alejandro Finisterre thought of making a form of soccer that would be fun for children who could not play traditional soccer. He commissioned Francisco Javier Altuna to create this form of recreational game, which as a result was suppoorted by patenting during 1937.

In 2002, the International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF) was established in France with the mission of promoting the sport of Table Soccer (aka foosball, jitz, gitoni). as an organizing sports bocy, regulating international competitions, and establishing the game with the International Olympic Committee and General Association of International Sport Federation.

The Game

To begin the game, the ball is served through a hole at the side of the table, or simply placed by hand at the feet of a figure in the centre of the table. The initial serving side is decided with by coin toss. Players attempt to use figures mounted on rotating bars to kick the ball into the opposing goal. Expert foosball players have been known to move foosballs at speeds up to 56kmh in competition. Rules consider "360-degree shots" or "spinning" to be illegal. However, shots short of a full 360-degree rotation are logal.

The winner is determined when one team scores a predetermined number of goals, typically five, ten, or eleven in competition. When playing Bonzini competitions the target numbers of goal is seven.

Table Foosball/Football tables can vary in size, but a typical table is about 120 cm long and 61 cm wide. The foosball table usually contains 8 rows of foosmen, which are plastic, metal, wooden or sometimes carbon-fibre figures mounted on horizontal metal bars. Each team of 1, 2, or 3 human players controls 4 rows of foosmen.

The arrangement is standard. Looking from left to right on one side of the table, the configuration is as follows:

Goalkeeper - 1 foosball man (sometimes 2 or 3 foosball men)

Defense - 2 foosball men (sometimes 3)

Opponent's attack - 3 foosball men (sometimes 2)

Midfield - 5 foosball men (sometimes 4 or 6)

Opponent's midfield - 5 foosball men (sometimes 4 or 6)

Attack - 3 foosball men (sometimes 2)

Opponent's Defense - 2 foosball men (sometimes 3)

Opponent's Goalkeeper - 1 foosball man (sometimes 2 or 3 foosball men)

Table foosball can also be played with four people in doubles style, in which there are teams of two people on either side. In this scenario, one player can control the two defensive rows and the other team member uses the midfield and attack rows. In informal matches, three or four foosball players per side are also common.

Competition

Table Football (or foosball) is often played for fun in pubs, bars, workplaces, schools, and clubs with few rules.  Foosball is also played in official competitions organized by a number of national organizations, with highly evolved rules and regulations.  Organized foosball competition can be traced back to the 1940's and 1950's in Europe.  But the professional tours and bigtime money events began when the founding father of modern professional table soccer, Lee Peppard of Seattle, Washington, United States announced a $250,000 tour in 1975.  Peppard went on to award several million dollars in prize monies, and , ever since his Tournament Soccer Organization went out of business in 1981, several organizations and promoters have continued holding large purse professional table soccer events worldwide.  The ITSF regulates International events including the yearly World Championships and the World Cup held to coincide with the FIFA World Cup every four years.  In 2006, Austria, Germany and Belgium took the Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively.

Tables

A vast number of different foosball tables exist.  The foosball table brands used on the world tour and official ITSF tournaments are "French-style" Bonzini, "American-style" Tornado, "Italian-style" Roberto Sport and Garlando, "German-style" tTecball.  Other major brands include Kicker, Rosengart, Jupiter Goldstar, Eurosoccer, Lowen-Soccer, Warrior, Lehmacher, Leonhart, and Smoby.  There was also a 7-meter foosball table created by artist Maurizio Cattelan for a piece called Stadium.  It takes 11 players to a side.  Another unique football table set is the Opus Table created by the Elevenforty company.  Each soccer table is hand-crafted, and each foosball man is made to resemble his on-field counterpart.

Differences in the soccer table types have great influence on the playing styles.  Most foosball tables have one goalie whose movements are restriced to the goal area.  On some of these foosball tables the goalie becomes unable to get the foosball once it is stuck out of reach in the corner, others have sloped corners to return the ball.  Other foosball tables have 3 goalies, one in the center and one in each corner to reach the foosball so sloped corners are not needed.  Another major difference is found in the foosballs themselves which can be made of cork, plastic, wood or even marble and metal, varying the speed of shots a great deal, as well as the "grip" between the man and the foosball.