Table football (Foosball)

Patents for similar table games date back as early as the 1890s in Spain. However, the origins of Table Football (aka “Foosball”) date to 1921, when Harold Searles Thornton from the United Kingdom patented the game as “Apparatus for playing a game of table football”.

Cincinnati’s Lawrence Patterson officially introduced the game to America, buying the rights to the term “Foosball” and selling the coin-operated machines as franchise operations during the 1970s.

Two or four players can play this classic non-electric game, and to do it well, a great deal of skill and timing is required.

Players twist and pull several horizontal rods which control a line of soccer players, who then try to kick a ball into the goal posts situated at each end of the rectangular table.

Advanced players emphasise finesse over brute force, executing choreographed passes, trick shots, and careful ball control – akin to real soccer strategies. The game’s harmony and teamwork often make scoring truly satisfying.

Today, Table Football is played all over the world, and there are tournaments in many countries. What once was a local pastime has become a serious sport, attracting players from across the country and beyond in both singles and doubles.

In 2002, the International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF) was established in France with the mission of promoting the game.

The ITSF acts as an organising sports body, regulating international competitions and establishing the game with the International Olympic Committee and General Association of International Sport Federation.

Interestingly, foosball is also used in rehabilitation, both physical  – such as rebuilding hand-eye coordination – and social, such as in prison programs, where it helps inmates with recreation and socialisation.