History of
Table Football
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The table-top game of Table Football is actually based on the game of
soccer (usually known as football in countries other than the United
States). The name of the inventor of this game is Alejandro Finisterre,
who was an editor and poet from Galicia. Finisterre invented the game at
a time when he was injured in a fascist bombing in Madrid during the
Spanish Civil War. While in the hospital, he noticed many children who
had been injured and were not able to go out and play football. This
gave him the idea of inventing a game that would incorporate the game of
football for indoor play. He actually adapted the game of table tennis
into the game of Table Football.
Finisterre was assisted with his invention by a friend who was a Basque
carpenter. Finisterre had created the concept of table football in his
mind, but wasn't sure how to build the table, so he had his carpenter
friend build it for him, as he dictated his ideas to him.
Finisterre patented his invention in 1937, but unfortunately, he lost
the papers to his patent in a storm while he was escaping from the
fascist coup d'etat to France.
In the United States table football is more commonly known as foosball
(adapted from the German futball "soccer"). Germany refers to table
football as "Kicker" or "Tischfutball." Table football is known in
Spanish as "futbolin." In Argentina it is known as "metegol." The term
for table football in France is "Baby-foot." In Turkey, table football
is called "Langyrt" because it is a word that describes the sound
generated from the table when the game is played. In Italy it is known
as "calcio Balilla." |
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