8 Nail-biting pictures of the Subbuteo Irish Open, which was held in Derry last weekend

This was the second time the two-day event was held in Derry and saw competitors from England, Scotland, Wales, Italy, Germany, Dublin and Belfast compete against each other in solo and team games

President of the Derry City Table Football Club, Martin Óg Bradley, felt ‘fantastic’ that the games went so well. He said: “It’s a full international open competition, and we have eight groups competing. The top two in each group go through to the last 16 and then we have quarter finals, semi finals and the grand finale. After that, everyone who finished third place or lower goes into a separate plate competition. Everyone gets plenty of games and there’s a chance for everyone.”

Martin rediscovered his love for Subbuteo a number of years ago after his brother bought a set for his nephew.

"We always played Subbuteo when we were wee,” he continued. “Myself and my brother had a league going in our street in Glenowen. My brother lives in Newtownards now and he came down to Derry one weekend with a Subbuteo set he bought in a charity shop for his son. His son wasn’t interested so me and my brother set it up in my house and I got my old teams out of the shed. The first goal I scored, that was me back.

"I discovered fellow team-member Lawrence on Twitter when he was making Subbuteo figurines. I bought a Mark Farren one for my daddy for Father’s Day and it turns out, Lawrence lives near me. So, he brought it round to my house and we played a game and that was how the club began.

"Since that time, it’s come alive in other places. We have the All-Ireland circuit, where we play Donegal, Dublin, Belfast and Wexford and every year we have the All-Ireland Championship.

"When we started, another three clubs started at the same time; one in Wales, one in Wolverhampton and one in Glasgow. All the Wolverhampton boys are here today. We started a four-team competition between the four of us, so we went over to Wales first, then they all came to us and then the next year we went to Wolverhampton and we were due to go to Glasgow but Covid hit then so that’s been put on the back burner. Since then, we’ve had the World Cup and there’s bene European championships and the English Subbuteo Association have taken from us and started their own circuit competition so it’s all building still. The tables come to us from Mr Alan Lee, of the Wobbly Hobby Subbuteo Shop. Alan is an absolute gentleman and a good friend of the club, and he supports us by bringing the tables over. Our club has good connections with players all over the world; we have South African friends, American friends and friends throughout Europe and in Australia."

For more information on the Derry City Table Football Club, search for them on Facebook or Youtube.