English Subbuteo is thriving right now. With a growing number of dedicated players and a busy calendar of FISTF Team Events for the 2025/26 season, the scene is full of energy and opportunity. Now that the transfer window is open, it’s a great moment to think about how clubs are organised. Our aim as a community is to create environments where everyone can play regularly at all levels, enjoy themselves, and help the game grow. Team composition will play a key role in this – getting it right now means a stronger, more well-rounded season ahead.
The 2024/25 season has seen a clear dominance in presence from a handful of clubs – primarily Langton Green, followed by Wolverhampton and Yorkshire Phoenix. While this concentration appears concerning (and is, at times), it has somewhat made sense given the circumstances. With most notable FISTF Team Events held abroad, having large, consolidated clubs ensured England could consistently field competitive teams overseas. This structure allowed players to join strong, stable squads even if they weren’t traveling every time. So while it meant fewer clubs actively competing at home, it ensured England always had strong representation abroad. Ultimately, I believe this was the goal of Wobbly Hobby SC which evolved with Kent Invicta into the new Langton club.
The 2025/26 season brings a big change: 7 FISTF Team Events will be held in England, up from just 3 this past season. This surge in domestic tournaments means more players will want to compete locally with what’s available. While consolidating into a few large clubs worked well before, it now risks creating overcrowding within those clubs (As cool as it was for me to win an event with the “D” team, it does look a bit ridiculous). Oversaturation that was manageable with fewer events will become a bigger issue as we have near-monthly team competitions. To keep the domestic scene diverse and competitive, we need to rethink the culture of FISTF club composition.
The answer to club congestion is simple: new clubs must be formed by existing players. Anything related to FISTF is often seen as too burdensome, paperwork-filled, or even elitist: but anybody has spent even a small amount of time integrating themselves into this scene will be able to tell you that none of this is the case. It’s free, has almost no admin work, and the ESA will fully support any club that wishes to form with enthusiasm (Simon Goodman is a good point of contact for any signing-based confusion, but myself and others on the board are always ready to help!).
This is about giving more players room to compete, grow, and feel responsible in an environment where they can feel prouder of their club than before. More clubs mean more teams at events, healthier competition, and stronger local scenes. If you want to build something new, now is the perfect time to take that step with the help around you. CHASERS and Godiva are excellent examples of the path to follow.
In my opinion, a practical way to think about clubs moving forward is a two-tier system. The first tier includes clubs like Langton Green, Yorkshire Phoenix, and Wolverhampton – these are for players who want to travel to European events and reliably have a squad. The second tier consists of clubs focused mainly on just playing domestic tournaments, ranging from across the country to simply whatever’s in the local area. With more English events on the calendar, expanding the second tier is essential. Players not seeing themselves in the A-Teams of large first-tier clubs could consider joining or forming second-tier clubs to ensure everyone gets the chance to play regularly and contribute to growing the domestic scene.
Second-tier clubs don’t need to be large or complicated – just around five players who have a similar mindset on how far they want to travel is enough. Even those who don’t intend to play beyond their own area’s sessions can do this! Geography plays a big role here, as these clubs naturally form around player clusters. Many areas across the south in particular already have enough active players to create strong new clubs. By organising locally, these groups can foster their squad as though there’s a Wobbly League every month, and provide a welcoming entry point for newcomers. Making the most of this ensures clubs are sustainable and players have convenient access to matches without needing to travel far.
Here's my ideal scenario with the current player base:
Each club has a clear role, creating a vibrant and competitive scene. At the top, Langton Green, Yorkshire Phoenix, and Wolverhampton remain the hubs for players focused on international travel and top-level competition.
The second tier includes established clubs like White Star, CHASERS, and Godiva, plus a promising new club forming in the Essex/Suffolk area.
Alongside this, grassroots “club night” teams – including Kent Invicta, Bristol SC, Surrey, Leicester, Kettering, Solent, RAS, Milton Keynes, Morecambe, and more I could have missed – bring together players for events local to them (alongside Subbuteofest of course!) and slowly branch out.
With this structure we’d regularly see at least 8 different clubs in team events, maybe more – aspirational, but it doesn’t sound too bad?
The success of this vision depends on all of us – as much as I’d like to, no single person can make it happen alone. Creating new clubs and diversifying the scene requires a community mindset, where players support each other and share the responsibility of growing the game. Many find it easy to just join a big club and call it a day, but the dark future of E-Teams dominating events can only be avoided by WASPA club leaders taking the reins and evolving what they already have. It’s about fostering an inclusive culture that welcomes players of all levels and ambitions, whether they want to travel internationally or stick to local events. The rise of domestic team competition demands the rise of authentic clubs.
If you actually read all of this, I do appreciate it – hopefully it creates some discussion for new identities to be built on the FISTF scene.
-Kye.
