BarcelonaThere was a time, about a century ago, when many children would drool when they passed a haberdashery. It was a time when there wasn’t such an abundance of toys and the little ones entertained themselves by letting their imagination fly or giving a second life to everyday objects. In that decade of the 1920s, football had already become a mass sport and almost everyone wanted to emulate the figures of the time. Someone, one fine day, imagined the players as if they were pieces on a board. With small goals, buttons and a shooter, he devised a board game that now, a hundred years later, is on its way to becoming a full-fledged sport.
All over the world there are other variants, such as football with sheets or Subbuteo, which was marketed as a board game. But button football is genuinely Catalan, even though it has crossed borders and is played in Argentina, Brazil, Georgia, Poland, Russia or Uruguay. It is not known whose idea it was. Only that he was born in that Catalonia that was a textile power and that had buttons to give and to sell. Of all sizes and colors. Even so, it did not become popular and it was not until the 50s and 60s that it gained many followers. Children who had played it as children explained the game to their children, and button football entered schools as well.
The difference between a game and a sport is that the latter is regulated, has rules and a competition format”
Enrique Albaladejo ACFB
“The difference between a game and a sport is that the latter is regulated, has rules and a competition format”, explains Enric Albaladejo, president of the Catalan Association of Futbol Botons (ACFB) and co-president of the Federació de Futbol Botons of Catalonia (FFBC). He learned to play it because his father taught him. Today he is one of the promoters working to popularize a game that has had many ups and downs throughout its hundred years of history. The penultimate jump was in the 90s, when it revived thanks to a report published in The newspaper. The Pipa Club in Barcelona became a pilgrimage center where all those who had once enjoyed futsal met weekly for matches and competitions. What happens is that they did not know how to take advantage of the momentum and the game remained unknown to the vast majority of the population. “But it became clear that we were not alone, that many people had played.” At the turn of the century, the first clubs or associations appeared. There are currently eight: three in Barcelona and one in Reus, Palautordera, Osona, Sant Joan Despí and Esplugues. There are around 200 registered players, a League with four divisions, a Cup and a Champions League. And this weekend, a World Cup.
How do you play button football?
Games last thirty minutes. Two participants with eleven tokens each. The traditional buttons have become obsolete and the only thing on the board is the one that acts as a ball. Defenders and pins have vertical sides; the forwards, diagonally, so they can knock the ball over the goalkeeper. On each roll you can move a tile to position it on the field or pass the ball up to four times. Of course, there are only seven seconds to decide or you lose your turn. And the buttons are not moved with your fingers, but with a slider. “Besides being exciting, you need a lot of concentration, skill and tactical sense”, says Enric about a sport where there are no differences between boys and girls.
Historically, everyone had played button football with whatever was readily available. “A group of children who kick a ball and use two backpacks to act as a goal are playing. If there is a field, some goals and a referee, they are practicing a sport,” reflects Albaladejo. Today, button football has defined and strict regulations. The board must be 180×120 cm for it to be legal, the goalposts must be 15×3.5 and the buttons – the chips – between 2.5 and 4 cm in diameter by one in height (minus the goalkeeper, who makes a and a half).
The way to make button football an official sport
With this regulation under their arm and with all the history behind them, Albaladejo and Carles Garcia, the other co-president of the FFBC, knocked on the door of Parliament to turn this game into an officially recognized sport. They already have the yes of five political formations – Junts, ERC, PSC, Comuns and CUP – and they trust that the procedures will be completed in the first semester of next year. This will allow them to benefit from public aid, which will be used to promote button football, and also for it to enter more schools and for children to learn to play it. At the moment, Catalonia is already recognized by the International Table Football Federation and participates in worldwide competitions. Adrià Garriga, a young man from Centelles, competed in the sheet metal event in Brazil and was crowned champion.
In the meantime, he continues to work tirelessly to promote button football and the latest initiative is the World Cup, which will be played this Saturday at Foment Hortenc. They will be the 40 best players from Catalonia, who will represent different national teams. There will be a first group phase and then the qualifiers, in addition to the Silver Cup and the Children’s Espai Dolç World Cup. The games start at 9.30 and the champions will lift the trophy around two. That game that for many years had been played almost underground is preparing to make the jump to the First Division.
