Eland Cables, one of Europe’s fastest growing electrical cable suppliers to critical infrastructure, will sponsor the 2024 FISTF (Federation of International of Sports Table Football) Subbuteo World Cup, to be held in Royal Tunbridge Wells on 20-22 September.
This global event was last staged in the UK in 2012, in Manchester – more than a decade later the table sport that originated in Royal Tunbridge Wells is heading back to its birthplace and ancestral home.
Players from 32 countries will compete through group stages into knock-out rounds, to find the winners in youth and senior categories in both Individual and Team events.
In addition to being title sponsor, Eland Cables also hopes to have player representation too. Darren Clark, considered one of England’s most successful players, is their UK & Ireland sales director. Clark is seeking to qualify for Team England by playing a host of tournaments across Europe over the coming months.
Darren, now competing in the Veterans category, has previously won the English National Championships in 1994 and 2004 and represented England at previous Subbuteo World Cups, most notably in 1994 – a year when the national football team failed to qualify.
Darren Clarke
JS Pelland, executive director of Eland Cables, commented: “Our involvement in the FISTF World Cup is both exciting and fulfilling on many levels – how many firms can claim to have a national champion among their own staff? Beyond our luck with Darren’s Subbuteo track record, it’s exciting to be involved in a game many of our staff and clients have grown up with. Aside from nostalgia, the communities we work with will resonate with the desire to encourage young people away from digital devices, and this great inter-generational game of skill and fun is a way of bringing people together.”
JS Pelland – Elan Cables
Alan Lee, Chairman of the English Subbuteo Association, commented: “Having Eland Cables onboard as title sponsor of the FISTF World Cup is a real asset. We look forward to staging this exciting event with them as we welcome players and enthusiasts, from all over the world, to the birthplace and ancestral home of Subbuteo.”
ESA Chairman Alan Lee and FISTF Board Member Bob Varney
Subbuteo ‘table soccer’, was invented by Peter Adolph in 1947 in Royal Tunbridge Wells. It is recognised as the most iconic football game of the pre-electronic era. At its peak of popularity it had over 10 million players all over the world.
Eland Cables is a UK headquartered global supplier of electrical cables for electrification, digitalisation, automation, and green energy projects, supporting many high-profile national and international infrastructure projects.
FISTF President Steve Dettre said he and the whole FISTF Board were delighted with the development of having a naming sponsor for the premier FISTF event.
“We see this as a great step forward for our sport, and hope that it helps with development across the globe.
“We welcome Eland Cables to the table football community, and congratulate the ESA on showing what can be achieved with leading events.”
FISTF