England captain Dave Pawsey won the Salisbury Open on Sunday 16th November, which was making a welcome return to the English circuit and expertly organised by Cyril Mitchener.

Eleven players took part, and everyone got plenty of competitive games, as is always the theme of the English circuit events.  The players were split into groups of 6 and 5, results as follows

GROUP A

Richard Pepper 0-2 Jeff Jordan

Richard Pepper 2-1 Luca Licheri

Richard Pepper 1-0 Martin Hodds

Richard Pepper 1-0 Tony McCann

Richard Pepper 1-0 Dimitris Stemitsiotis

Jeff Jordan 1-1 Luca Licheri

Jeff Jordan 4-0 Martin Hodds

Jeff Jordan 3-1 Tony McCann

Jeff Jordan 0-0 Dimitris Stemitsiotis

Luca Licheri 1-1 Martin Hodds

Luca Licheri 2-0 Tony McCann

Luca Licheri 2-1 Dimitris Stemitsiotis

Martin Hodds 3-0 Tony McCann

Martin Hodds 3-0 Dimitris Stemitsiotis

Tony McCann 1-0 Dimitris Stemitsiotis

The table was:

Richard Pepper 12 pts

Jeff Jordan 11 pts

Luca Licheri 8 pts

Martin Hodds 7 pts

Tony McCann 3 pts

Dimitris Stemitsiosis 1 pt

GROUP B

Dave Pawsey 2-0 Panos Stemitsiotis

Dave Pawsey 4-0 Ally Stephen

Dave Pawsey 4-0 Terry Williams

Dave Pawsey 4-0 Martin Bellefontaine

Panos Stemitsiotis 4-1 Ally Stephen

Panos Stemitsiotis 4-0 Terry Williams

Panos Stemitsiotis 1-0 Martin Bellefontaine

Ally Stephen 3-2 Terry Williams

Ally Stephen 1-0 Martin Bellefontaine

Terry Williams 3-0 Martin Bellefontaine

The table was:

Dave Pawsey 12 pts

Panos Stemitsiotis 9 pts

Ally Stephen 6 pts

Terry Williams 3 pts

Martin Bellefontaine 0 pts

So the final was the tournament favourite Pawsey against more surprising finalist Richard Pepper.  Pawsey took a deathgrip on the match with a 3-0 lead before Pepper scored a late consolation goal, Pawsey winning 3-1 – the first goal he had conceded all day !

Well done to Dave and to Rich, and to the Wiltshire club for putting on an excellent tournament for us !

ESTFA Chairman Martin Hodds – in conjunction with comedian and broadcaster Arthur Smith – was interviewed live by John Humphrys on Radio 4’s Today Programme on Monday 3rd November.

The feature was generated by Paul Willetts’ new book ‘Teenage Flicks’ which recounts various celebrities’ memories of subbuteo, together with recreating some classic football photos using subbuteo players !  It’s fair to say Messrs Humphrys & Smith didn’t take the game too seriously, but it was a lighthearted interview which hopefully will generate more interest in the game.

If you missed the broadcast, you can listen to it by clicking here.