Subbuteo in Singapore: Small flicks, big kicks

Come September, dozens of players from all over Europe, the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and, yes, Singapore, will be hunched over an astroturf – a little smaller than a table-tennis table – in a pursuit that involves strategy, skills, discipline and a passion for the beautiful game.

Like Greek gods, they guide little men – made of plastic, and often painted in the colours of their favourite team – around tight defences.

The matches are intense, with the regular signature yells and celebrations.

In 2012, Rizal Taib, who has a device in his chest to regulate his heartbeat, was playing at a grassroots event in Pasir Ris when the others thought he had a heart attack.

“My heart started beating very fast. Fortunately, my device caught the abnormality and gave my heart a shock to regulate it back to normal,” said Rizal, who added that fellow players Tan Kok Wee and John Ho, who is now studying to be a nurse, called for an ambulance.

Lim has been playing for more than three decades, honing his skills on pitches across Singapore, Australia, Japan and Europe.

He has taken part in three prior World Cup tournaments – England in 2024, Gibraltar in 2018 and Belgium in 2014.

The table football World Cup tournament, previously held every four years, is now held biennially.

Lim said: “My wife is very supportive of my involvement in this game. She will try to join me if her schedule permits, and if she comes along, we will usually also try to plan a vacation around the trip.

“Table football plus holiday – the perfect combination!”

To many, it is still known by the name of its previous iteration – Subbuteo, a game big in the 1980s and early 1990s, when tournaments attracted hundreds of spectators to the pre-renovated Plaza Singapura and Parkway Parade in Marine Parade.

Around 1994, Joy Koh joined the Singapore branch of the British toy company, Waddingtons, which produced the game worldwide, before it was bought over by US toy company Hasbro in December that year.

“It was very popular. We hosted tournaments at malls and they were very crowded. Games were also played at the grassroots level at community clubs and there was a strong following.

“We paid for the air tickets and covered accommodation for the Singaporeans who took part in the World Cup,” said Koh, who worked as a marketing executive.

It was in 1980 when this writer (Melvinderpal Singh) was rewarded with a set for doing well at the PSLE.

It culminated in this Victoria School boy beating his Raffles Institution opponent in the finals of a national junior tournament in 1981.

Learning how to use my hands well led me to a job in journalism, while my opponent had to make do as a neurosurgeon and professor.

In 1982, the first Subbuteo National Championship in Singapore, to decide the junior and senior representatives for the World Cup, was held at Plaza Singapura.

Chandru Chugani played for Singapore in the World Cup – in Spain in 1982 – as the senior representative. When he died in March, condolence messages were sent from around the world, including Australia.

The game today carries global ranking points, with players representing clubs and transfers allowed only during specific periods.

There are about three dozen or so serious players in Singapore.

They include Rudy Hesty, 51. The senior police officer was part of the Singapore team that travelled to Sydney in 2025 for the Asian Cup, a tournament Singapore has won seven times since the first edition in 2015.

“For the Asian Cup, I took the midnight flight with my wife after my Friday shift at work and landed in Sydney and cleared immigration by 8am,” said Rudy.

“I made it to the venue, with our luggage, 15 minutes before the start.”

His holidays are often planned around overseas tournaments.

“I’ve had the privilege of participating in about 15 overseas tournaments, including three World Cups and events in Belgium, Gibraltar, the UK, France, Japan, and Australia.

“It’s an honour to represent Singapore in both the Open and Team events, and blessed to have been in teams which clinched the Asian Cup open tournament three times,” said the father of three, as well as a fan of Argentina and Manchester City.

Aside from Rudy, the Singapore team included seven other players who took time off work to travel to Sydney for the Asian Cup to don Singapore colours, with flag in tow.

They beat the much-fancied Australia in the final, with the clinical Michael Choong winning the coveted individual Open tournament. Interestingly, Choong had donned real boots to play actual football in teams coached by local football legends Quah Kim Song and Majid Ariff.

It was a clean sweep for Team Singapore at the Asian Cup. They bagged the international, inter-club event, the individual Open and the consolation Plate event, which Rizal won by beating this writer in a penalty shoot-out.

Their love of the Singapore national football team is palpable.

John Edwards has his table football players dressed in the Lions’ colours from the 1970s.

Tan Kok Wee has one set of players painted in the darker blue of the 1980s.

Azhari Isnin has the Malaysia Cup-winning team from the 1990s represented in his tiny men.

Like in real football, there is some fussing over players’ weight, not that there is an officially regulated weight range for the figurines.

Vikas Chandiramani, who often takes on the role of manager of the Singapore team overseas, prefers heavier players (and, unfortunately for this writer, in the red of Liverpool).

The players have been taking the game to the community, setting up demonstrations at *SCAPE and community clubs amid the 2026 FIFA World Cup frenzy.

They hope to revive interest in Subbuteo even amid the many electronic options for football fans.

There is hope that Singapore’s table football aficionados will have a next generation to pass the mantle to.

Rudy’s youngest child – Edin Reyza, 11 – is making waves in the game. He finished second in the Under-12 tournament at the Major De Paris Grand Prix Table Football Competition in France in January, making history by becoming the first-ever Asian table football player to earn a trophy at a European event. 

“I had to get an excuse from school for him, since my wife and I were going to be in Paris as well. But he will miss the World Cup in September because of his PSLE,” said Rudy, adding that he is proud of his son’s achievements.

He also ropes in a small army of nephews to play the game, often hosting mini challenges at his home in Jurong.

Regular community-based events are also organised by others in venues from Ang Mo Kio to Pasir Ris.

And then there is Nagulan Arivazhagan.

The 11-year-old, who plays in midfield for his school’s football team, is now the best junior in table football in Singapore after winning a local tournament for his age group, often matching the older players, flick for flick.

“It is fun and improves patience. The older players also teach me strategies and skills,” said Nagulan, who was introduced to the table game by a family friend.

“But I am only allowed to play when I study hard and finish my homework,” said Nagulan, his mother Sathiya nodding in agreement.

Goal 2034, to get the Singapore national team into the FIFA World Cup, may be far-fetched.

But getting Nagulan to represent Singapore in the table football World Cup is a just a flick, and a few assignments away.

The Subbuteo Table Football Association of Singapore is holding the following outreach events in July: