Creating On Pitch Realism

Maybe all you require is a few grandstands full of spectators and a crowd noise recording to create atmosphere, If that floats your boat you have my blessing. I on the other hand think of other things when I want to add a little realism into my miniature games. I must admit though, that some of the stadiums I’ve seen have been works of art, and they really bring things to life in one respect, and I greatly admire the effort that some people have made to produce these stadiums in miniature. As for their practicability whilst playing a game that may well be questionable. To me on pitch realism is what happens on the pitch not around it, I want it to be as close to real football as I can, or as close as possible given the obvious constraints of the game.

 

Foul Play

 

Foul play is part and parcel of football, how many games these days go by without a yellow card, and the occasional Red one thrown in for good measure. Players can accumulate yellow cards over a period of time, when they have enough of these yellow tokens they can have a day off, but 2 yellow tokens in one match allows a player the right to have a good soak in a bath, pamper himself a little, then get a good 3 match day break to recharge their batteries. But how often does this happen in Subbuteo. How many solo players give out Yellow and Red cards, I’ll stick my neck out and say a tiny minority, I’ll apologise now if that proves to be a false assumption.

Lets face it the number of fouls committed in our games is far less and probably less deliberate on occasion than in a game of football If 5 or 6 fouls are committed (excluding offsides) in my games I call that bordering on excessive. But maybe I could introduce some sort of disciplinary action in to my play that can have some bearing down the line.

A Grandstand full of spectators is maybe all you require

 

A Few Random Ideas

You could number your players, and one could just note down the number of times that player commits a foul, commit enough fouls throughout a season the players suffers a ban, commit enough fouls in a match you could send the poor guy off. That level of precision may not suit most players myself included. I would personally want a method that is not player specific, I don’t number or name my players, I know players who do and admire their resolve with their record keeping. If you fall in my camp I’ll explain my TOFTT (Take One For The Team) method.

TOFTT Implementation

After every foul a team commits it’s noted down, commit 2 fouls and a yellow card is given to the offending team, 2 yellow cards in a match results in that teams flicking goalkeeper being removed for the rest of the game. The flicking goalkeeper also misses the next game.

Yellow cards are cumulative over the season, and for every 5th yellow card accumulated results in a flicking goalkeeper ban next match. I think this could work on a personal level. If a team is 1 foul away from a second yellow in a match or a 5th yellow card overall it might force a teams defensive blocking decision into the safe option rather than trying to squeeze itself into a small gap between attacker and ball, or make the attacker have second thoughts about that tight curl around a defender and clipping the defender on the way round. I say might here tongue in cheek, in my case it probably wouldn’t I’d have other things on my mind apart from counting fouls.

It just throws up one or two problems for teams to face throughout the season and may add that little bit of extra realism which sometimes is lacking.

So why penalise the poor old flicking goalkeeper, well on a personal level it’s surprising how often he comes into play and for me he becomes the obvious fall guy. It gives a small advantage to the other team without impacting too greatly in the overall scheme of things, and it could prove a crucial factor in a top of the table clash or relegation battle later on in the season. It also adds a little spice into the mix, which can be sometimes lacking in solo games.

It’s an idea I’m contemplating for my next season, the above may or may not be it’s final form, but I’m dearly tempted to give it a trial.

By the way some of you eagle eyed readers will probably be thinking you’ve come across this kind of thing before, and you’d be correct. The FISTF rules gives yellow cards to players who transgress their rules acquire a second yellow or orange as its called and their flicking goalkeeper is removed. So my TOFTT system is a variation of this, and adapted to run the whole season.

And No Flicking Goalkeeper

I chose the spare goalie as for me that caused a bit of a tactical conundrum I would have to overcome. If you don’t use a spare goalkeeper you have a multitude of options to reduce the ability of a team to play it’s natural game. Remove an outfield player, reduce the teams corner positioning flicks by 1, reduce the amount of onside flicks allowed, or reduce the amount of players allowed in a wall for a direct free kick to name but a few. Just don’t make the sanctions too severe or you may defeat the object of the system which is to slightly debilitate a team not stifle it.

 

VAR and The Offside Trap

 

In my honest opinion VAR is not a viable option or needed in our world, but I will say one thing if anything happens in a game and you are unsure whether to allow it or not, why not just roll a die and abide by the result, odd numbers yes even numbers no, and worry about it later, keeps the game flowing, I’ve mentioned this DAR system in previous posts devised by David Forsyth, and this is just another variation on a theme.

The Offside trap is another thing that happens in the real game which is lacking in our tabletop variant. So how about if we try and create an opportunity for that to happen. After a bit of thinking and testing I came up with the following.

Once per half a team who is in possession in it’s own half of the field outside of it’s shooting area (that’s the second quarter of its own half), a team may flick up to 3 of its players in it’s shooting area into better positions, but not flick any teammates that are outside the shooting area. If this makes his opponents offside in the process, or it regroups the defensive line, all well and good, if it manages both that's job done! The only thing a player has to decide is when is the best time is to attempt it to give it maximum effect. It’s basically a limited variation on the old Subbuteo organising rule, which has been discussed on here before. I’m not a fan of this rule as regulars are probably aware but used on a limited basis once per half in this way is certainly starting to appeal on a personal level.

 

Buffeting, Foul or Not

 

I had never given buffeting any consideration at all, it was something that happened in games an attacker that played a short pass from just outside the shooting area, and displaced a defender in the process was OK providing the attacker played the ball first. But I played a game recently where I literally played a short pass and cleared a couple of defenders out of the way enabling an attacker to take a shot. It was after the game that I thought, should that really have been allowed, well yes it was under my current rules, but maybe I should have a little rethink here, I must admit that clearing the defenders out of the way was a deliberate act on my part, and it was executed almost to perfection. If such a move had happened on a football pitch, I think the referee may have said something to a player that passed then carried on running using himself as a human bowling ball, and the defenders as skittles.

I applied a little logic here, what about if defenders are displaced further than the length of the pass they gain possession, either award a free kick or just simply play on from the now current position and give the defence the choice of which option to take. But allow the attackers to have a shot, force a throw, corner, etc. without such restrictions. I did actually play this way in a couple of mid season friendlies just to try it out, in one game, a short pass was made and trying to advance the player forward at the same time, took a defender out of the game, giving the attacker a now free run, perfectly acceptable under the old rules, but now it gave the defence possession, and a free kick option. This type of thing did happen 2 or 3 times, and seemed to work out quite well for me. It made me rethink my tactics a little and helped the defence at the same time. So I’m just putting it out there, it maybe something other soloists may want to consider.

 

So What’s The Point Of All This?

 

That all depends on the individual, none of the ideas in this post will make the game any better, but for players like myself who want to add a little extra I hope you’ve found something to inspire you to go on and do your own thing. I’m considering incorporating my ideas in some form or other into the next season of the Bonfire Alliance, and see how it all pans out. Variety is the spice of life, the more different spices we have the greater the variety of flavours we have to enjoy. As usual feel free to put your own methods and ideas into the pot they’re always welcome.

Keep on Flicking

Ian