Solo Subbuteo 101

I’ve just completed another season of my Solo League. Two 8 team divisions, with promotion, relegation, play-offs, a cup competition, as well as a non league element for good measure. 144 games all played throughout the actual football season. All played without any form of advantage, except in some cup games which I’ll touch on later. I’ ve posted in the past about a system, that I worked on with Phil Marsden the owner of the Alive and Flicking Facebook group for assessing, and applying an advantage to each game without changing any in - match rules. A system he seemed to be satisfied with at the time, as it went some way to suiting his immediate needs. He’s now looking to expand on the system in other ways, and I wish him, and anyone else that is looking to add such things into their solo games luck in formulating a system th at suits them . I however have no intention personally to add such things into my League, or any other league competitions I run, and...

If you play solo, and to be honest why would you be here if you didn’t. I would imagine a good percentage of you keep records of matches you play, and the record keeping can be as simple or as complex as one deems necessary. If you’re in the habit of giving the little f olk names, the chances are you’ll at least want to know who scored. One could simply number each player and make a note of the number, and who it relates to on the team sheet, y ou can even buy decals that can be attached to players for this purpose. I must admit I’m not a fan of this method and don't bother, mainly because it can be slower to set up after a goal, especially if you’re putting each player back into position, or sorting things out at a goal kick. Alternately So there has to be a better way, one that doesn’t rely on numbering players, and placing them in the right position on the field. There’s probably many other ways, and I probably don’t know half of them. Wha...

  Since I began this blog I've often referred to the Bonfire Alliance League, but never really written about it other than in context to portray a particular point. I’ve even offered the Bonfire Alliance rule book on the downloads page as an insight to how I play, for no other reason other than to share my ideas that readers can use, change, build upon, or discard however they see fit. I thought however it was about time I introduced it’s members and how the league was founded, and perhaps breathe some life into it, now it’s about to embark on it’s 3 rd Season. The Early Days When I started playing solo, it was probably due to the fact that the Government decided that they wanted to put all our lives on hold for a while, fair enough under the circumstances at the time. Then they only went and cancelled all forms of football. Now they can lock me down but taking away my football was sacrilege. So out came the books, the videos, (yes I still...

  Over a period of time I’ve had discussions with fellow solo players about managing a S olo L eague. Some want full realistic leagues, then realise they can’t play all the games some are happy to use some form of simulation to help play out the league to it’s conclusion. Others go down the Fantasy route with fictitious teams. There are many other ways you can set things up, from the teams involved to the size of the league, but the biggest concern you will always have is how much time will it take to complete it. I touched on this subject a few months ago but I thought now might be a good time to revisit the subject and maybe go into a little more detail, than perhaps I did previously. From a personal point of view Solo Play should be just that. One sets things up, then play out the games in real time. No simulation every result is decided on the baize. For me that is S olo play. You may disagree here, and at the end of the day you will always go the...