English soccer
English soccer is a simple game of skill with the simplest material for two players, which is mainly played by children and teenagers.
Concept and history
How this game of skill, which is usually played outdoors with three stones, came about is unclear. It is likely that this or a similar game has been around for centuries. With regard to the football game that emerged in England , this term has become popular with the players. English football was already played between the world wars, probably even before the First World War due to the lack of leather or rubber balls. On top of that, it can be played almost anywhere without much preparation. Suitable stones - up to the size of a film can - can be found everywhere.
Playing field and material
A flat, reasonably smooth surface on the ground serves as the playing field. Outdoors this is often an asphalt path or a road with little traffic, inside a smooth floor (stone, linoleum ). The playing field is individually dimensioned, the length is usually between 2 and 10 m, depending on the location, the width should be at least one meter. The field is often drawn in with chalk lines or with stones or sticks on the ground and divided into two halves. At the respective end of the field there is once , the gate , which is also only symbolically marked by lines. The size of this goal is also left to the consensus of the players, but is about 20 cm. Three stones of approximately the same size from 3 cm in diameter serve as game material.
To give the game more randomness, the 3 stones can be dropped from the goal into your own half at the beginning. If they do not form a sufficiently angled triangle , this can be repeated up to twice.
It is allowed to use the leg as a gang (like when playing billiards) at any time, if z. B. the three stones almost form a straight line . It may only be played forward, in the direction of the opposing goal. If this does not succeed or if the moved stone has not been shot through the other two, it is changed.
Rule and goal
The aim of the game is to shoot a stone in a certain way into the marking of the opponent's goal so that it stays there. The beginner determined by chance places all three stones in front of his own time and must now try to play the middle stone through the other two in the direction of his opponent's goal. With each move , one of the stones must be moved with the foot through the imaginary connecting line of the other two stones that are already lying. Only one attempt is allowed at a time. In the vicinity of the goal, you try to hit the opponent's mark and, in football jargon , would have scored a goal . You can continue playing until you either
- touches one of the other stones,
- has exceeded the boundary of the playing field with any stone
- it fails to hit between the two lying stones or
- scored a goal.
If one of these cases occurs, it is the other player's turn and may now try to be successful. The game ends after a previously agreed number of hits.
Additional rules
Since the rules for this game can differ from place to place and even from school to school, there are also some additional rules. In some games it is only allowed to risk a shot on goal if you have made at least three moves beforehand. On the other hand, there is the maximum - regulation, which says that you can only make a certain number of moves in order to achieve the goal. Above all, this is intended to prevent an overly cautious approach to playing in tiny steps.
Table variant
The table version of English football is also widespread. For this purpose, all obstructing objects are cleared from the table, the table itself forms the boundary of the playing field. Crown caps , coins or similar flat objects are used as material . The goal is marked by the opponent with the spread of small and index fingers on the opposite edge of the table, the other fingers are held under the edge. The game is played by snapping and pushing with the curved index finger or with a conventional bottle opener that acts as a kind of slide.
Variations
- A variation for two or more players comes from Sri Lanka . To do this, beans (or pebbles or the like, in Sri Lanka kernels of the Annona fruit) are distributed on a smooth table top. In your turn, you point to a gap between two beans and push a third bean through this gap with a single push of your finger. If the pushed bean passes through and stays on the table, and if no bean moves except the pushed bean, the player on the move may take one of the first two beans and play again; otherwise it is the next person's turn. Whoever has the most beans in the end is the winner.
- Similar to the table variant, there is a variant with two coins from the players and a smaller one, which represents the ball. Each player uses a spring comb or a ruler to accelerate his coin in the direction of the ball coin that is pushed through the goal marked on the table. This game was particularly popular in schools in Austria in the 1960s and was known as Pfitschigogerln .
- Similar rules of the game also exist within the numerous variations of the marble game.
literature
- Johanna Preetorius: Knaurs Spielbuch. Droemersche Publishing House Munich, 1953