A Brief History of Foosball

1. A Brief History of
Foosball
Thomas Disselkamp

2. A Brief History
of Foosball
 Thomas Allen Disselkamp has worked as a product developer for
more than three decades. Currently, Thomas Disselkamp serves as
a product development specialist in the Infection Prevention
Division of 3M Company in Maplewood, Minnesota. In his free
time, Tom Disselkamp enjoys participating in a range of outdoor
sports, as well as indoor activities like Ping-Pong and foosball.

3. A Brief History
of Foosball
 Although no one knows for sure who exactly invented foosball,
the first patent for a table soccer game was granted to Harold
Searles Thornton of Great Britain on November 1, 1923. Thornton’s
uncle, Louis P. Thornton, later patented table soccer in the United
States in 1927, but his patent expired and the game remained
relatively obscure for several years.

4. A Brief History
of Foosball
 In 1950, however, Belgians formed the first table soccer league,
which later led to the establishment of the European Table Soccer
Union in 1976. After seeing the game’s growing popularity in
Europe, an American named Lawrence Patterson relaunched table
tennis on US soil under the newly trademarked name “foosball.”

5. A Brief History
of Foosball
 Foosball quickly became a hit in America, but its popularity in the
country took dramatic dive in the early 1980s. Despite this fact,
the game still has many followers in the United States, which
became a participating country in the International Table Soccer
Foundation in 2003.