World Footy News

If you are like me, you are missing your footy fix. Yes, there are countless replays on television. Yes, there are games that can be purchased and played from the bedroom. Yes, there are books to read, videos to watch, footy cards to collect and lots more.

However, sometimes you want something more tactile. More hands on. Something you control.

So, here is something from my childhood that might come in handy. I didn’t invent it. My grandfather showed me how to do this – something he picked up during the war years in the 40’s and passed on to me. Pencil footy.

If interested in a new (yet old) way of passing these COVID days waiting for the AFL to come back, or your local team to start playing again, follow these step by step instructions. I will also put the photo at the end of the article also to enlarge.
Step by step:

1. Find a six-sided HB style pencil. On each of its faces (sides) get something pointy (another pen maybe) and make one notch on one side, two on the next and so on until all faces (sides) of the pencil have notches up to six.
2. Draw a grid on a piece of paper showing teams and quarter by quarter scores (see picture).
3. Roll once – goal for first team
4. Roll again – behinds for first team
5. Roll again – goals for second team
6. Roll again – behinds for second team
7. Repeat for each quarter
8. Add totals to see who won.

And there you have it – pencil footy. You can play as many games as you like, using as many teams as you like. You can have whole rounds, lightning premierships or even whole seasons depending on your level of isolation and nerdishness.

And a couple of extra points. If the whole pencil thing is too difficult, a dice or spinner is just as good. Also, if you have 8-sided pencils, dice or spinners you can get higher scores.

And, finally, you can even use in the cricket season. Use the number 5 as “out” and spin for each member of your team until 10 wickets are down, then do the same for the other team. There are also applications of this for virtually any game that involves scores (though tennis is problematic).

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention and creation. We have not had such a gap in footy seasons and people sometimes need their footy fix in any way they can get it. Hopefully this story has added to your selections of COVID-19 footy options.

Good luck, and may the best teams win.

NB: Yes, of course this game can be manipulated, but you don’t need to know that!