Poole's Swamp Soccer Champions

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Poole's Swamp Soccer Champions

Dirty tackles are positively encouraged in the sport of swamp soccer and it was a team from Poole in Dorset that won last year's Men's World Championship.

It is this weekend in Scotland that the aptly named FC Full Grunge team will be defending their title at the 2009 Swamp Soccer New World Championships.

Team captain, David Butt, 30 said: "We did it in the first place because it looked like a lot of fun. It was totally different and a good chance to get a lot of us away for the weekend and have a bit of a laugh."

Three years ago, the team comprising friends and colleagues from Bournemouth based company Sure Investment reached the quarter finals and last year having scored 10 goals and conceding just 1 goal, they won the necessary six games to lift the title after a very wet penalty shootout.

The game originated in the bogs of Finland and is played over an area a little larger than the size of a five-a-side pitch and last 24 minutes. Teams consist of six players and any amount of substitutes. There is no offside and as the ball does not travel through the soft surface the best methods of propulsion are by head or by kicking.

Refereeing is lax and the uneven pitch results in the players sinking knee deep in inches of sticky mud.

David said: "There is a bit of nobbling and encouraging people to get stuck in. There is a bit of pushing and grabbing." He went on to say " It's incredibly tough. There are a lot of substitutions and a lot of rotation. When you stop you get sucked in."

The fourth global tounament has attracted around 44 teams and the 10-strong Poole team aged between 23 and 30, together with a mixed team are both hoping to emerge from the gunge triumphant.