Swamp Soccer

Reading this article in today's Scotsman made me wonder what all the fuss was about.

Dumbarton fans will fondly remember this game being played on a regular basis at Boghead...

Swamp soccer makes the beautiful game dirtier than it has ever been

MARTYN MCLAUGHLIN (mmclaughlin@scotsman.com)

It is a burgeoning sport which may not cost participants much in the way of equipment, but threatens to bankrupt them with laundry and dry cleaning bills.

A Scottish football enthusiast is spearheading the international expansion of swamp soccer, a grimy offshoot of the beautiful game.

Played on boggy marshlands rather than pristine turf, the game has built up a cult following in Scotland, with the largest ever tournament due to begin tomorrow.

Leading the charge is Stewart Miller, formerly the co-owner of a traditional oatcakes company, but now a man determined to make swamp soccer a global brand.

The extreme sport was founded in northern Finland, where enterprising crosscountry skiers, at a loss during warmer months, found it provided an ideal means of training.

Taking a ball, a few enterprising Finns making up barely a dozen teams gathered in the town of Hyrynsalmi, 300 miles north of Helsinki, for the inaugural competition.

Since that day nine years ago, the game has spread continent-wide. Such is its popularity, that at the most recent world championships, almost 300 teams attended.

Mr Miller believes Scotland can now further swamp soccer's profile. The 44-year-old marketing and event management consultant from Argyll stepped down from his executive position at MacGregors Oatcakes last year, such is his excitement for swamp soccer's future. "I didn't have time to concentrate on both, and swamp soccer is far more exciting as an idea and a business."
A modest competition arranged last summer by Mr Miller in the seaside town of Dunoon was met with a warm, if slightly bewildered, response. The plans for tomorrow's competition, however, again being held in Dunoon, show proceedings have grown markedly in size.

Nearly 50 teams, many of them mixed-sex, will line up at the UK championship event. They will come from Britain and Ireland, as well as France, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Estonia, Australia, and New Zealand.

The game is played in marshes up to 16ft in depth; under such conditions the calf muscles tire easily. Yet players must continue to move - as the alternative, after all, is to sink into the bog.
The rules of the game also decree some curious missives. The penalty area must consist of a bog 16 feet deep, while players are prohibited from changing their shoes during the game.

Rain is forecast for Argyll this weekend, but should the Met Office be wrong and the weather be pleasant, Mr Miller intends to soak the pitches so that they become suitably marshy. The team names are unsurprisingly well suited to the conditions, with sides including Cowdungbeath and Mudcabi Haifa.

"The event has more than doubled in size from last year and it's taking off faster than I ever imagined. Most people play on pitches that are muddy and cut up, so this is a natural progression," Mr Miller said. "The next step is to push the sport around the world, and Australia is next on the horizon."

THE RULES FOR STICK-IN-THE-MUDS
• Teams comprise a goalkeeper and five outfield players, with a maximum squad of 12.
• The penalty area must consist of a bog 16 feet deep.
• Corner kicks, penalties, and throw-ins are taken by drop kick.
• Players are not allowed to change their shoes during the game.
• A match consists of two halves, 12 minutes long.
• There is no offside rule.
• Unlimited substitutions are permitted.
• All free-kicks are indirect.
• Fancy dress is allowed, although team members must wear the same colour of tops.
• The playing area is slightly larger than the size of a five-a-side football pitch.
• There are three types of team, each having its own league: all male; all female; and mixed.