Blood Bowl Soccer

no-hands fantasy football

Deep in the annuls of Blood Bowl history there is a small recording of a team known simply as the Albion Wanderers. In the days of chaos and confusion after the collapse of the NAF, this team is rumoured to have given up Blood Bowl in favour of a game where the ball is kicked instead of carried - football! In fact if one travels across the Sea of Claws you will find an entire league known as the Albion Football league or FA for short. A brief description of the game was published in the SPIKE! Magazine.
...the game consists of the normal Blood Bowl field, but with two rectangular frames at either end, to which the ball, now round, is kicked towards and preferably through to score a point or goal. The player guarding these "goals" assumes some higher status as players blocking this "goal keeper" are often sent off by the referee. Having said that, there is no shortage of the rough and tumble we have come to expect in the traditional form of the game. There is little handling of the ball in fact it appeared that any player handling the ball, whilst not penalized, was severely harassed by the crowds and blocks against this player seemed all that much rougher...
It was back in 1995 when I was enjoying playing a Skaven team in a small Blood Bowl league when the idea of Blood Bowl soccer came up. I drafted out some rules converting the Blood Bowl rules to soccer rules. We played the game and it seemed to work!
Available in pdf to download (680k) is the third edition of these rules. The rules were first published on the internet courtesy of the Blood Bowl Mailing List in 1995. Unfortunately the original version has been lost. The 2nd revision of the game was thoroughly play tested in the U.S. under the existing league rules. A special thanks should go to the following players of the URI Gaming Club - Mark, Kevin, Mike, Pete, and Chris who play tested the game and whose questions and suggestions culminated in the third revision.
In 1996 I submitted the rules to the Games Workshop's Citadel Journal for publication. Even though Games Workshop liked the idea they thought the rules "too extreme" for publication. When I get the chance, I'll dig out the letter they sent me and put it online.
It's now 10 years since the first rules were published! I've finally decided to re-publish the rules. Inside you will find photos of the Blood Bowl Soccer field, the various new templates and game-play examples. There are no differences from the previous edition, other than one or two corrections and the ironing out of a couple of inconsistencies. Since the last release, the 4th edition of the Blood Bowl rules has been published. I have not played these new rules, but the soccer modifications should be completely compatible with them - as always hints and suggestions are welcome.
It's fast heading towards the 20th anniversary of the first rules release. I know that the official Games Workshop rules have undergone various revisions since then and the soccer variant you find here is lagging. I've had requests to update the rules to include the newer teams and whilst I'd love to do so, but sadly, I don't have the time or inclination to pursue this project any longer. It was fun to play and I hope you enjoy playing it too. If, by some chance, you decide to convert the missing teams or update the rules to reflect the changes in the newer official rules, please let me know and I'll include them here with the appropriate acknowledgements.
Disclaimer: This Blood Bowl Soccer version is not sponsored, sanctioned or supported by Games Workshop Ltd, although it has been looked at by GW (hence this disclaimer). For more information please visit the Games Workshop legal pages.