Button football
The term "button football" or "buttonball" is an imperfect translation, as there is no standard name for the game in English.
The origins of button football are likely derived from any number of games played with tabs, bottle caps, or coins.
The invention of the game using 11 pieces per side with rules simulating football is unclear, though a 6-piece version is known to have originated in eastern Europe.
There are dozens of formalized button football clubs and leagues throughout Brazil, and recently in the US, in Houston, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
Industrial buttons could be ten-piece sets, uniform in size and color, or sold as individual pieces, varying in size according to function (larger ones for defenders, mid-sized ones for midfielders, smaller ones for attackers) and in several layered color combinations usually but not necessarily patterned after the more popular soccer teams; of the latter, the most prized ones were made of galalite, although several other plastic materials were also used such as the covers of discarded watches.
Hand-made buttons were usually made from coconut shells, horn or bone sections and similar materials.
Industrial buttons often went through some extent of "tuning", such as scraping or slicing off layers or trimming playing edges.
As a rule, in informal games and tournaments players could mix and match different kinds, sizes and color buttons.
Today there are dozens of button football clubs throughout Brazil and Hungary, rigidly structured, with regular tournaments at the local, state, and national level.
The majority of boys (and to a lesser extent girls) in both these countries play button football at some point in their youth.
Buttons can be decorated with markings and numbers typical of a football jersey, as well as graphics of famous players or team logos, but no large diversity within a given team is allowed.. Goaltender pieces are rectangular blocks with dimensions and weights closely regulated.
Button may be manually manipulated at intervals determined by the governing rule system, usually only during stoppages in play.
Number of touches: 12 per team per possession, no more than 3 with any field piece Principal characteristics: Higher scoring than conventional soccer.
A variation used mostly in informal games places no limit to the number of consecutive touches by a team in possession of the ball, or by any of its pieces.
While favoring ball control, this mode allows skilled players to stall games and play by the clock.
Game duration: two 25-minutes halves Number of touches: 3 per team per possession, shots on goal only following a pass Principal characteristics: Scoring typical of conventional football.
