THE HISTORY/FOUNDING OF BONZINI USA



The history of French foosball began around 1969 in 

the U.S. with the first tables arriving in the Norfolk 

and Virginia Beach area. Peabody's Inc. was the first 

distributor. These tables are still found along the East 

coast. Stories from Peabody's owner, Mr. Kal Kassir, 

include discussions with a Mr. Cal Rodgers from the old 

Tournament Soccer organization about using the French 

style table in his development of the TS tour. Money 

became an issue and Mr. Rodgers and Mr. Peppard chose to 

develop their own table. So the solid rod, slick surface, 

plastic man, and plastic ball became the norm here in the 

U.S.



During the mid-70's and up until the late 80's french 

foosball was still played in this region of the U.S. The 

lack of distributor and manufacture support left this game 

with only a cult following. The European players are on 

their fourth generation of players. I had the pleasure of 

meeting the 1953 French Open Champion in Strasburg, France 

back in April of 97 at a tournament. Mr Curetti still plays 

today. I have followed all forms of table-soccer since the 

age of 15 and still play at a competitive level. I 

understand the dedication and sacrifice one has to make to 

comptete with the best players in the world.I formed Bonzini 

U.S.A. not to challenge Valley, Tornado, or the USTSA, but to 

re-establish this style in the U.S. and offer players an 

alternative table to compete on with the rest of the world.



Our table allows the European style of play to be executed at 

its best. This style of play is mainly found along the 

Eastern Seaboard with primary concentration in the 

Mid-Atlantic states. Our player base is growing at an 

unanticipated pace, as well as demand for the the Bonzini 

table ( both home and commercial models ). Quality and 

customer satisfaction are taken very serious by our 

manufacturer in Bagnolet, France. Bonzini U.S.A. focuses on 

providing equal concern to the operator and player. 



I have been a player for 24 years and have followed the 

development and demise of various U.S. manufactured brands 

during this time. The Bonzini table model B-60 has been 

produced for many years with over 150,000 sold. " Passion, 

not profit will be our driving force" is posted in my office. 

We work very hard to provide our players with tournament 

events that not only test skill levels of the best, but 

entertain and teach the future upcoming champions. I realize 

we are a small fish in a big pond, BUT WE SWIM VERY FAST. 



We are currently establishing a tour in the N.C., S.C. and 

VA. region. Our 1999 N.C. Open was a huge success and gave us 

confidence that we can re-establish the position of French 

style foosball in this region. If you know the history of 

foosball in the U.S. then you would know French style tables 

were introduced to this area around 1968 or 69. After the 

initial boom in sales and profit the manufacturer and 

distributors did nothing for the player base. I WILL NOT 

ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO BONZINI U.S.A. I am a player and have 

felt that slap in my face for all the practice and sacrifice. 

We distribute the world's most popular FOOSBALL TABLE, we 

organize FOOSBALL TOURNAMENTS, and we empower FOOSBALL 

PLAYERS to take responsibility for the game.





                                    Alan Cribbs

                                    Bonzini U.S.A.

                                    President