Football? On a website about bingo? I know!
I stumbled across Football Bingo by accident while searching for bingo stuff on Google. Safe to say I was confused. How on earth do football and bingo fit together?
Even though I’m not a sports fan I just had to look into it. In doing so, I even learned how to play.
Don’t worry, the sports world isn’t coming to steal our beloved game from under us (they would have to go through me first), but they have adapted it.
I think this is a shining example of how adaptable bingo is. It constantly reinvents itself and can be a game for literally anyone. Plus, it might even inspire a few people to try the real version of the game, and that can only be a good thing.
So here is everything you never knew you wanted to know about Football Bingo.
How Football Bingo Works
There are two types of football bingo, but the one sweeping the socials is a quiz style game. I’ll cover the other kind after this.
What they have done, is taken the structure of a bingo game and built in a knowledge element.
Each football bingo card has 12 or 16 squares. Yep, they even have their own game variations. These squares have a manager, a club badge, a trophy or award, or a country’s flag on them. Football players are then ‘drawn’ instead of balls.
The bingo player has to match each football player to a square on their card.
Example
Among other symbols on his card, Danny has the World Cup trophy, the Premier League logo, and Manchester United’s club badge.
Raphaël Varane is the first player to be drawn. Varane played for Manchester United in the Premier League, and also won the World Cup with France in 2018. Danny could therefore use Varane to mark off any of these 3 squares on his card.
Let’s say he marks of the Premier League.
The next player to be drawn is Wesley Fofana. He is also a French player, although he was too young to have been in the World Cup winning squad. He plays in the Premier League but for Chelsea. Danny could have used Fofana to mark off his Premier League square, but not the World Cup or Manchester United squares.
Danny should have used Varane to cover the World Cup square, because there are far fewer players with a World Cup win to their name than have played for Manchester United or in the Premier League. As a result, Danny is now unable to use Fofana to help complete his bingo card.
*For someone with zero football knowledge, this bit was hard to write!
As you can see, there is an additional tactical element to football bingo. Players need luck on their side for the right players to be drawn, but they also need to use each player strategically.
Then there is the knowledge element. It’s not just a case of matching numbers drawn to numbers on a card, players have to know a lot about football. It’s possible to draw a player who matches two squares on your card, but if you don’t know which clubs that player has played for, you can’t use them.
Getting the answers wrong is akin to making a false call in real bingo. As we all know, that is a mortal sin! Plus, you don’t win by filling your card with incorrect answers. In fact, in some variations you even lose players. For example, you might be given 50 players to complete the card, but one draw is deducted each time you make a mistake.
There are no prizes, not yet anyway, but for footy nerds their reputations are at stake.
Wild Card
One 16 square variation of football bingo has a wild card.
This can only be used once per game, but it’s incredibly useful when a player comes up who could cover a lot of squares on your card.
In the example above, Danny could have used his wild card on Varane to cover all 3 squares that Varane was eligible for. Not just one.
You could also use the wild card in desperation if you had no idea who a player was. However, you might waste it if that player doesn’t fit any of the squares on your card.
Playing Bespoke Games Online
It’s possible for people to create their own games they play against their friends, or strangers online.
What’s more, these games can be set up to focus on English leagues and players, or even specific clubs. Wherever your interests lie. This is much easier than trying to answer questions on players you’ve never heard of.
It’s also much more fun for fans who want to test their knowledge of the club they support.
There is still a lot of development going into these platforms too, so personalisation options will improve.
People also play online via video platforms like Youtube and TikTok, testing each other’s knowledge against the clock and against each other:
This gives you a good idea of how the game is played, but also how seriously these football fans take it. This video has almost 100,000 views!
It’s a point of pride to do well and an open door to mockery if you don’t, and even worse if you make mistakes.
Watching Football Bingo
The other kind of football bingo I talked about is a little more traditional.
There are no questions to answer here, you just need to mark off your card. However, instead of matching numbers, players need to match things that happen during a game of football.
Obviously, you need to be watching the football in order to play the bingo game based on it.
Your card might have things like this on it:
- Yellow card
- Goal
- Dive
- Fan on the pitch
- Rain
- Player falls over
Lots happens in a game of football so the options are endless.
Players then watch the game with their bingo cards and mark them off when each incident happens. If it happens. So it is essentially the same as regular bingo but the numbers have been swapped out.
You can buy pre-made cards for this sort of watching football bingo, or make your own. Unlike the online game you will need some sort of dabber for this one.
In terms of prizes, that’s up to the people playing.