Southampton Rockets will become the first British table football club to attend their sport’s equivalent of the Champions League later this year.

They will travel to the International Table Soccer Federation European Cup in Medebach, near Dortmund in Germany, where the continent’s elite meet to find the best in Europe.

The team formed way back in the 1970s and qualified for the event after winning the British title in 2011.

They are now preparing to face Europe’s elite, including last year’s winners Hannover KGB.

Captain Phil Williams is looking forward to the event.

“Hopefully we've got a style that a lot of the players would not have seen before,” he explained.

“The Austrian and German teams will be very good.

“It’s going to be hard, it's going to be good fun, but there’s a lot of tough competition.

“Hopefully we will gain some valuable experience when we're out there.”

The Rockets team is made up of Williams, all rounders Joules Rathke, Oli Deakin and Phil Cutcliffe, defenders Alan Bowers and Frank Drayton, and attacker Peter Williams.

The European Champions Cup is in its second year, pitching 16 teams from eight countries against each other in a knock out format.

Vice captain Rathke is the tactical mastermind of the Rockets.

“It’s a game that works on possession,” he said.

“The longer you keep hold of the ball, the more chance you've got of scoring.

“You're looking for certain patterns in which the opponent blocks the ball. Once you’ve observed what those patterns are, you'll be able to shoot into those gaps.

“It’s about being very observant about what your opponents are doing and then exploiting that.”

The Rockets are keen to secure sponsorship for the tournament which is being broadcast on Eurosports 2.

Contact southamptonfoosballteam@gmail.com for details.