ABOUT SUBBUTEO
I’d be surprised if there is a hot-blooded football loving individual alive today that hasn’t experienced or at least heard of the game of Subbuteo. The game itself is simply a game of football. It involves two players on a replica pitch using two plastic teams, a small ball and two goals at each end. Sound familiar? Yes, it is just a game of football. But it is much more important than that.
The late legendary Liverpool manager, Bill Shankly, is often quoted: “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”
What many people will not know is that he also quoted: “What a great day for Subbuteo - all we need is an army blanket, two flats teams, a ball and two goals.” Okay, maybe he didn’t actually say it quite like that, preferring to use the phrase: “What a great day for football - all we need is some green grass and a ball.”
But the point being, the game of Subbuteo has as much a fan base as the game of football itself! Both football and Subbuteo are international institutions that have grown side-by-side since the Second World War.
Subbuteo – A brief synopsis 1947-2020
Subbuteo was a football game Invented in 1947 by Peter Adolph from Kent, UK. As an ornithologist he wanted to call the game ‘The Hobby’ after a beautiful bird of prey from the Falcon family. Sadly, he was refused permission by the powers that be at the time. Not wanting to be defeated and in what I believe to be a stubborn and perhaps rebellious act, Peter pulled a master stroke by then naming it ‘Subbuteo’ which was the Latin name for ‘The Hobby’. He even used the bird’s head in his branding later on as the company grew.
MID 1950s BOX SET
The Game
It was a humble offering in those early years. The sets consisted of two teams with cardboard cut-out players slotted into plastic button-shaped disks and wire goals with paper nets. The instructions suggested using an army blanket as a pitch and marking out the playing area with a supplied stick of chalk. The rules were the same as the real Association Football and the method of play was to flick the base of the player to propel the ball forwards. Basic it was, and in many ways this was its appeal. It hasn’t changed much since, but then football today isn’t much different to back then either – barring VAR, goal line technology and the ridiculous handball rule. Oh yes, I suppose with the growth of televised matches, we also have the incessant drivel of modern-day football commentators.
HEAVYWEIGHT PLAYER
Fast forward 20 years and by the late 1960s Subbuteo had taken off and by then the teams had become three-dimensional moulds rather than cardboard or celluloid cut outs. Known affectionately as Heavyweights and hand painted at the factory in Tunbridge Wells, these teams proved to be, for many, the heart of the golden era of Subbuteo. The number of teams grew and everybody could buy virtually any combination of team colours to represent their own team. I won’t give you the full history here but if you would like to read the more intricate details of the growth of Subbuteo, I have put a link at the bottom to Peter Upton’s fabulous reference website.
Football Accessories
Lots of traditional-looking accessories followed including different goals, replica cups, stadia, pitch fences, balls, scoreboards, floodlights and even some very odd things like corner kickers and tracksuited teams - both a total waste of time.
The Collectors
This also meant a collecting world developed which still exists and thrives to this day. The game continues to be played worldwide and although the licence to produce it has changed many times, it remains an accessible and simple game to buy and play. Subbuteo fans, like myself, have a lifetime of memories of playing Subbuteo and also collecting teams and accessories over many years. If you would like a snippet of my Subbuteo journey, please see My Story. This website is dedicated to Subbuteo lovers worldwide.