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Subbuteo

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Subbuteo
Subbuteo model players with Subbuteo packaging
Subbuteo players
DesignersPeter Adolph
PublishersHasbro Inc.
GenresTabletop football
Players2 or 4
Setup time2 minutes[citation needed]
Playing time20–30 minutes
ChanceVery low
Age range8 and up
SkillsDexterity, tactics

Subbuteo (/sʌˈb(j)uːtioʊ/ sub-(Y)OO-tee-oh) is a tabletop football game in which players simulate association football by flicking miniature players with their fingers. The name is derived from the Neo-Latin scientific name Falco subbuteo (a bird of prey commonly known as the Eurasian hobby), after a trademark was not granted to its creator Peter Adolph (1916–1994) to call the game "Hobby".[1]

While most closely associated with the football game, versions of Subbuteo based on other team sports such as cricket, both codes of rugby and hockey have also been produced.[2][3][4]

History

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Heritage plaque commemorating Peter Adolph's Subbuteo factory in Royal Tunbridge Wells

Subbuteo was invented by Peter Adolph (1916–1994), who was demobbed from the Royal Air Force after the end of World War II. Searching for a new business opportunity he turned his attention to creating a new table-top football game. He adapted his game from Newfooty, a table football game that had been invented in 1929 by William Lane Keeling of Liverpool. He made numerous improvements, including changing the heavy lead bases under the model players to lighter materials, using for his prototype a button from his mother's coat and a washer.[5]

In August 1946 Peter Adolph filed an outline patent application for the game, which was not finalised until May 1947. The August 1946 edition of The Boy's Own Paper first announced Subbuteo's availability and offered to send details, but sets were not available until March 1947. According to rumours, after the early adverts, orders started to pour in as Adolph set about converting his patent idea into a deliverable product.[5]

Heavy weight players from the 1970s. The one on the left is a customised figurine representing an AS Monaco player. The other two are as originally painted, reference 6 in yellow and ref 65 in white, representing England

The first Subbuteo sets, known as the Assembly Outfits, consisted of goals made of wire with paper nets, a cellulose acetate ball, cardboard playing figures in two basic kits (red shirts with white shorts, and blue shirts with white shorts) and bases made from buttons weighed down with lead washers. The story is that Peter found one of his mother's coat buttons and used Woolworth buttons for the early set bases. No pitch was provided: instead, the purchaser was given instructions on how to mark out (with chalk, provided) a playing area on to a blanket (an old army blanket was recommended). The first sets were eventually available in March 1947, several months after the original advertisement appeared. The first figures were made of flat cardboard cut out of a long strip. Later these card players came in press-out strips before being replaced with two-dimensional celluloid figures, known to collectors as "flats".

Early production of Subbuteo was centred in Langton Green, near Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent. Following the advent of the OO scale players the player figures were individually hand painted by local outworkers in their own homes.

Players in national team colours from the late 1980s. The main figure is in the colours of the reference 457 Argentina team, while the figure in the foreground is in the colours of the reference 410 Brazil team

In its early years, Subbuteo had a fierce rivalry with Newfooty. In the run-up to Christmas 1961, Adolph introduced a three-dimensional handpainted plastic figure into the range. After several design modifications, this figure evolved by 1967 into the classic "heavyweight" figure pictured. Newfooty ceased trading in 1961 after a failed television advertising campaign but its demise is thought to be linked to the launch of the moulded Subbuteo players. There were several further evolutions of figure design. In 1978 the "zombie" figure was introduced to facilitate the machine painting of figures. After much negative feedback, the zombie figure was replaced in 1980 by the "lightweight" figure that continued until the 1990s when Hasbro acquired Waddingtons Games, which owned Subbuteo.[6]

After Hasbro bought Waddington Games in 1994, Subbuteo sales declined from about 150,000 sets per year to 3,000 in 2002 and just 500 sets in 2003, when production was stopped.[6]

Hasbro relaunched Subbuteo in 2005 with flat photorealistic card-style figures on bases, rather than three-dimensional figures. The relaunch was not a success and was again discontinued.

In 2012, Hasbro licensed Subbuteo to Eleven Force and it returned to the shops with a new style of three-dimensional rubber figures, launching Subbuteo into its eighth decade of production. Subbuteo also made other things for the collector, such as stands to create a stadium, cups, crowds, policemen and much more.

In 2020, Hasbro awarded the licence to Longshore, although Eleven Force remained Subbuteo's Spanish distributor. It was reported that Hasbro had been unhappy with Elevenforce's lack of interest in markets outside Spain.[7] In May 2020, Subbuteo World, a long-term UK seller of Subbuteo, announced it was advising Longshore, and that there would be new teams, a Subbuteo VAR set, and new fences.[8]

Subbuteo is a registered trademark of Hasbro Inc.

Gameplay

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Subbuteo inside packs
Subbuteo players

Playing Subbuteo is a physical simulation of association football, involving dexterity and skill in flicking the playing figures, which stand on weighted bases, across the tabletop pitch towards the ball.

Hundreds of team kits and accessories are available, almost all representing real teams, with the exception of comic book team Melchester Rovers. Along with major teams such as Chelsea, Manchester City, and Real Madrid, unpainted models are also available. There are also many additional accessories, such as new balls and goals, special figures for free kicks and throw-ins, stands and crowd, linesmen, ball-boys, streakers and policemen, floodlights and TV cameras.[9][full citation needed]

The rules are designed to correspond closely with those of association football, albeit with some simplifications and alterations. Players maintain possession as long as the figure they flick makes contact with the ball and the ball does not subsequently hit an opposing figure, although the same figure cannot be used for more than three consecutive flicks. Shots at goal can be taken only once the ball is over the 'shooting line', a line parallel to and equidistant between the goal line and half-way line. The goalkeeper figures are attached to, and manoeuvered with, a rod that fits underneath the back of the goal. The offside law is in effect, but only pertaining to figures that are forward of the opposing team's shooting line (as opposed to the half-way line, as in actual football).[original research?]

Subbuteo World Cup

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There is a Subbuteo World Cup competition.[10][11] In 2024, it was hosted by Royal Tunbridge Wells to commemorate the town being the birthplace of the game.[12]

Here are the previous winners of the Subbuteo World Cup.[13]

Year Host Location Winners Runners-up
1970  England London  West Germany
1974  West Germany Munich  Netherlands  England[14]
1978  England London  Belgium
1982  Spain Barcelona  Italy
1986  Greece Athens   Switzerland
1990  Italy Rome  Greece
1994  United States Chicago  Belgium
1994  France Paris  Belgium
1996  Denmark Silkeborg  Portugal
1998  Belgium Namur  Belgium
2000  Austria Vienna  Italy
2001  Portugal Oporto  Italy
2002  England Birmingham  Belgium
2003  Malta Cottonera  Italy
2004  Italy Bologna  Italy
2005  Belgium Tournai  Italy
2006  Germany Dortmund  Italy
2007  France Les Herbiers  Italy
2008  Austria Vienna  England
2009  Netherlands Rotterdam  Italy
2010  Germany Rain am Lech  Spain
2011  Italy Palmeiro  Italy
2012  England Manchester  Spain
2013  Spain Madrid  Spain
2014  Belgium Rochefort  Spain
2015  Italy San Benedetto  Spain
2016  Belgium Frameries  Austria
2017  France Elancourt  Belgium
2018  Gibraltar Gibraltar  Italy
2022  Italy Rome  Spain
2024  England Royal Tunbridge Wells

FISTF

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International Sports Table Football (FISTF) was founded on 16 June 1992 in Hamburg (Germany).[15]

Merging:

FISTF lays down the playing rules of Table Football.

Video game

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A digital version was released by Goliath Games in 1990 for the Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. CU Amiga gave the game a rating of 95% and said "Goliath have managed to distill the essential elements of the original game and transfer them across to the Amiga."[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hodkinson, Mark (16 October 2006). "Table-topping star of the big flick-off: Uncovering the bizarre playboy lifestyle of Subbuteo's inventor". The Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2007.
  2. ^ "Subbuteo Cricket". BoardGameGeek.
  3. ^ "Subbuteo Rugby". BoardGameGeek.
  4. ^ "Subbuteo Hockey". BoardGameGeek.
  5. ^ a b Martin, Kathy (19 February 2017). Famous Brand Names and Their Origins. Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781781590157. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Subbuteo: Wayne Rooney, as you've never seen him before". The Independent. 15 March 2005. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Why Hasbro chose a little-known Hong Kong company for Subbuteo". Subbuteo.onlin. 10 June 2020. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  8. ^ "New Subbuteo owner reveals exciting plans for the brand". 1 June 2020. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  9. ^ Cult Football. September 2010.
  10. ^ "The Subbuteo story: How a war-veteran-cum-egg-collector invented Britain's legendary tabletop favourite". FourFourTwo.com. 16 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Memories of a Subbuteo Player". FootballIsComingHome.info. 22 June 2013. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  12. ^ McBride, Mike (20 September 2024). "Garden shed helping players prepare for World Cup". BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Hall of Fame < FISTF".
  14. ^ "The Subbuteo story: How a war veteran-cum-egg-collector invented Britain's legendary tabletop favourite". 16 August 2021. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Our Organization < FISTF". Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  16. ^ Dillon, Tony (June 1990). "Screen Scene - Subbuteo". CU Amiga. No. 4. EMAP. pp. 32–35.

Further reading

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  • Payne, Richard (1996). Fifty Years of Flicking Football. Yore Publications. ISBN 187442702X.
  • Adolph, Mark (2006). Growing Up with Subbuteo. SportsBooks. ISBN 1899807403.
  • Willetts, Paul (2008). Teenage Flicks: Memories of the Sub-Beautiful Game. Dexter Haven Publishing. ISBN 9781903660027.
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