The beautiful game in miniature is making a glorious comeback!
Subbuteo, the classic tabletop football board game, celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2021, and has seen a resurgence of popularity among old and new fans since lockdown. Long before the FIFA series, Subbuteo was the original football game, and at its peak it was selling over 300,000 copies a year in the UK. One of the stars of Subbuteo’s professional players circuit, Justin Finch, insured his right hand for £160,000 ahead of the 1987 Subbuteo World Cup!
The game is deeply embedded in popular football culture, and its recent revival is part of the lockdown vogue for analogue games that divert our attention away from digital screens.
Interested in joining the miniature football movement? Our guide has everything you need to get started, building your own team, learning the rules and various gameplay strategies, and becoming a Subbuteo champion!
Ready to take to the pitch? Read on for everything you need to know about Subbuteo…
Subbuteo Team Edition
Gameplay and Rules
- Subbuteo’s finger-flicking gameplay combines aspects of chess, snooker, and football. Simply flick your players to kick the ball. Master the flick to develop control of your team’s gameplay, guiding your Subbuteo figures to make delicate touches, play tiki-taka passing football, launch defensive blocks, and score beautiful goals!
- Teams of 20mm scale players, mounted on special rounded bases, are flicked in order to move the plastic ball around the pitch.
- The Subbuteo pitch has one important difference – a shooting line drawn between the penalty area and the halfway line. Players can only shoot for goal when they are beyond the shooting line.
- Formations replicate real football, with 4-4-2 still the popular favourite.
- During gameplay, players take it in turns to play attack versus defence.
- The attacking team move by flicking their players to pass, dribble, and shoot the ball.
- A player can only kick the ball 3 times consecutively – they must pass to another player on or before their 4th flick.
- For every attacking flick, the defending team can make a defensive flick. The aim of the defending team is to move into position to make an interception.
- If the attacking team flicks the ball and it touches a defending player first, possession changes hands.
- Goalkeepers are controlled by a custom-made rod. They must stay on their line when defending a shot. Special flicking goalkeepers can be substituted on to take goal kicks and rush off the line.
- Some Subbuteo players have different base designs. Different bases can provide different in-game playing techniques, enabling more powerful flicks, or more loft for crosses and defensive clearances.
- For a more in-depth video tutorial on the rules of the game, check out this guide by popular Youtuber “Subbuteo Collector”.
The Benefits of Playing Subbuteo
Spark your imagination by building your dream football club!
By placing the power in your hands (or, more specifically, your flicking fingers), Subbuteo can unleash your creativity and spark your imagination!
Armed with just 22 plastic figures and a miniature ball, Subbuteo players turn their living rooms and lofts into iconic football stadiums.
In contrast to an immersive and responsive videogame like FIFA, Subbuteo relies on your own imagination to make the game come to life. And the possibilities are endless. Put yourself up front for your favourite team, rerun England’s penalty shootout heartache in the Euro 2020 final, or set up a David and Goliath FA Cup tie between your local team and Liverpool!
This type of traditional analogue activity can help children unlock the power of their own imaginations.
Learn some DIY skills by building your dream stadium!
As well as a finger-flicking game, Subbuteo is essentially a model hobby, transforming every aspect of the beautiful game into a scale model.
The models are intricately detailed, encouraging players to take pride in building their own Subbuteo football stadiums.
For Subbuteo stadium architects, the possibilities are endless. There are a wide variety of accessories available, including grandstands, floodlights, customisable scoreboards, corner flags, crowds, security guards, camera crews, and even a Subbuteo streaker!
In addition, you can find a team painted in almost any current or history team, and you can even buy your own unpainted teams to create fantasy sides!
Building your stadium, assembling your accessories, and painting your players will teach you some handy and highly transferrable DIY skills.
Become a tactical mastermind
Before the days of iPads and video analysis, some managers used Subbuteo pitches to discuss tactics and formations with their teams. Why? Subbuteo allows players to zoom out from the pitch, taking an aerial view of the game like a chess master assessing their various pieces on the board. Such a view can help you develop your tactical understanding of the game, introducing young players to strategic thinking.
Inspire the next Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp with a game of Subbuteo!
Develop a new skill while learning patience and perseverance
Subbuteo takes time to master. Flicking Forever is an online platform providing Subbuteo training exercises for players of all levels, including introductory lessons, mini-games, and a tactic school.
Learn what it takes to master a skill while having fun playing your favourite game in miniature!
Collecting can improve your mental health
Studies have shown collecting hobbies to provide important benefits for mental health.
Collecting is a form of self-expression, and hobbyists experience a sense of accomplishment as they build their collections. Collecting can provide a sense of comfort and control, and can encourage hope and connection with others.
Own a piece of footballing history by collecting pieces from the iconic Subbuteo brand. Popular sets include the brilliant Dutch side of 1988, and the special editions released for World Cups and European Championships.
Develop dexterity and hand-eye coordination
The subtle and precise flicks of the finger during gameplay, combined with the intricate movements required for figure painting and stadium assembly, can help players of all ages develop dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
Think the game looks easy? Try saving a penalty with your goalkeeper, or defending a counter-attack, and you might change your mind!
Join a community of fans of all ages
Subbuteo is loved by players of every generation, and has experienced a lockdown boost, bringing families and friends together to bond over a shared passion.
Last summer, the Twitter hashtag #SubbuteoMemories highlighted the game’s nostalgia, with one fan remembering sprinkling talc on the pitch to make it look like it had snowed! For those nostalgic fans, this 1977 TV advert is sure to trigger some happy memories!
As a newcomer to Subbuteo, you’ll be joining a passionate community enjoying an analogue hobby that brings people together in person rather than on the computer. This provides a chance for young people to develop their social skills and connect with like-minded people.
The community is constantly expanding as the game continues to recruit new fans, and there are clubs for players and collectors to join in the UK and across the world. Gerry Harrington, who runs the runs the Haverhill Rovers Subbuteo and Table Football Club in Suffolk, highlighted the benefits of the game during lockdown. “I know of players at other clubs who have had mental health issues and it has really brought them out.”
The rise of 12-year-old Ruby Matthews, a Welsh table football champion and a favourite for the table football World Cup 2022, shows that the game is reaching new audiences. Subbuteo really is for everyone!
History
Subbuteo was first launched in 1947, invented by English game designer and RAF veteran Peter Adolph.
Having had his original patent application to call the game “The Hobby” turned down, Adolph chose “Subbuteo”, the Latin name of a bird of prey commonly known as the Hobby Hawk. The bird’s head became a Subbuteo logo in the 1970s.
The first sets were and were made out of wire and cardboard. There was no pitch – a piece of chalk was provided so that players could mark out their own pitch on an old army blanket. After the war every home had one of these blankets, and this bit of resourcefulness kept the set small and cheap to produce!
In 1961 Adolph introduced the 3D hand-painted plastic figures that evolved into the classic modern designs. These figures are known as “heavyweight” players. By 1980 a new lightweight version was released.
Hasbro bought the rights to Subbuteo in 1994, and in 2020 Longshore Ltd was awarded the license to produce sets by Hasbro.
Fun Facts
There are Subbuteo versions of cricket, rugby, hockey, and even angling (Bob Mortimer recently revealed he was a big fan!)
There are a wide range of weird and wonderful Subbuteo figures, including ball-boys, linesmen, streakers, and even the Queen! We’re not sure HRH be very impressed with the Subbuteo streaker…
Gianluigi Buffon is a huge fan of the game, and recently told the website Subbuteo World that his his collection contains over 500 teams! The legendary Italy and Juventus goalkeeper even starred in an advert for the game.
Subbuteo has several competitive circuits, with one of the most famous known as FISTF (Federation of International Sports Table Football). Check out the FISTF website here.
Artist and Subbuteo fan Terry Lee used salvaged figures and broken pieces to immortalise some of football’s most iconic moments, such as Maradona’s Hand of God, in miniature.
Subbuteo is popular on social media. A Subbuteo stadium tour by YouTuber “Subbuteo Collector” is generating tens of thousands of views!
The game’s classic figures have inspired countless artwork and merchandise, including these print posters dedicated to classic X1s!
Conclusion
With an estimated 3.5 billion fans, football is the world’s most popular sport, transcending national, cultural, social, religious, and language barriers.
Subbuteo captures some of the magic of the beautiful game, providing players of all ages with an engaging tabletop game and a creative modelling hobby.
For you and your family, Subbuteo can open up a wide range of exciting new opportunities – construct a stadium, paint your team’s figures, hone your tactical knowledge, and learn an addictive analogue game with fans around the world.
Are you ready to take on the challenge?
Subbuteo Team Edition
