Subbuteo

[merf]

Used to play this all the time, though defo with the wrong rules. We used to simply take it in turns!!!

I played the take turns variant with my dad as the other seemed too much like hard work

I also recall buying airfix paint in blue and yellow and painting over my Argentinian team to make them brazil at the height of the falklands war.

[Kieran76]

Never heard of Subbuteo cricket, but I am guessing that it inspired Test Match which I had and loved.

[nakamura]

Used to love Subbuteo here too. We used to play a lot at school and I managed to win the School World Cup, though I think my mate let me win the final! (I won the Brazil team)

I had the 90s stuff of course, about 10 teams, a scoreboard, fences, lots of goals and balls and one stadium piece. I used to love all the different style of goal nets, I was obsessed with goals as a kid as our school ones never had nets in.

Did anyone with scoreboards ever go through all of the team names and laugh at 'Young Boys' and 'Brest'?

Also had that Test Match game, it was superb.

[Soundwave]

Blimey I didn't expect this kind of response
Awesome reading there guys some great times had by all.
I was never very good & generally lost ALOT but I had so much fun.

my pitch was put on a chip board to keep it straight & the goals were fixed by velcro as well to help keep them stable...didn't always work though a couple of my extra excitable heavy handed mates destroyed more goals then I care to count.

Absolutely! My memories mainly revolve around my mum refusing to iron the pitch so the ball was always going crazy, and general not-quite-knowing the rules. Awesome times!

I had a load of teams, I always wanted the stadiums and that but never could afford them. In hindsight, probably for the best.

So you've still got all your stuff? I propose an ntsc-uk meet in your parents' loft!

Lol yep the un-ironed pitch was the bane of everyones games

Yeah still got tons.
off the top of my head...

Boxed edition
Astro Turf (Still rolled & as mentioned the lie on the tube about being able to roll flat is just rubbish)
Loads of teams
More or less a full stadium including the late 60's double tier terrace
World Cup (jules Remeit version)
European Cup
FA Cup
Scoreboard
Floodlights (that never worked)
Loads of little figure bits to pop round the edge (like the TV crew, ambulance crew etc.)

A meet would be awesome NTSC Subbuteo cup

A friend had the Cricket version & that was good fun...difficult but fun.

I actually had the Rugby edition & that was just plain difficult to do.
in the end we just used to have kicking competitions as we couldn't figure it out.

Ahhh Beatties I remember them well, their section for Subbuteo was immense if you couldn't get it there then you probably couldn't get it.
My nearest Beatties was a good 40 minute drive away so most of my gear came from Allders department store they had a good selection & were really local so suited me fine.

Boot Sales were also a great source for stuff & alot of my stadium pieces & older stock came from there all for mere pennies as well...back when bootsales weren't all full of people trying to sell copied software or albums

Happy simpler times.

Neil

[doodledude]

I loved Subbuteo (still do although I don't play it any more).
When I was about 12 me and my mate used to play everyday after school it seemed like anyway, taking turns in each others house.

I had the astroturf pitch which was sooooo much better than the cloth you get as it stayed flat with no folds or fraying edges.

I've got about 10 teams in my loft, Cameroon, Argentina, Brazil, Dundee! (Liked the orange kit!), Man Utd x few kits from what I remember. Italia '90 balls, scoreboard, corner kickers.

I used to do my own leagues and surprisingly the teams I wanted to win did!

Great game.

Anyone ever have Crossbows & Catapults as a kid? amazing game although my copy has long been lost I'm afraid.

[Kieran76]

Big fan of crossbows and catapults. However, on the last day of school when you could bring games in I brought in my Crossbows and Catapults. It was a big hit with everyone but when I got off the buss on the way home I dropped the box and the bus ran over most of the pieces.

[prinnysquad]

Bizarrely, the old 60s cloth never got any fold lines in it. After laying it out, I'd just give the corners a pull and rub across the cloth, and it would be as flat as you like. I reckon I could get it out now and it would be nice and flat.

Look at the newer pitch:


where you can see the cross-hatch fabric. The old pitch was so smooth, you couldn't see the fabric weave at all. It was almost felt-like in texture, a real dream pitch to play on.



Look at the difference!

[doodledude]

Big fan of crossbows and catapults. However, on the last day of school when you could bring games in I brought in my Crossbows and Catapults. It was a big hit with everyone but when I got off the buss on the way home I dropped the box and the bus ran over most of the pieces.

Thats awful!

I suppose at least I only lost my game when I moved house as a kid.

I've looked on eBay for a similar set/s to mine but they never seem to be complete, always missing something or else its based in the US and I'm not paying stupid P&P for it.

[Rossco]

I need to look up the loft as I thinkkk I may stil have my dads Subbuteo stuff from about 40 odd years ago which I played with when I was a kid. Don't think I ever knew the proper rules but just played it all the time and always had a laugh. Good memories.



This reminds me of another football game where each player on the board had magnets and you had a stick with a magnet on the end that you would move around underneath the board to move the players. Couldn't tell you the name though.

[Soundwave]

Bizarrely, the old 60s cloth never got any fold lines in it. After laying it out, I'd just give the corners a pull and rub across the cloth, and it would be as flat as you like. I reckon I could get it out now and it would be nice and flat.

Look at the newer pitch:


where you can see the cross-hatch fabric. The old pitch was so smooth, you couldn't see the fabric weave at all. It was almost felt-like in texture, a real dream pitch to play on.



Look at the difference!

I think I have the newer style actually.
We didnt have too many issues once it was pinned to the board but before it was horrid.

My friend had the old style & IIRC it was a better quality pitch but his was in a terrible condition by the end & even several goes over with the iron weren't good enough.

Been browsing teh Web for more stuffs & stumbled across this site...

http://www.subbuteoworld.co.uk/

Got some awesome stuff on there...Including brand new Zeugo & Total soccer boxsets which look brilliant & are about as close as we'll get to new stuff.

They even have the Cricket & Rugby bits as well.

Neil

[prinnysquad]

Excellent stuff.

I remember when I bought my first ever 'new' team, with the lightweight players. I just couldn't get used to them after years of playing with the heavier old ones.

[Soundwave]

Lol nope I know what you mean my mate had a few lightweight teams & we used to ping them all over he place because we were used to heavier ones.

Oh speaking of flicking heavy teams did anyone else ever experience the pain of the miss flick & flicking the cloth on the table top???
The pain was immense if you were lining up for a biggie...many a bruised index figure was suffered in the pursuit of a long shot at goal lol

Neil

[ShadowDancer]

IIRC I went through a phase of buying goal keeper sets.

Couldn't you buy them with different stances (Memory a bit hazy)

[Anpanman]

Got the World Cup Edition (I think) one Christmas, huge box with two tiers.

Came with fences, floodlights even the managers/dugouts and ambulance men.

Took ages to set up so most of the time just got the basic pitch out.

Yes you could buy goalies in standing or diving positions.

[Miguel007]

I used to love this as a kid. I'm sure I got a load of teams through some crisp or sweets promotion - I got all my family to save up the tokens for me - or it may have been candy tab sweets I think.

I never played Official Rules, I just used to mess about with them which was brilliant.

Subbuteo and my Match magazine used to keep me entertained back in the day.