[nlgbbbblth]

Originally Posted by vektarman

I'd forgotten about the TV tower, is there anything subutteo didn't have...

dog sh*t.

Although my friend's dog made up for that by taking a runny crap on the pitch. It was deeply unpleasant and got tangled up in one of the goal nets. He had no table so we had to play on the floor.

I had the floodlights, stands and scoreboard with 1978 World Cup country tags. Used to paint our own team strips from surplus players using Airfix paint. Remember the number stickers that would never stay on?

[DEFTLEFTHAND]

I stapled the pitch on to the back of a plywood board to offer greater stability. Also I made stands out of shoeboxes and the like.

[freedom13]

Yeah, had a world cup version ... the teams were Holland and Argentina, so must have been the 78 edition, although it was around 81/82 when I got it, also got the Ireland team . Ireland always beat Argentina

[Kerrydude1981]

Originally Posted by DEFTLEFTHAND

I stapled the pitch on to the back of a plywood board to offer greater stability. Also I made stands out of shoeboxes and the like.

Dont worry your not the only one that used make stands out of shoe boxes

[telecaster]

Bit of a Subbuteo nostalgia fest:

http://armchairsaint.blogspot.com/2012/04/abandoned-cup-final.html

[Kerrydude1981]

Originally Posted by telecaster

Bit of a Subbuteo nostalgia fest:

http://armchairsaint.blogspot.com/2012/04/abandoned-cup-final.html

Brilliant read,cheers for posting,brings back memories of arguing with my cousins over matches

[Stojkovic]

Yeah I played in the qualifiers for 1978 World Cup in the Central Hotel in Exchequer Street. Won first game, lost second.

Played leagues in school, home and away etc.

"Flick to Kick".

[Lando Griffin]

The older brother had a set, I was very young at the time but remember Spain and Chile being two of the teams with their bent little knees. Many would get near season ending injuries and need emergency super glue surgery; but their balance would never be restored. The keepers arms were also liable to breaks. Never had any of the extras.

[kitakyushu]

We had a the 1990 set of Ireland v England. I was just getting into football at the time and was very excited about football in all it's forms. TBH the game was a bit of a letdown and I never really got into it. Give me FIFA 12 anyday.

Originally Posted by dyer

cousins had it too.. found it pretty boring!

loved supercup football though

I had that game too. Think I probably got in in 1989. Loud as hell. I agree it was more fun than Subbuteo and definitely got more play in our house.

[stovelid]

Aye - we ha d a mini-league amongst my friends and everything.

[toffeeshel]

[J Cheever Loophole]

Just discovered this thread - brilliant!

Subbutteo was huge for us as kids - over the Summer, there were eight of us, and we used to have two pitches going, and play two groups of four with the top two going into semi-finals (as per the 1980, 1984, 1988 Euro Championships). .

The lad who used to host the tournaments (his parents were both out at work) was a subbuteo fanatic, had all the equipment, and was absolutely brilliant at the game itself, playing as Italy. He was able to employ catenaccio (sp?) to deadly effect and invariably won each tournament (advantages of being host!!).

Indeed, subbuteo also introduced a player that could be employed for corner kicks only, which essentially put the ball into the area, via the aerial route. This lad was able to perfect scoring direct from corners, and the only way around it was to hold your keeper in a hover at the near post angle with the cross-bar as he took the kick.

Two particular memories - my 'flicking style' was called into question as I was accused of pushing so I was forced to redefine my game, which affected perfromance and secondly the summer of 1978, in the aftermath of the World Cup, when subbuteo introduced the new Argentina team to their catalogue and everyone, and I mean everyone, bought a set!!

Wonderful wonderful memories - the innocence of it all - thanks to the OP.

[Kerrydude1981]

Originally Posted by J Cheever Loophole

Just discovered this thread - brilliant!

Subbutteo was huge for us as kids - over the Summer, there were eight of us, and we used to have two pitches going, and play two groups of four with the top two going into semi-finals (as per the 1980, 1984, 1988 Euro Championships). .

The lad who used to host the tournaments (his parents were both out at work) was a subbuteo fanatic, had all the equipment, and was absolutely brilliant at the game itself, playing as Italy. He was able to employ catenaccio (sp?) to deadly effect and invariably won each tournament (advantages of being host!!).

Indeed, subbuteo also introduced a player that could be employed for corner kicks only, which essentially put the ball into the area, via the aerial route. This lad was able to perfect scoring direct from corners, and the only way around it was to hold your keeper in a hover at the near post angle with the cross-bar as he took the kick.

Two particular memories - my 'flicking style' was called into question as I was accused of pushing so I was forced to redefine my game, which affected perfromance and secondly the summer of 1978, in the aftermath of the World Cup, when subbuteo introduced the new Argentina team to their catalogue and everyone, and I mean everyone, bought a set!!

Wonderful wonderful memories - the innocence of it all - thanks to the OP.

Flick to kick

[J Cheever Loophole]

Originally Posted by Kerrydude1981

Flick to kick

Ha ha - absolutely correct. In some very 'big' games, my nerves would totally get the better of me, and the technique would go out the window!!

[misterbizmuth]

I have a mate who glued his pitch to a sheet of plywood. Were having a league back then as everyone had a Subbutteo set, and this guy was always forced to be QPR because they had an artificial pitch at the time.