By Adam Shergold for MailOnline

Published: 10:18 EDT, 13 August 2018 | Updated: 10:18 EDT, 13 August 2018

Mention the word 'Subbuteo' to millions of football fans the world over and their face will immediately light up with a smile.

This table-top representation of the beautiful game, where you 'flicked to kick', provided endless hours of entertainment in living rooms and bedrooms the world over as matches were replicated in miniature.

From humble beginnings in the spare room of its inventor Peter Arthur Adolph just after the Second World War, Subbuteo would grow over the ensuing decades into a worldwide phenomenon which would have seven million annual sales at its peak.

With an ever-growing collection of teams and accessories available to buy at toy shops up and down Britain and many European countries, Subbuteo captured the football fan's imagination in a world before video game simulations.

It spawned national and international tournaments, where keen Subbuteo players would pit their flicking skills against one another.

The game was endorsed by numerous football personalities, from Bill Shankly and Alex Ferguson, to Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton.

And it even entered popular culture with a television series made about it and references in songs such as 'My Perfect Cousin' by The Undertones and 'All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit' by Half Man Half Biscuit.

Once the halcyon days of Subbuteo had passed, the hundreds of different teams, not to mention a myriad of accessories from floodlights to grandstands, became collector's items and, in some cases, worthwhile investments.

In our picture special, we trace how Subbuteo came about, reached worldwide prominence and then declined in popularity. 

An array of early Subbuteo sets and accessories on display at a schoolboy exhibition on New Year's Day 1953. The Mr P.A. Adolph of Tunbridge Wells mentioned on the sign is Peter Arthur Adolph, the game's inventor. The game came into being in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, as crowds flocked back to regular League football with great enthusiasm. Adolph filed his patent for the game in August 1946 and began advertising in comics and magazines a year later. The name? That came from the creator's love of falconry. There is a falcon called the Hobby, whose scientific name is Falco Subbuteo.

Adolph placed the first adverts having drawn up designs for his table soccer game, based very closely on an existing game called Newfooty, but having not thought about how to actually produce it. He was certainly surprised when £7,500 worth of postal orders came back! In the first Subbuteo sets, the players were made of cardboard cut-outs, but by 1949 this had been upgraded to the more familiar plastic shapes, albeit still two dimensional. The game really took off during the 1950s and the scope was broadened to rugby and cricket variants of the game by the 1960s. The above sets are from c. 1960.

Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty uses Subbuteo to deliver a tactics talk to his players during a sunny training session in Ewell, Surrey in 1963, with a group of young boys also taking a keen interest. As you can see, by the Sixties the players had evolved into the three-dimensional plastic figures mounted on bases that we recognise today. Chelsea finished fifth in the First Division in 1963-64 having just won promotion and the following year would lift the League Cup.

Arsenal player Frank McLintock watches his children play Subbuteo at home in 1970. So what did you get with the set? The first Subbuteo games, which cost seven shillings and sixpence, featured goals made with wire and paper nets, a plastic ball, two sets of cardboard cut-out player with bases made from buttons. But they didn't include a pitch, which the instructions recommended should be drawn onto an old blanket with chalk (provided). Finally, in the 1960s, a 'pitch' was supplied.

The popularity of Subbuteo had soared throughout the 1960s, fuelling in this country by England's World Cup triumph in 1966. Soon, the living room friendlies between school friends morphed into organised competitions and in 1967, the English Table Soccer Association was formed. By 1970, the inaugural International Subbuteo Tournament was played in the Abraham Lincoln Suite at the Savoy Hotel in London, with 13 nations involved. Football League secretary Alan Hardaker can be seen here 'flicking off' the competition.

Toy maker Waddington bought out Adolph and his rapidly-expanding company for around £250,000 in the late Sixties and sales remained steady into the 1970s. In the year this photograph was taken, 1974, Subbuteo fans staged their own version of the World Cup in West Germany. Unlike the real thing, England qualified and actually reached the final, losing 2-1 to Holland. 

Everton players Joe Royle (left) and Roger Kenyon enjoy a game of Subbuteo in February 1975, although the quality of play probably wasn't great on such an undulating surface! You might notice that the figures have evolved one again and, around this time, Subbuteo started mass producing figures that were assembled and painted by machines. Unfortunately these figures lacked any distinguishing features and were duly nicknamed 'zombies' - and were soon ditched.

School kids enjoy a game of Subbuteo in the 1970s and it appears 'sir' may have just scored a goal... He obviously had a good 'flick to kick' technique and mastery of this basic skill was essential to playing the game. According to the instructions, you should place the first or second finger of whichever hand you used, directly behind the player with the nail just touching the surface. With the table acting as a small spring, the figure is gently flicked against the ball. The thumb is not used.

It's 1976 and former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly is using his retirement to practice his Subbuteo skills at home. Shankly was no doubt playing in a team wearing Liverpool red, one of over 750 different Subbuteo kits produced during its history. 174 of these featured on a wallchart of international colours available to buy in the 1973-74 Subbuteo catalogue, a poster of wonder to enthusiasts, that was updated every year. 

Liverpool team-mates John Toshack (left) and Ray Clemence play a miniature international friendly between Wales and England in May 1976. It isn't surprising to see Clemence adept at manoeuvring his little goalkeeper, much to Toshack's frustration. The keeper is unlike any other Subbuteo player, being attached to a rod that fits under the back of the goal and allows for easy movement. These used to be made of metal wire before being eventually replaced with green plastic. As the rules state, there can be little reaction time once the ball is shot, so it's key to study the position of your opponent's finger.

Still in 1976 and, continuing a theme of playing out forthcoming matches in miniature, Manchester United's Martin Buchan (left) and Southampton's Mick Channon are previewing that year's FA Cup final. The tiny replica FA Cup is a big clue. Surely these little trophies are the pinnacle of the wide range of Subbuteo accessories produced down the years? The Jules Rimet trophy for the World Cup, the European Cup, the Premier League... they were all made in Subbuteo form. 

Here's a man who knew how to find the net... even in a game of Subbuteo. The legendary Everton forward Dixie Dean, who once scored 60 league goals during a season, finds the net during a game of Subbuteo at home. In an effort to verify whether a shot crossed the line or not - sometimes a tricky business - Subbuteo actually produced an adhesive tape which could be affixed to the net so the ball would stick with it. An incredibly fiddly piece of kit, it's fair to say it didn't take off. 

It's 1977 and, ahead of the League Cup final between the two teams, Aston Villa's Chris Nicholl looks pretty dismayed that Everton's Mike Lyons has just kept out his thunderbolt shot. Note the floodlights by the side of the pitch - as Subbuteo fans will tell you, they look great and were an indication that you had one of the more expensive sets, but the light actually given off by the enormous, quickly-draining batteries didn't exactly replicate the wonder of night-time football.

Italian Andrea Piccaluga, the world Subbuteo champion pictured here playing British champion Paul Linton (right) during his 1979 tour of the UK. Such was Piccaluga's prowess, his flicking finger was apparently insured by Subbuteo for £150,000. During his tour of various toy shops and football grounds up and down the country, the Italian played over 400 matches and didn't lose a single one. He scored over 2,000 goals and conceded just four. Incredible. 

The unlikely sight of a Subbuteo match being played by footballer Trevor Francis, who is preparing to take a corner, and cricketer Geoffrey Boycott, preparing to defend, officiated by cricket umpire Dickie Bird.  It was taken in 1979 at a function for Tiger Comics. The grandstands were a welcome edition to the Subbuteo catalogue, even if it meant leaning over them to make your flicks. You also had to fill them with little spectators, which came either painted or unpainted (cheaper). 

England manager Ron Greenwood keeps a close eye on the World Cup trophy ahead of Espana '82. Presumably the Three Lions did better on the Subbuteo pitch because they didn't get beyond the second round at the real thing.

Chelsea chairman Ken Bates was obviously a fan given he's playing with a Subbuteo-themed cake at this club function in September 1982. Having boomed during the 1960s and 1970s, the Eighties were an uncertain time for Subbuteo as sales declined after a peak of seven million playing the game in the UK in 1982. They had to fight ever-harder for shelf space in toy shops and in 1983 decided that only the top 100 teams would be stocked by retailers, the other 216 available by mail order.

By 1986, only two Subbuteo sets remained on the market - the 'Club' edition and the 'World Cup' version updated every few years. Nonetheless, Subbuteo competitions remained popular. Here Darrell Dunscombe (left), 16, from Stockport and Justin Finch, 15, from Coventry, show off their trophies and medals after winning the senior and junior tournaments at the Subbuteo British finals at the Ladbroke International Hotel at Wembley.

It took until 1990 for the first black Subbuteo players to be introduced to the game. In all teams, including Brazil (pictured), three black players were now produced in the XI. In this same year, manufacturers Waddington were sold to American giant Hasbro for £57million. Unfortunately this wasn't good news for Subbuteo fans, with the range of teams on offer slashed once again. Soon, only the 20 teams of the Premiership were available as Hasbro sought ways to cut costs.

Bobby Moore, England's World Cup-winning captain in 1966, shows off some Subbuteo techniques to young fan Danny. The game had plenty of high-profile ambassadors. In the mid-1970s, it was the former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, who travelled around the country promoting the game. Shankly was replaced by England hero Bobby Charlton in the 1980s. It would seem Charlton's 1996 team-mate Moore was enthusiastic about it as well.

The advent of the Premier League revolutionised English football and permitted Subbuteo to relaunch for a fresh legion of fans. Having gained a Premier League licence, Subbuteo updated their sets every year. This is the 1996 edition, featuring an action photograph of Liverpool and Leeds United on the box. The sets included two teams - one in red, one white and blue - a pitch, two goals, replica Mitre balls, six corner/halfway flags, a referee and linesman, scoreboard, rule book and a replica of the Premiership trophy.

David Baddiel (left), Frank Skinner (centre) and Angus 'Statto' Loughran from the BBC's Fantasy Football League, which aired between 1994 and 1996, partake in a game of Subbuteo. The game has passed into popular culture and there was even a TV drama series based around Subbuteo produced by BBC Scotland in the late 1980s. 'Playing for Real' followed the fortunes of a fictional Subbuteo club Real Falkirk. It only lasted six episodes. 

Scott Averall, the junior Subbuteo champion for Scotland, and Scottish champion Alan Bear get in a game outside Wembley as Scotland prepare to take on England at Euro 96. It was hoped a home tournament would revitalise Subbuteo sales and a special branded set was produced to mark it. But even that couldn't slow a long-term decline in the game's popularity.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson takes on chef Gary Rhodes in February 1999 at the launch of a United-themed restaurant. Fergie seems delighted his micro-scale United side are beating Arsenal 1-0 and they would beat them to the Premier League title that season, the first leg of their historic Treble that also includes FA Cup and Champions League glory.

Into the new Millennium and Sky Sports News presenter Kirsty Gallagher shows off a range of emotions as she plays a game of Subbuteo at the Sky studios. This was a dark time for the game because in January 2000, Hasbro announced production of Subbuteo was to come to an end. It made national news and the outcry from football fans was so vociferous the company were forced to change their minds and committed to another relaunch. 

They briefly made an appearance earlier on... and now we're back to the Subbuteo interpretation of other sports. Rugby in this case as England star Lawrence Dallaglio watches intensely to see if his penalty is converted. The rugby game was originally produced separately to the football version and used discs rather than plastic players. The game shown hit the market in 1969 but proved a fiddly and frustrating experience. In all, the rugby game only accounted for five per cent of sales.

England stars David James (left), Ashley Cole (middle) and Sol Campbell engaged in a game of Subbuteo ahead of the 2002 World Cups finals in Japan and South Korea. Several relaunches were attempted after the turn of the century with a limited selection of leading teams and accessories. Unfortunately, Subbuteo had been overtaken in popularity with a new generation of young football fans more interested in video games such as FIFA and PES than 'flick to kick'.

One of the relaunched sets was the Dream Team Stadium, which featured a suspended scoreboard and cut-outs of the players rather than moulded plastic figures. Here, David James from Cwmbran (left) plays Alan Smith from Dublin at the Old Trafford launch event in 2005. Though a nice aesthetic touch, it looks like the scoreboard makes leaning in to flick more difficult. 

The iconic Subbuteo figure has offered inspiration to artists over the years as well. Take this figure depicting Bobby Moore carried shoulder-high with the Jules Rimet trophy after England's World Cup triumph in 1966 painstakingly created by England fan Tom Taylor in 2010. Taylor created a series of famous England moments in 3cm Subbuteo sculptures.

The latest 'evolution' of the Subbuteo name came in 2012 when Hasbro launches the 'Team Edition'. The new figures were meant to have greater balance and be practically indestructible, while the figures had far greater detail, such as different colours of hair. The fabric of the pitch was also greatly improved to aid ball movement. Subbuteo remains alive and flicking.

And that was in evidence last year at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India, where the England coach Steve Cooper and his staff had a Subbuteo table set up in their dressing room ahead of every match to explain tactics and provide entertainment. The Subbuteo set travels everywhere with the under-17 team. England went on to win the tournament, raising hopes that a bright new generation of stars are coming through the ranks. Perhaps they'll help bring Subbuteo back as well.  

Massive part of my youth.

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