Subbuteo catalogue, 1969

Chances are if you lay your hands on any Subbuteo catalogue or poster, its main feature will be the ever-satisfying gallery of team kits for you to ponder over. This booklet, however, took a broader view - to promote Subbuteo as a phenomenon and to inform the public on how Subbuteo football is played.

Inside, the text is as finely honed by marketing experts as anything you'll find today. "Why are Subbuteo Sports Games so successful and popular? The simple answer is that they have been invented to mirror the many-sided attractions of modern sport to perfection. On your table in your home. Competition, enjoyment, skill, thrills... they are all there in miniature."

And so it goes on, telling us how Subbuteo Sports Games have been crafted to perfection as "the result of much thought and experiment over the years" to "represent in a boy's mind his favourite sports stars" and "are not just splendid to look at." If you wonder why Subbuteo is still held in such high regard today, it's because Peter Adolph, the creator of Subbuteo and the man that gave us these quotes, knew it was good all along and was finally confident enough to shout it from the rooftops. In the years that followed, more and more of us bought into the beauty of the game and thus a legend was born - no question.

This booklet helped to create an alluring image for the kids that wanted to play the game. Illustrations of Subbuteo figures standing shoulder to shoulder with smart-dressed smiling boys and their father reinforced the cheery vision of family fun that Adolph was keen to promote. Above them, the various boxed sets gave children something to crave the next time a birthday or Christmas came around. With words like 'Continental' and 'International' emblazoned in big red letters on the front, it was difficult for young kids not to get caught up in the excitement of it all.

For anyone still not aware of how the game was played some 23 years after it was first sold, a basic explanation was provided alongside quote after quote from satisfied customers the world over. "Vancouver Royals 6 Manchester United 2. Well, it looked pretty good on our table, anyway!" said P.N. Calder in Vancouver, Canada.

Although the wide range of team strips were not shown, several pages were dedicated to detailing many of the football accessories that were available to buy. Among them were a track-suited team "ready to run onto the field" but looking more like a band of onesie-wearing pitch invaders and a 'football statuette' on a plinth "in all club colours." As we've mentioned before, not all Subbuteo accessories had much of a purpose, but at least the sense of creativity behind them was never in doubt.

As if the world of Subbuteo soccer wasn't enough, there was also Table Cricket to master too. A picture showing a game in play provided ample proof that Peter Adolph had applied just as much attention to detail as with the football equivalent. Two groundsmen pulling a roller, sightscreens and a fully operational scoreboard were among many items on hand to complete the image of village green perfection in the juvenile mind.

With Rugby and 'Fivesides' (Subbuteo indoor soccer) also mentioned within the pages of this booklet, it seemed there was an entertaining world of sport to be enjoyed at your fingertips if you were a child of the Sixties. Little did anyone know that this was just the start of bigger things to come in the world of Subbuteo.

The Hotspur Handy Book of Football Club Colours, 1969

There are so many great football nostalgia images around that it would be easy for us to upload one after the other and say "Wow - check these out!"

We wouldn't need to do much more because a picture, as Telly Salavas once implied, paints a thousand words. On this occasion, however, we came very close to doing just that, for this post takes The Hotspur Handy Book of Football Club Colours as its subject.

This simple booklet of sixteen pages measuring just over 15 centimetres by 25 contains nothing but hand-drawn illustrations - 141 in all - showing the football kits worn by league clubs throughout the United Kingdom.

I never bought The Hotspur comic. I was more of a Whizzer and Chips man myself (sorry - 'boy'), but had I known it was prone to giving away free gifts like this back in the day, I'd have quickly turned my back on Sid's Snake, Shiner and Mustapha Million.

Inside the booklet, each double page spread showcased the home kits for a specific division of the English or Scottish Leagues. As is always the case when looking at old football kit designs, you find yourself spotting details that delight with their quirkiness. In the Division 1 of 1969, we see Arsenal wearing blue socks, Wolves wearing a kit devoid of black and Sheffield Wednesday in their blue shirts with white sleeves.

Football League Division 1

In Division 2, Norwich look very natty in their white and yellow hooped socks while Millwall were still in the early days of their seven year stretch wearing all white.

Football League Division 2

Division 3 shows how Reading were taking the hoop motif to dazzling new levels, while Plymouth Argyle had dusted off their nice white kit with a green and black hoop, a review of which written by John Devlin can be found in  this month's Backpass magazine. There's also an appearance by Barrow and Southport, both of whom dropped out of the Football League within ten years of this booklet being printed, and Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic before they changed their name to AFC Bournemouth.

Football League Division 3

In Division 4 you'll find one of the best kits I've discovered in recent years, namely that belonging to Darlington. For some reason those three horizontal black stripes across the middle of the shirt really do look the business to me, and were it not for the likelihood of a sponsor's logo obscuring it, I'm sure it would have already made a comeback in the modern era.

Other curiosities in Division 4 were the inclusion of Workington (who dropped out of the league in 1977), Swansea Town (in their final season before changing name to Swansea City) and Southend United wearing blue and white striped shirts for the only season of their history.

Football League Division 4

Back in 1969, the Scottish League still comprised of two divisions and both are featured here in similar detail. In Division 1, note Raith Rovers having a brief flirtation with a double hoop on an all white strip...

Scottish League Division 1

In Scottish Division 2, meanwhile, Clydebank were trialling a red shirt with white diagonal sash that would change to white with a red sash for the 1969/70 season. Montrose were also depicted in a soon-to-be-gone kit that included a shirt design not dissimilar to that of Raith Rovers.

Scottish League Division 2

As if that wasn't enough, the back cover featured a 'team photo'-style illustration showing the twelve kits from the Irish League. Though the name suggests a competition featuring teams from the Republic of Ireland in the modern sense, this was in essence the 'League of Northern Ireland'.

And my favourite kit from this batch? It would have to be the one worn by Glentoran. You don't see the red, green and black in those hoops coming together very often, but it's certainly a nice combination.

The Irish League

With that, this lovely little book is rendered complete, but in a revolutionary move that won't be repeated on this website (not if I've got anything to do with it at least), we must pay lip service to a double page spread featuring the 'Top Rugby League Teams.'

'Top Rugby League Teams'

Quite honestly I know nothing about Rugby so here I am forced to retain a dignified silence while you look at the image above. As for the rest of the booklet, I could talk for hours about all those wonderful drawings. They're absolutely fantastic.

England v Scotland programme, 1969

The final crucial game in the 1969 Home International Championship saw the holders and world champions England facing the only team that could top the table in their stead - Scotland.

The match was played at Wembley and for the first time in decades the Home International competition was played at the end of the season. Rather than having all matches scattered from October to February, the Home Internationals were now played over the course of one week in early May. It was physically more demanding for all the players involved and also less significant than the previous tournament that had acted as a qualifying contest for the 1968 European Championships.

Nonetheless, the old rivalries still remained and England fancied their chances of retaining their title. A 3-1 win over Ireland and a 2-1 win over Wales meant England needed only a draw against the Scots who knew they had to win. Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent was the invited Royal guest, and she, along with 90,000 or so others would ultimately witness a high-scoring and enjoyable match.

Inside the programme, Brian Glanville set the scene by reminding us that this was all part of England’s preparation for the 1970 World Cup Finals as well as being a much welcomed annual grudge match. Only the right sort of players would be included in the Mexico '70 squad and the feint-hearted need not apply:

“The question of ‘big match temperament’ becomes increasingly vital” said Glanville. “It is risky to make quick judgements on whether or not a player has this temperament. In 1934, after Stanley Matthews, in his second international against Italy, had had a poor match, a columnist wrote in the Daily Mail that he’d shown ‘the same faults of slowness and hesitation’ as in his first match, against Wales. ‘Perhaps’ wrote the columnist ‘he has not got the big match temperament.’”  That’s the Daily Mail for you, Brian…

The England team was in the early stages of transition after the success of 1966 and, as Glanville had pointed out, Ray Wilson and George Cohen were no longer among the squad players listed at Sir Alf Ramsey’s disposal. Instead, new faces were emerging including Everton defender Gordon West, Blackburn full back Keith Newton and a promising young Leicester striker called Allan Clarke.

On the visiting side’s roster were numerous quality players, many of whom had stopped England from beating Scotland at Wembley since 1961. With Celtic's Tommy Gemmell at the back, captain Billy Bremner of Leeds United in midfield and Rangers striker Colin Stein up front, the Scots had more than a fighting chance of winning.

The England manager, however, was focused on the longer term plan of retaining the World Cup the following year. In ‘Sir Alf Speaks’, Ramsey explained the preparations already well underway in the lead up to the competition: “You are probably aware that in a few weeks the senior squad of players, most of whom I trust will be in the World Cup party next year, leave to play two matches in Mexico. Then we go on to play Uruguay in Montevideo and Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. While in Mexico I intend to finalise accommodation and training arrangements for our stay there next year. I am reasonably aware of the problems facing us, particularly from a climatic and altitude viewpoint.”

Aside from match practice and accommodation, however, Sir Alf was also looking at the clothing his players would be wearing at the World Cup, and here we were given something of an exclusive: “We have been testing light-weight shirts, boots and equipment for some time. In the World Cup, we shall play in an all-white strip, which affords maximum advantage and comfort under the conditions. Our change strip will be all sky-blue.” Nice…

Back at Wembley, the fans had everything they needed in their programme to feel the sense of occasion alright. There was a quiz featuring ten questions that only the most die-hard fans could have answered, and there were trivia facts galore about the match to come.

One surrounded the fact this would be a live match covered by BBC Television – something of a rarity back in the 1960’s. A large audience watching from home was hoped for, and even an all-time record wasn't out of the question: “It will take 27 million, the number which saw the World Cup Final and almost half Britain’s entire population. One million fewer watched Manchester United beat Benfica – also at Wembley – in last year’s European Cup Final.” No pressure then…

The actual figure for that final TV audience sadly remains something of a mystery, but for the England fans witnessing the match in person, there was at least a happy ending. England won the match 4-1 and the Home International championship was there’s once more. A suitable occasion to celebrate with a glass of a well-known brand of Pale Ale, no doubt...

The Big Match - December 1969 - Part 2

Last week we brought to you 'The Big Match - December 1969 (Part 1)' from David Poza, creator of the epic 'On This Day' series on YouTube that showcases historical football matches for every day of the year. Here, we present Part 2!

DEBATE

So, game finished, 2-1 for the R’s and we are back to the studio with Jimmy Hill and our guest, a “handsome skipper Terry Venables” (would that sound acceptable today?) talking in very polite terms about the game itself. And for this, ladies and gentlemen, we see a SLOW MOTION REPLAY! For most of us, it seems very normal to have 450 replays focusing frame by frame on how good a player moves his hair in order to head a ball, but in 1969 we had to wait to the end of the highlights to see the goals and some actions with the voice of the protagonists.

Sat in the marvellous “glam rock” studio, both Hill and Venables discuss the first goal by Birmingham, pointing out the poor defence they had when they conceded the goal (Venables points out that they will be practising that sort of free-kick on Monday).

And then, another big development appears: A camera behind the goal, which was very advanced at that time, and twinned with the slow-motion it gives us the chance to answer a question Hill poses: “Did Barry Bridges touch the ball in the first goal before the ‘keeper gets it?” The slow-motion machine stops and... definitely, he touches the ball before. So, no chance for a 6-year-old lad who might consider writing to Brian Moore and asking about it!

The Birmingham defence is also mentioned, because Venables thinks that with that defence (two players going to head a ball with only one QPR player) they would not be able to beat Chelsea in the Cup the following week (and they didn’t - they lost 3-0).

Jimmy Hill finally is very scared about the reputation of both teams’ players as hard men, because in the Sunday papers that morning the reader could see three players were booked. He thinks they could bring the game into disrepute, but in fact one of those bookings was a very funny moment when a Birmingham player makes a “fantastic” save.... on the halfway line!

Another booking was merely for a QPR player showing dissent. If Jimmy is seeing today’s football (I’m absolutely certain that he is) he must be very proud if a team finishes the game with only one booking. We all know that in those days the game was very hard, but Hill seems to think that three names taken means big trouble for the future of the sport. Nowadays, we have Pepe, the Dutch team in 2010 World Cup Final... and nobody is yelling “They are spoiling soccer!”

MORE GAMES

Here, Jimmy apologises again when presenting the Sunderland vs Manchester United game. He said in the beginning that it was Joe Baker’s first game for The Mackems, but Brian Moore corrects him. You wouldn't see this these days, what with having Twitter and Facebook to correct it!  In fact, it was Joe’s first goal for the team from the north-east. So, time for the presentation of the game, and this is one of the most famous sentences used by the anchormen when presenting a match:

"Let’s just watch it now, with pictures by Tyne-Tees Television, and the commentary by Geoff Thomas."

No caption to mark the game, but a picture of the new scorer. And this game is one of the strangest I have seen on The Big Match. Apart from seeing the goal and some near misses, accompanied by the “over-excited” commentary of Mr Thomas, there's something missing...

Where is Manchester United's goal?  Where is Brian Kidd’s effort to make it 1-1?

Unfortunately there were technical troubles during two minutes of that game and it was during that time he chose to score the goal! So for all Manchester United fans from London (still no “glory-hunters”) there's a huge disappointment; waiting nearly 50 minutes to see the goal, and nothing! Also, notice the heavy fog at Roker Park. Where is the ball you may ask? I certainly don’t know!

Time for the last game, Ipswich Town vs Tottenham, with pictures from Anglia Television and Gerry Harrison is the commentator. We have a caption to show which game we're seeing. And at Portman Road, one of the rarest cameras we have seen to cover a game: behind the goal. Anglia, and his director, Bob Gardam, had many problems placing a camera where it is natural to have it; at the halfway line, and decided to put it in behind the goal. It was also common at Norwich until 1972.

The game finished 2-0 for the Tractor Boys, and we finally mention two things: another delightful scoreboard, and one of the last games of Jimmy Greaves in a Spurs shirt (at least on TV) until he joined West Ham. Here, he wears the number 8.

So, three games, a different commentator, a camera behind the goal, a goal missing, Terry Venables and his stupendous haircut and of course, Jimmy Hill. As this was the last edition of THE BIG MATCH of the 1960's, Jimmy sums up by wishing all of us a happy New Year. Finally some new year predictions are shown (the actual outcome is shown in brackets):

• Arsenal – Winning the Fairs Cup (ACCOMPLISHED)
• Chelsea – Win the League Title (Not at all - they won the FA Cup)
• QPR – Win promotion to Division One (They finished 9th, despite winning that day)
• Orient and Luton – Promote to Division Two (ACCOMPLISHED)
• Brentford – Promoting to Division Three (Finished 3 points behind)

So, 2 out of 5, Jim. Not bad! See you in 1970 (or we are in 2013?) with a goal by Barry Bridges. And with that, the show finishes with scenes of Loftus Road emptying, along with its terraces and floodlight pylons. Bring them back I say!

A huge thanks to David for this excellent piece! If you'd like to share your nostalgia memories with us, why not get in touch? Just drop us a line to admin [at] thefootballattic [dot] com and we'll do the rest!

Soccerboss / Goal! / Wembley ad, 1969

We wonder what the 'scientific approach' was that was used in 'Goal'? Anyone got any thoughts?