1 Pro Action Football
Subbuteo’s geeky younger brother, Pro Action Soccer, relied not on flicking but pushing as the players glided around the pitch like under-dressed Torvill and Deans (in theory at least).
As well as sliding around the pitch on a ball bearing, you could also make the players pass the magnetic ball by smacking them on the heads. I’m sure many Manchester United players have been tempted to see whether this works in real life on Cristiano Ronaldo!
5 old school football Christmas presents continued
2 Bull Boys Shoes
Bull Boys Shoes are what you need; get the power on your feet.’ Can you believe that someone complained that Gareth Southgate‘s signature was pre-printed on the accompanying free football? Anyway, the company soon decided Southgate wasn’t hip enough to front their product and replaced him with… Alan Hansen!
3 Kickmaster
Kickmaster is still available, but back in the day it was backed by a TV advertising campaign fronted by Les Ferdinand (a better choice than Gareth Southgate I’m sure you’ll agree). Kickmaster allowed you to practice your keepy-uppies without the danger of erm… whatever the danger of keepy-uppies is!
4 Jack Charlton’s Match Fishing
You may think fishing is pretty dull. You may think pretending to fish on a games console is even duller. The only this game had going for it (and it certainly wasn’t the graphics) is Jack Charlton‘s pixelated mug on the cover. It was available on the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, if you have either of those lurking in a cupboard somewhere!
5 Gary Lineker’s Favourite Football Stories
A compilation of football fiction rubber-stamped by everyone’s favourite jug-eared goal poacher turned TV presenter. Still available from Amazon (for as little as 1p second hand- take heed!).
[Rob Parker]