In all
honesty it’s hard to get excited about this one. For those of us of a certain
age, the most interesting thing is the image of the football on the reverse of
the circular playing board. In my part of the world (the Black Country) these
were known as “caseballs” or “caseys” for some reason, as opposed to the
moulded plastic lightweight alternatives.
The company
producing this game is Sportslink Limited, who seem to have long since gone.
The endorsements are from Gordon Banks (Stoke City and England goalkeeper for
any youngsters reading this) and George Best (Manchester United and Northern
Ireland). These two would have been icons of the game at that time, although
Banks was on the verge of retirement following an eye injury sustained in a car
accident. They are clearly recognisable among the otherwise generic images on
the front of the box, and their autographs appear on the edge of the box lid.
As for the
game … put your footballer figure (they are all plain white, presumably so you
could paint them) and your token in the right place on the board, and take it
in turns to roll a die, move your pieces, take cards, obey the instructions,
work out who won the “match” and move your pieces again. Standard stuff, and
hard to see where any skill or judgement is needed. At first glance, this game
seems to be in the same category as ludo or snakes and ladders. As the game
progresses, your pieces converge on the trophy in the centre of the board.
The only
other thing worthy of comment is that one player (on the basis of dice rolls)
is appointed as referee, and gets a little black book of rules.
