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Subbuteo versus Schroders

Adam Walker raises his spirits to report on the Subbuteo® tournament between BW and Schroders.

Regular readers of the BW website will be aware of the London office's interest in the classic table football game Subbuteo® ("just flick to kick") - remember Euro 2000?

The above webpage was noticed by our friends at investment manager Schroders, and a gauntlet was accordingly thrown down. Four talented Schroders flickers were selected to line up against the cream of Barnett Waddingham, who began the gamesmanship by using home advantage to select two different playing surfaces ("normal" and "astroturf"). Schroders' main man Terry Mellish drew first blood by sustaining a finger injury in the warm-up. The crucial selection decision - whether to use the newer "solid-base" players with their straight-line accuracy or the older-style hollow-base players with their stupendous body-swerving ability - saw the Schroders veterans Mellish and Ball opt for the older teams from Colin Mayger's enormous bag of teams, which included such notable kits as a particularly nasty Scotland effort from the early 1990s and an orange number described on the box as Holland/Blackpool/FC Volendam.

Schroders began strongly with wins over BW players in the first two games. More gamesmanship followed with Adam Walker controversially shooting past in immobile goalkeeper as Greg Skinner searched around on the floor for a missing player. Steve Aukett's turbo-charged one-touch style slowed dramatically as the heat and humidity started to take their toll. As the tension mounted, use of comedy accessories such as the "specialist throw-in" and "specialist corner-takers" began to wane. It was BW who finished the stronger, with Aukett and Skinner left to contest an all-Schroders wooden spoon match. The iron was then brought out to heavy-roller the pitch after some Schroders complaints of BW players making use of "local conditions" (i.e. minor creases in the pitch).

The two semi-finals proved to be contrasting affairs as Mellish edged out Mayger in a close contest, while Walker was almost booked for excessive goal celebrations on the way to a smooth 3-0 victory over Andrew Ball.

The wooden spoon game proved to be a classic with a goal for each side within 30 seconds of each other, and Skinner blowing a chance to equalise immediately after Aukett's second goal, which was soon followed by a third to kill the game in the final few minutes.

In the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the final, Terry Mellish's goal allowed his team (playing in Glasgow Celtic colours) to relax against a Walker side which had clearly peaked in the semi-finals and suffering from the unpopularity effect of wearing the strip of the German national side. Victory, then, for Schroders over BW, and for old-style Duncan Edwards-type panache over the newer Roy Keane mode. The participants then retired to a nearby watering-hole to discuss the evening's events and the prospect of a return fixture at a future date.

Thanks to Schroders for donating prizes for the evening, and to the crowd (who were very well-behaved even in the highly-charged moments). Any other challengers out there?

A full summary of the results follows:

Group A:
Mellish v Carter 2 - 0
Skinner v Walker 0 - 2
Mellish v Skinner 2 - 1
Walker v Carter 3 - 0
Mellish v Walker 1 - 1
Carter v Skinner 3 - 1

Group B:
Ball v Beckley 2 - 0
Mayger v Aukett 0 - 0
Ball v Aukett 1 - 1
Mayger v Beckley 2 - 1
Ball v Mayger 1 - 2
Aukett v Beckley 0 - 2

Final group tables:

Group A:
Team Goals Pts
Walker (BW) 6:1 7
Mellish (Sch) 5:2 7
Carter (BW) 3:6 3
Skinner (Sch) 2:7 0

Group B:
Team Goals Pts
Mayger (BW) 4:2 7
Ball (Sch) 4:3 4
Beckley (BW) 3:4 3
Aukett (Sch) 1:3 2

Semi-finals:

Mayger v Mellish 0 - 2
Walker v Ball 3 - 0

Final:

Mellish v Walker 1 - 0

Wooden spoon:

Aukett v Skinner 3 - 1

For photos of the encounter, click on the PDF document in the image bar on the right..

Adam Walker, August 2002.