History of the Game
Way back at the beginning of time, after playing Subbuteo with a friend, teenage footballer Tommy Waterman wasn’t too impressed, and thought he could do better. So he invented his own game, and along with some of his young team mates formed a league amongst themselves. This lasted for a few years, until they found out about girls and things... And then they all they took off and got married! A few years later, Tom, himself now married with a son and a daughter, took it up again, radically honing rules, redesigning figures, playing techniques etc.
Things really got going in the late sixties, when Tom met Sir Alan Hardaker, then secretary of the Football League, (pre Premier League), and one of the most influential men in the Football world. Tom invited him to view the game, to assess its potential. Sir Alan was quite impressed. In fact he was impressed enough to try to get the Football League Ltd itself, to sponsor the game. This idea was blocked at the July AGM, when it was moved that, by sponsoring a product such as this, they, the F.L., would in fact, be establishing a precedent and...(You’ll never believe this!) “They do not wish to introduce too much commercialism into football!” (This was from a very disappointed Mr Harry Brown, then P.R.O., The Football League Ltd.)
Nevertheless, seeds were sown in certain areas, and a few weeks later Tom stood in front of no less than the finest group of footballers in the world, and taught them to play football!!!...It was no less than England’s 1966 World Cup winning squad! (Not too many people have done that!) Sir Alf Ramsey, said that Tom, and his footballer pal dooney, could have ‘the lads’ for half an hour. They actually played it most enthusiastically, noisily, and very ‘competitively’, on four tables, for almost three hours! Sir Alf laughingly observed, ‘ Look at ‘em, they’re like a bunch of schoolboys!’ The players organised their own World Cup competition, culminating in a final between Jimmy Greaves and Gordon Banks.
Just after that event, the late, great, Jimmy Hill, played the game. He was most impressed, and invited Tom to demonstrate the game (called T.A.F.4-2-4) on ITV’s, ‘Flagship’, Saturday lunch time, football programme ‘On the Ball!’ It was a huge success, and the next couple of weeks saw the post offices in Guernsey, and Jersey deluged with inquiries for the game. Most, were simply addressed to ‘The inventor of the football game’, Guernsey or Jersey! All stock sold out within just a few weeks. ‘Fledgling’ club shops at Man.Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Middlesbrough, each selling hundreds. (The F.L.s, decision was already being challenged!)
The game was launched on to the market at The Valley, home of Charlton Athletic, then a club in the first Division of the Football League, with a competition between five top players, and five top Sports writers from the National Dailies, including Bryan Moore from ITV. The next day the Daily Mirror devoted almost the entire back page to the event with a picture of Geoff Hurst playing the game.
Another, memorable event, (also similarly well received), occurred soon after, when Tom went to Germany and demonstrated the game to Franz Beckenbauer and his Bayern Munich team mates, the bulk of that squad being players who had been England’s opponents in that memorable 1966 world cup final. If you are a footballer reading this, may we say that, if the two best football teams in the world liked the game so much that it held them for almost three hours... It can’t be bad! And the game they all played back then lags far behind this new game!
Taf 4-2-4 created great interest in the trade and Tom received several approaches from well known companies, inc. Subbuteo, who wanted it (for suppression purposes only). Tom gave that idea very short shrift. Unfortunately, living on a tiny Island in the middle of the English Channel and being heavily involved in running his own local business meant that he failed to appreciate the terrific demand there was for the game over in the UK. Also he had ideas for other games. He then went on to make a gigantic error of judgement in selling a ten year manufacturing licence to a company who ‘modified’ the game, using cheap shoddy components, making it almost unplayable. This was principally caused by a diabolical pitch, which was now changed to a thick white nylon material with the grass printed in green ink. Made for a quarter the cost of the original baize type cloth as used in 4-2-4, it was a very inadequate substitute. The pitch required ironing before playing. Trouble was, it often melted! Renamed ‘Grand Slam’, it was a very poor excuse for a football game.
That licence has long since expired and several years ago Tom tried to re launch it calling it ‘Premier Table Soccer’. Unfortunately this collided head on with the advent of the computer/digital game explosion on to the market which, in turn, caused the demise of many famous, long established, household name board games companies. Those computerised football games have held sway for the past twenty plus years, however many keen table football, (Subbuteo) players have kept that game alive during that period, and now it appears to be staging something of a renaissance.
Similarly Premier Table Soccer also had a few fans who kept it alive, and Tom has continued to mould and develop it, even to producing a new version Taf England, which is a level or two higher than Premier Table Soccer, but which, none the less, is a very good exciting game in itself. This new version, includes several exciting new features and skills, and is now far superior to its ancestor. However a word of warning... There are no buttons to push, levers to waggle, or screens to stare into. Just a ball to control, you can either do it, or, you can’t. And some people can become quite addicted! (Come to think of it...a bit like real football actually!)
Re that other game, although currently manufactured by half a dozen different companies, and under several different names, it still is Subbuteo. And skilful as that game is, in our view, no matter they call it... We really believe that our ‘TAFfootball’ is the better game, and must be of interest to anyone interested in the sport of table football. What do you think?