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Peter Upton's

Subbuteo Tribute Page.

The Team Colours Project.

References 151 - 200.

These are the team colours introduced in the mid.1970s, 165 being the last team in 1973/4, and "190" being the final number in 1977. This was a steady increase, that looks tiny compared to the increase to 322 by 1980. At that point, it was obvious that obsolete numbers needed to be dropped from the range to keep the teams at a  manageable level.

The numbers on this page start with a wide range of international country sides, and then tackles the first influx of individually styled British club kits. British kits from this time on invariably only stay current for a couple of years at most. I've found a couple of kits with  variations in this group. No 170, Burnley, is a plain claret in 1977, but gains a yoke by 1979. No 169 also seems slightly different in the 1979 catalogue and I've included a picture of a heavyweight painted exactly to this new design (newer figure has a darker shirt, large black neck "V" and stripe alteration). Also, No 198 gets added trim. I don't have this variation in an English catalogue, but Jon Shelley found it in an Italian version. These three changes are circa 1979-81, and no other kit changes seem to take place anywhere in the range until 1994.

The final variation on this page is a Hasbro version of Santos - with yellow shirt and socks and green trim. This must be post 1996 as it doesn't feature in any of the Subbuteo catalogues. But have Santos ever played in green or yellow?

The Team colour chart.

Italian issue only? 1986 Catalogue - printing error?? 1990s version

Teams 151-164 (plus 166) were all released first as named World Cup teams for the 1970 World Cup. They were given numbers in the normal range in 1973.

  1. Belgium (later Belgium second). On this number 1973-83
  2. Bulgaria 1973-86. However, this kit was also sold in the 1990s.
  3. Czechoslovakia On this number 1973-80
  4. England (hurrah). Also Tottenham, Bolton Wanderers, Derby County - 1973-83
    Other versions: 154 was shown with black shorts in the "zombie" catalogues of 1979 to '81. It also gains a collar and cuffs at this time. With the l/w catalogues of  1982 and '83, the trim remains, but the shorts are once again a dark blue. Whether the black was a printing limitation or not, various versions of this kit have been found in black in Italy, including one with arm trim not shown in the catalogues.
  5. El Salvador 1973-82
  6. West Germany. Also Ayr Utd, Fulham, Hereford Utd, Port Vale, New Zealand...  survived to 1996
  7. Mexico, Eire, South Africa, and others. On this number 1973-86
  8. Morocco - Basically No1 with green sock tops. Wow. 1973-85
  9. Peru. 1973-82
  10. Rumania 1973-86

Luton 1979-80 Burnley 1979-80 "Reversed" Santos 1996
  1. Russia, or USSR. Again this is No1 with slight sock alterations. 1973-86
  2. Sweden - On this number 1973-81
  3. Uruguay 1973-82
  4. France 1973-82
  5. Santos. First famous Brazilian club side available. But are the colours correct ?? 1973-96
    Final Hasbro version has colours reversed 1996
  6. Iceland, Israel, Italy. Slightly darker blue than No2? 1974-85
  7. Rochdale - for about a year. 1974-80 (survives to the first year of deletions!)
  8. Oxford, Bradford, Chelsea 2nd, Eitracht Frankfurt (Germany). In the 1980s- lots of away kits 1974-86
  9. Luton Town. Classic late 1970s kit. 1974-80
    First version - amber shirt, round collar, black cuffs, one black stripe, one white stripe.
    Second version - tangerine shirt, v-neck, no cuffs, thick white stripe between two thin black stripes (painted as a thin white stripe on top of a thick black one).
  10. Burnley. Interesting variation produced. 1974-80

173 with blue shorts 1977-80

  1. Middlesborough in the late 1970s. 1974-80
  2. Coventry City in the mid 1970s. Became Crewe 2nd, VFL Bochum (Ger) and Tours (France) 1974-86
  3. Portsmouth. White shorts 1974-76, blue shorts 1977-80
  4. Australia, and Montijo (Portugal) 1974-86
  5. Haiti 1974-86
  6. Zaire For that classic 1974 World Cup appearance. 1974-86
  7. Charlton Athletic. No 1 with trim. 1974-80
  8. Ayr Utd. Farense (Portugal) 1974-83
  9. Halifax Town 1974-80. Looks like the later Wimbledon kits.
  10. East Stirlingshire 1974-84. 

The Airdrie "V" appears to shrink over a series of catalogues. By 1995 it is just a red collar.
  1. Partick Thistle. All too briefly. Later adopted for Bradford City 2nd, and Orleans (France) 1974-84
  2. St Mirren, briefly in the 1970s. Then Udinese 2nd in 1981-82 1974-82
  3. Airdrie. 1974-96
  4. Shrewsbury Town. 1974-80
  5. Motherwell 1974-80. 
  6. Northampton. 1974-80.
  7. Originally Forfar. Kept going by Sliema Wanderers FC (Malta) into the mid 1980s. 1974-86
  8. Paris FC (France). 1974-80
  9. Peterborough 1974-83
  10. Kilmarnock. 1974-80

The Original 191-195 (as shown in the Italian Catalogue of 1976)

  1. Leeds 2nd 1976-77 Became 208 (with extra trim?) in 1978
  2. Wales 1976-77. Became a C500 team in 1977, and No 319 in 1978
  3. Scotland 1976-77 Became a C500 team in 1977, and 318 in 1978
  4. Coventry 1976-77. Became 206 in 1978
  5. West Ham Utd 1976-77. Became 209 in 1978

These teams were given the numbers 191-195 in the Italian catalogues of 1976, while the English catalogues stayed at 190 throughout 1976 and 1977. However, these teams were sold in England in 1976-77 - either in named boxes such as "New West Ham", or simply "West Ham", or as properly numbered boxes. So these teams can be found in the long boxes with card interiors from the mid-1970s (whereas the 191 below would've been in a short box). I've no idea why Subbuteo forgot these numbers when the large 1978 team increase took place. 

194 (machine painted) with stripes reversed. Thanks to Andrea Bianchini for spotting this one. Alternate version with added trim.
  1. Manchester City. Also Paris FC in 1980. 1978-83
  2. Leicester City. 1978-82
  3. Aberdeen. 1978-81
  4. Crystal Palace 1978-87
  5. Dumbarton. 1978-80
  6. Dundee. 1978-81
  7. Orient. 1978-83
  8. Mansfield Town, Oxford Utd. 1978-83
  9. Probably Borussia Mönchengladbach. 1978-80
  10. Rochdale. Another short lived kit from this impressive English side. 1978-80

At this point the pages grow to double size to cope with the influx of new sides during the 1980s.


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