Mark Adolph was the envy of his schoolmates - he never had any problem getting rare Subbuteo teams because his Dad invented the game and owned the factory that made it.

In this book Mark tells the story of Subbuteo from the very early days when his father Peter had thousands of orders but no games with which to supply them. He recounts his father’s adventures in football as a director of Tonbridge FC and supporter of Queens Park Rangers, as an avid collector of luxury cars and as “a bit of a rogue”.

Did you know why the game is called ‘Subbuteo’? It’s because Peter Adolph wanted to call it ‘The Hobby’ but was persuaded this was not specific enough. Peter was an ornithologist and Falco Subbueto Subbueto is the Latin name for the bird of prey The Hobby Hawk.

Peter began his adventure with an advertisement in Boys Own magazine in 1947, offering a new table top football game for 7/6d (37.5p in new money). At that time the idea was just that, an idea, and Peter went off to New York to value a birds’ egg collection. Once there he got a telegram from his mother asking what she should do with £7,500 worth of 7/6d postal orders, worth about £750,000 in present terms. Then began the frantic process of making the game and suggesting it should be played on a pitch made from an old Army blanket!

“Peter Adolph was a James Bond-like figure, a hard-drinking womansier with a penchant for fast British sports cars.”
Andrew Baker, Daily Telegraph

“It is some story, framing the rich and restless life of an enigmatic man, part-international play-boy and part homespun local businessman.”
Mark Hodkinson, The Times

“The story of the game is fascinating, particularly as Adolph, a serial womaniser and heavy drinker, seems to have a remarkable knack for getting into scrapes, once being challenged to a duel after some ill-advised flirting at a trade fair in Belgium. ... there is a great story here, and some moments of high comedy.”
FourFourTwo magazine