Long before FIFA or Championship Manager absorbed football fans on consoles and computers, THE way to play matches at home was Subbuteo.

The table-top game with its miniature figures on semi-circular bases was addictive, and the real enthusiasts didn’t stop at just a pitch, goals and two sets of teams.

There were stands, floodlights, fans, ballboys, policemen, linesmen – and even throw-in and corner takers, diving goalkeepers, scoreboards and ‘astroturf’ pitches.

The game is still available to buy today, but for many the nostalgia of Subbuteo is even more enjoyable than its playability.

In recent years, Subbuteo memorabilia has become quite collectable and bespoke items to celebrate teams, players and occasions have become increasingly popular as gifts for football.

Helen Longworth has already produced four different types of large-framed Watford-themed Subbuteo gifts, as well as one small-framed Hornets piece – but she can pretty much make anything any fan might want!

“A fan can basically buy any figures in a frame. I just need to know the season, kit details, skin and hair tone and any details/wording for the background that they would like to include,” she explained.

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Her current Watford items include when the club wore blue in the 1950s, the early yellow and black kits, plenty with red shorts and then right up to the current day.

The detail is incredible with club badges, kit trademarks and minute design elements all accurately portrayed.

“Each single figure mini-frame takes around eight hours to create, from initial research, designing to painting, printing to assembling, and then the packaging up. The larger six-figure frames can take three to four days’ work,” Helen explained.

“Everything I do is 100% hand-painted by me, there is only me painting the figures and creating the frames.

“My husband helps with some of the football knowledge but it is almost as though I have taken over his hobby!”

How does someone become a Subbuteo memorabilia provider?

“I’ve always been interested in art from an early age but it was my husband who had the Subbuteo collection from his childhood,” she said.

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“Unfortunately, Subbuteo hadn’t made many versions of his club, so I decided to paint some up for him.

“I got interested in the collection and the range of different kits of other clubs and decided to paint up a few other teams which I started to sell on eBay and the interest grew from there.

“I enjoyed painting the teams but I wanted to produce something that could be displayed and not just stored in a cupboard or loft so I created some artwork frames for fans of different clubs with a range of figures in. I thought that every fan has their own unique favourite moments and that these could be captured in a variety of ways: historical kit frames, iconic moments, frames celebrating honours etc.”

As well as being able to recreate any Watford kit from any era that Hornets fans may want, Helen has produced many hundreds of other teams, from national sides to local youth football teams.

“I have painted every national team in the world from Brazil to the Northern Marianas Islands!” she said.

“In terms of framed artwork I have produced everything from children’s club sides, loads of non-league, memorial frames, a comic book team, and commissioned frames for professional footballers - each day tends to throw up a new challenge.

“There have certainly been some bizarre requests within them but I am willing to give most a go. One York commission included mohawks, tattoos, glasses and all sorts of other features.

“Considering the figures are about 3cm tall, you can imagine that this can be quite a challenge at times but fun along the way. The 2020-21 Watford kit was a tricky one in its own right!”

A single-figure frame costs £25 while six-figure frames start from £75. Both are presented in a wooden box with glass front, with the single-player frame being 10cm x 10cm, and the larger frame 25cm x 20cm.

Helen’s work is viewable through her Facebook account (Subbuteo Footballheart) and via X (@helcol123subbu1), and she is contactable through both channels. You can also see her work on Etsy (Helcol123subbuteo) and eBay (helcol123).