With no football matches I looked for another football fix, and at the nearby Renishaw and Spinkhill Community Centre a Subbuteo fair was advertised. Just off the M1 at junction 30 it was a well placed venue. Parking outside I noticed two men chatting and exchanging boxes in the car park. Elicit Subbuteo trading?

I walked in to the Community Hall and was amazed at the number of people there, and the stalls that packed out the venue. Two of the stalls were from Italy and  a man with a quiet accent from the South of Ireland was buying in font of me. He must have been out of the Eire plated car I had parked next to.

This little local hub had been turned into Subbuteo heaven. There were boxes of teams of clubs from all over Europe, women’s teams, boxes of individual players for you to find the one you needed to complete a set, floodlights, stands, supporters, officials and more, all in miniature. It was mainly men 40 plus in age  and a chat with one revealed that he had recently found a friend who still had his old set and they had set up meetings to compete with each other.

This is not just a culture for collectors, I find out there are leagues and even International matches.

One stall was empty boxes for you to buy to keep you team pristine or on display. People will take orders for them to paint you a team in the colours you want and of the era you require. They turn out as miniature works of art. On one stall was a Subbuteo sticker book, who knew, and Subbuteo cricket and rugby.

It was totally fascinating to see theses roughly one inch figures are still so keenly traded, collected and played with. My next Subbuteo education will be to attend one of their competitions.

Unfortunately I did wonder how long the game will continue to draw such support with the attendees all being of a certain age. Their children and grandchildren will have been at home playing on a smart device.

I did buy a referee set and corner flags for my grandchildren to go with their fathers set. Let’s hope they get used.

Amazing venue, a cup of tea was only £1.