Click here to read your favourite Subbuteo memories.

---

Subbuteo, the world famous "flick-to-kick" table football game, is facing the axe.

Hasbro, the game's makers, say it is being killed off because it is losing the fight with computer games.

A Hasbro spokesman said production of Subbuteo would cease this month.

He said: "The decision has been made as a result of the huge number of football-related products which have flooded the market in recent years."

But he said the Subbuteo brand may return at some stage in the future.

Subbuteo was invented by birdwatcher Peter Adolph in 1947 and was named after the Latin word for the Hobby Hawk.

It was a favourite of children in more than 50 countries, and 50,000 of the miniature teams are still sold in the UK each year.

But experts say the tide of change would inevitably mean traditional games like Subbuteo would face a difficult future.

Increasing threat

Last year traditional toys remained just on top with £1.7bn worth being sold compared with £1.4bn of computer games.

But the sale of computer goods is predicted to double in the next two years.

Hasbro's decision was met with disappointment from fans of the game.

Sue Taylor, 51, of Lichfield, Staffs, formerly Britain's top woman Subbuteo player, said: "It is the one make of table football equipment that everybody knows about and up until recently has been readily available in shops.

"It will obviously make it more difficult for youngsters coming into the game.

'More expensive'

"Over the past six to 12 months Subbuteo sets have been steadily disappearing from stores and though this news may be a surprise to the public it does not surprise us.

"There are other similar makes but they are more expensive and not so readily available."

Toy makers Waddingtons bought the rights to Subbuteo after England's 1966 World Cup triumph.

In 1994, the US toy giant Hasbro bought the rights from Waddingtons for £50m, moving production from Britain to Ireland and Spain.

More than 500 million figures are estimated to have been sold since the game was invented.

An all-star Subbuteo squad of the millennium as decided by Subbuteo manufacturers Hasbro and the Players Football Association includes Gordon Banks, Dave Mackay, John Charles, Bobby Moore, Sir Tom Finney, Sir Bobby Charlton, Glenn Hoddle, Sir Stanley Matthews, George Best, Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish.

Send us your favourite Subbuteo moments: