What started as a childhood hobby for table football fanatic Chris Stapleton is about to become a serious business.

Chris, 35, has taken over where Subbuteo left off and is to start making tiny teams to sell to a new generation of players.

Chris's passion for table football was reignited at the annual National Open Tournament in Worthing last year.

The game has enjoyed a renaissance among 30-somethings but Subbuteo scaled down production in the Nineties.

Few shops now stock the teams except for specialist stores which charge prices that might make Roman Abramovich think twice.

Chris started out on his mission to become a tabletop tycoon by selling his old Subbuteo set on the internet.

He said: "I made a reasonable amount of money so I thought I would try to take advantage by going round buying up sets then selling them on.

"I got tired of doing that and discovered a company in Italy which still makes them.

"It was happy to supply them and I set up a web site to sell them on in England.

"I wanted to expand and found a firm in Hong Kong which could still make the injection mouldings.

"I got a contract and my sets could be ready for sale by the end of the year."

Chris, of Forest Road, Worthing, is readying himself to begin painting his players when his first teams arrive in the UK.

He said: "It's taxing but something I have done in the past and can do at a reasonable speed and quality."

Chris is also looking forward to Sunday's Worthing tournament, run by Worthing Five Star Table Football Club, when he will be putting his flick-kick to the test against some of the top players in the country.

More than 40 players from across Britain have signed up for the competition at the Sidney Walter Centre in Sussex Road.

Chris said: "I used to play when I was a boy but that was just messing around on the floor - I had never played in a tournament.

"I'm improving but there are three or four people who are quite good in Worthing."

He supported Liverpool as a boy but now concentrates on international teams, following the England squad to Portugal for the European championships.

But Chris said he would not be worrying about keeping up with England captain David Beckham's latest haircuts when painting his players.

He said: "My players will have a retro look.

"They will be Sixties-style players because the people who buy them the most are adults, not children.

"They will want something reminiscent of the teams they used when they were younger.

"Another benefit of retro teams is that I will not have to do new kits every year."

Worthing Five Star co-founder Shaun Allison, 32, who teaches at Bognor Regis Community College, hoped the injection of new players would boost the game's appeal.

He said: "This year's open in Worthing will be the biggest in the UK for two years. The game is generally on the up."

For more informatio.n about the national open, visit www.worthing-subbuteo-tablefootball.co.uk Mr Stapleton's web site is at www.thatsmagnificent.co.uk