Merlin - Flik-a-Balls

1996-97
Flik-a-Balls
Merlin
240 marbles

Small marbles, the packets also included checklists and game cards. I've pinched a scan of the packet from Simon Marsh's superb website of West Ham United memorabilia theyflysohigh. You can find images of the West Ham United Flik-a-Balls here - 1996-97 Season Memorabilia.
The official press release...
Wrightson Dale has been appointed to fuel what is hoped will be the latest craze to sweep school playgrounds. Flik-A-Ball Premier League Football Marbles is being launched via a test campaign in the Ulster and Tyne Tees regions before a probable national roll-out.
The game is a joint venture between the US company, Topps, which makes children’s confectionery, and Merlin, a UK publishing company formed by former executives of Panini, the sticker manufacturer.
The marbles are intended not so much for playing but for children to collect and swap. Each one of the 240 versions contains a picture of a Premier League soccer star. ’It’s like an updated version of the cigarette card craze,’ Philip Dale, the agency’s managing partner, said. ’Throughout all the research there has been a phenomenal reaction.’
The launch is being spearheaded with a 20-second commercial featuring children playing the game in the centre of a futuristic soccer stadium.

1.  David Seaman (Arsenal)
2.  Lee Dixon (Arsenal)
3.  Nigel Winterburn (Arsenal)
4.  Steve Bould (Arsenal)
5.  Tony Adams (Arsenal)
6.  Martin Keown (Arsenal)
7.  David Platt (Arsenal)
8.  Glenn Helder (Arsenal)
9.  Ray Parlour (Arsenal)
10.  Ian Wright (Arsenal)
11.  Paul Merson (Arsenal)
12.  Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal)
13.  Mark Bosnich (Aston Villa)
14.  Gary Charles (Aston Villa)
15.  Steve Staunton (Aston Villa)
16.  Alan Wright (Aston Villa)
17.  Fernando Nelson (Aston Villa)
18.  Ugo Ehiogu (Aston Villa)
19.  Gareth Southgate (Aston Villa)
20.  Andy Townsend (Aston Villa)
21.  Mark Draper (Aston Villa)
22.  Sasa Curcic (Aston Villa)
23.  Savo Milosevic (Aston Villa)
24.  Dwight Yorke (Aston Villa)
25.  Tim Flowers (Blackburn Rovers)
26.  Chris Coleman (Blackburn Rovers)
27.  Jeff Kenna (Blackburn Rovers)
28.  Colin Hendry (Blackburn Rovers)
29.  Graeme Le Saux (Blackburn Rovers)
30.  Henning Berg (Blackburn Rovers)
31.  Tim Sherwood (Blackburn Rovers)
32.  Lars Bohinen (Blackburn Rovers)
33.  Stuart Ripley (Blackburn Rovers)
34.  Jason Wilcox (Blackburn Rovers)
35.  Graham Fenton (Blackburn Rovers)
36.  Chris Sutton (Blackburn Rovers)
37.  Dimitri Kharine (Chelsea)
38.  Dan Petrescu (Chelsea)
39.  Franck Leboeuf (Chelsea)
40.  Michael Duberry (Chelsea)
41.  Scott Minto (Chelsea)
42.  Erland Johnsen (Chelsea)
43.  Andy Myers (Chelsea)
44.  Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea)
45.  John Spencer (Chelsea)
46.  Gianluca Vialli (Chelsea)
47.  Mark Hughes (Chelsea)
48.  Dennis Wise (Chelsea)
49.  Steve Ogrizovic (Coventry City)
50.  David Burrows (Coventry City)
51.  Paul Williams (Coventry City)
52.  Liam Daish (Coventry City)
53.  Brian Borrows (Coventry City)
54.  Kevin Richardson (Coventry City)
55.  Eoin Jess (Coventry City)
56.  Gary McAllister (Coventry City)
57.  Noel Whelan (Coventry City)
58.  Dion Dublin (Coventry City)
59.  John Salako (Coventry City)
60.  Peter Ndlovu (Coventry City)
61.  Russell Hoult (Derby County)
62.  Gary Rowett (Derby County)
63.  Chris Powell (Derby County)
64.  Dean Yates (Derby County)
65.  Darryl Powell (Derby County)
66.  Aljosa Asaonvic (Derby County)
67.  Ashley Ward (Derby County)
68.  Robin Van der Laan (Derby County)
69.  Dean Sturridge (Derby County)
70.  Ron Willems (Derby County)
71.  Marco Gabbiadini (Derby County)
72.  Christian Dailly (Derby County)
73.  Neville Southall (Everton)
74.  Earl Barrett (Everton)
75.  Andy Hinchcliffe (Everton)
76.  David Unsworth (Everton)
77.  Dave Watson (Everton)
78.  Marc Hottiger (Everton)
79.  Craig Short (Everton)
80.  Gary Speed (Everton)
81.  John Ebbrell (Everton)
82.  Andrei Kanchelskis (Everton)
83.  Paul Rideout (Everton)
84.  Duncan Ferguson (Everton)
85.  Nigel Martyn (Leeds United)
86.  Tony Dorigo (Leeds United)
87.  Carlton Palmer (Leeds United)
88.  Lucas Radebe (Leeds United)
89.  David wetherall (Leeds United)
90.  Lee Sharpe (Leeds United)
91.  Lee Bowyer (Leeds United)
92.  Andrew Gray (Leeds United)
93.  Mark Ford (Leeds United)
94.  Ian Rush (Leeds United)
95.  Brian Dean (Leeds United)
96.  Tony Yeboah (Leeds United)
97.  Kasey Keller (Leicester City)
98.  Simon Grayson (Leicester City)
99.  Michael Whitlow (Leicester City)
100.  Julian Watts (Leicester City)
101.  Franck Rolling (Leicester City)
102.  Steve Walsh (Leicester City)
103.  Muzzy Izzett (Leicester City)
104.  Neil Lennon (Leicester City)
105.  Scott Taylor (Leicester City)
106.  Steve Clardige (Leicester City)
107.  Emile Heskey (Leicester City)
108.  Mark Robins (Leicester City)
109.  David James (Liverpool)
110.  Rob Jones (Liverpool)
111.  John Scales (Liverpool)
112.  Mark Wright (Liverpool)
113.  Stig Inge Bjornebye (Liverpool)
114.  Jason McAteer (Liverpool)
115.  John Barnes (Liverpool)
116.  Jamie Redknapp (Liverpool)
117.  Patrik Berger (Liverpool)
118.  Steve McManaman (Liverpool)
119.  Stan Collymore (Liverpool)
120.  Robbie Fowler (Liverpool)
121.  Peter Schmeichel (Manchester United)
122.  Gary Neville (Manchester United)
123.  Gary Pallister (Manchester United)
124.  Phil Neville (Manchester United)
125.  Nicky Butt (Manchester United)
126.  David Beckham (Manchester United)
127.  Karel Poborsky (Manchester United)
128.  Roy Keane (Manchester United)
129.  Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United)
130.  Eric Cantona (Manchester United)
131.  Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
132.  Jordi Cruyff (Manchester United)
133.  Alan Miller (Middlesbrough)
134.  Neil Cox (Middlesbrough)
135.  Derek Whyte (Middlesbrough)
136.  Nigel Pearson (Middlesbrough)
137.  Phil Whelan (Middlesbrough)
138.  Emerson (Middlesbrough)
139.  Robbie Mustoe (Middlesbrough)
140.  Craig Hignett (Middlesbrough)
141.  Nicky Barmby (Middlesbrough)
142.  Juninho (Middlesbrough)
143.  Fabrizio Ravanelli (Middlesbrough)
144.  John Hendrie (Middlesbrough)
145.  Pavel Srnicek (Newcastle United)
146.  John Beresford (Newcastle United)
147.  Darren Peacock (Newcastle United)
148.  Steve Howey (Newcastle United)
149.  David Batty (Newcastle United)
150.  Robert Lee (Newcastle United)
151.  Peter Beardsley (Newcastle United)
152.  Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)
153.  Les Ferdinand (Newcastle United)
154.  Faustino Asprilla (Newcastle United)
155.  David Ginola (Newcastle United)
156.  Keith Gillespie (Newcastle United)
157.  Mark Crossley (Nottingham Forest)
158.  Stuart Pearce (Nottingham Forest)
159.  Colin Cooper (Nottingham Forest)
160.  Steve Chettle (Nottingham Forest)
161.  Chris Bart-Williams (Nottingham Forest)
162.  Scot Gemmill (Nottingham Forest)
163.  Ian Woan (Nottingham Forest)
164.  Alf-Inge Haaland (Nottingham Forest)
165.  Dean Saunders (Nottingham Forest)
166.  Kevin Campbell (Nottingham Forest)
167.  Jason Lee (Nottingham Forest)
168.  Bryan Roy (Nottingham Forest)
169.  Kevin Pressman (Sheffield Wednesday)
170.  Ian Nolan (Sheffield Wednesday)
171.  Jon Newsome (Sheffield Wednesday)
172.  Des Walker (Sheffield Wednesday)
173.  Dejan Stefanovic (Sheffield Wednesday)
174.  Mark Pembridge (Sheffield Wednesday)
175.  Graham Hyde (Sheffield Wednesday)
176.  Mark Bright (Sheffield Wednesday)
177.  Guy Whittingham (Sheffield Wednesday)
178.  David Hirst (Sheffield Wednesday)
179.  Andy Booth (Sheffield Wednesday)
180.  Regi Blinker (Sheffield Wednesday)
181.  Dave Beasant (Southampton)
182.  Barry Venison (Southampton)
183.  Ken Monkou (Southampton)
184.  Simon Charlton (Southampton)
185.  Alan Neilson (Southampton)
186.  Claus Ljundekvam (Southampton)
187.  Jim Magilton (Southampton)
188.  Robbie Slater (Southampton)
189.  Francis Benali (Southampton)
190.  Matthew Le Tissier (Southampton)
191.  Neil Shipperley (Southampton)
192.  Neil Heaney (Southampton)
193.  Tony Coton (Sunderland)
194.  Michael Ball (Sunderland)
195.  Andy Melville (Sunderland)
196.  Richard Ord (Sunderland)
197.  Gareth Hall (Sunderland)
198.  Martin Scott (Sunderland)
199.  Paul Bracewell (Sunderland)
200.  Michael Gray (Sunderland)
201.  Steve Agnew (Sunderland)
202.  Alex Rae (Sunderland)
203.  Craig Russell (Sunderland)
204.  Niall Quinn (Sunderland)
205.  Ian Walker (Tottenham Hotspur)
206.  Justin Edinburgh (Tottenham Hotspur)
207.  Chris Calderwood (Tottenham Hotspur)
208.  Gary Mabbutt (Tottenham Hotspur)
209.  Sol Campbell (Tottenham Hotspur)
210.  Ruel Fox (Tottenham Hotspur)
211.  Jason Dozzell (Tottenham Hotspur)
212.  Clive Wilson (Tottenham Hotspur)
213.  David Howells (Tottenham Hotspur)
214.  Darren Anderton (Tottenham Hotspur)
215.  Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham Hotspur)
216.  Chris Armstrong (Tottenham Hotspur)
217.  Ludek Miklosko (West Ham United)
218.  Tim Breaker (West Ham United)
219.  Julian Dicks (West Ham United)
220.  Steve Potts (West Ham United)
221.  Marc Reiper (West Ham United)
222.  Slaven Bilic (West Ham United)
223.  Danny Williamson (West Ham United)
224.  Keith Rowland (West Ham United)
225.  Paulo Futre (West Ham United)
226.  John Moncur (West Ham United)
227.  Florin Raducioiu (West Ham United)
228.  Iain Dowie (West Ham United)
229.  Neil Sullivan (Wimbledon)
230.  Kenny Cunningham (Wimbledon)
231.  Alan Kimble (Wimbledon)
232.  Chris Blackwell (Wimbledon)
233.  Ben Thatcher (Wimbledon)
234.  Chris Perry (Wimbledon)
235.  Vinny Jones (Wimbledon)
236.  Oyvind Leonhardsen (Wimbledon)
237.  Robbie Earle (Wimbledon)
238.  Marcus Gayle (Wimbledon)
239.  Efan Ekoku (Wimbledon)
240.  Dean Holdsworth (Wimbledon)

Flik-a-Balls - FAB game cards

FAB1.  Target Shoot 1
FAB2.  Target Shoot 2
FAB3.  Target Shoot 3
FAB4.  3 Defenders
FAB5.  3 Midfielders
FAB6.  3 Attackers
FAB7.  Refree & Linesman
FAB8.  Goal

Flik-a-Balls - Checklists

Checklist 1
Checklist 2

Flik-a-Balls - packet

Alan Shearer & Eric Cantona