FA and Hasbro criticised for not making set available to buy - with it only being available to winners on social media

It is the football game beloved of parents steeped in nostalgia about the halcyon days of their youth – but now Subbuteo is making a push to move into the 21st century by launching an all-female set before the Women’s FA Cup final on Saturday.

The Football Association said the new game reflected the growth of the women’s game in the UK, and would help raise the profile of the sport. The limited edition set will feature 22 players and six substitutes in the colours of finalists Arsenal and Chelsea.

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But the FA defended the partnership with makers of the traditional football game Hasbro, after it was dismissed by some as a marketing ploy. The set will not be available to buy, but can only be won via FA social channels in the coming months.

Sophie Downey, of Girls on the Ball, which produce match reports from women’s games in the UK and across the world, said Hasbro were missing a trick in not making the set available to buy because there was a committed and growing fan base of women’s football who would snap up any merchandise.

“Why wouldn’t you make it commercially available? If they say they are supporting the women’s game but then not making it available for fans to buy then that doesn’t really sit right,” she said. “I understand that they maybe want to try it out but I am sure it would prove popular.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The classic Subbuteo box has also been given a new design. Photograph: FA/PA

Media commentator Mark Borkowski said that the launch was “a publicity stunt”. He added: “If it’s not commercially available, you put it out there to generate a huge amount of media interest, see what the interest is and then, perhaps, produce it further down the line. It’s a well-known, clever, marketing ploy.”

A spokesman for the FA denied the all-female set was a gimmick and said the organisation was in discussions with Hasbro about producing a commercially available all-female set. “There are ongoing discussions looking at opportunities going forward,” said a spokesman.

A record number of tickets have been sold for the Women’s FA Cup final on Saturday, with more than 40,000 fans expected to descend on Wembley to see the game between Arsenal and Chelsea attracted by free tickets for children, with adults tickets on sale for £15.

The game - which will be broadcast live on BBC One from 17:10 BST - will see a repeat of the 2016 final, when Arsenal won the trophy thanks to a single goal from Danielle Carter.

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Women’s football expert Asif Burnhan noted that companies have regularly found that there was a market for football products aimed at fans of the women’s game. Panini now sell sticker books for both the Women’s World Cup and the Euros, while women’s kits are widely available.

“There is a whole generation of young girls following women’s football now who have grown up with female role models, who can buy women’s shirts or have sticker books with female players – but someone has to make the first move or it never happens,” he said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The FA’s Marzena Bogdanowicz, right, at Wembley Stadium playing with the first all-female Subbuteo set. Photograph: Thomas Lovelock/FA/PA

In a statement Marzena Bogdanowicz, the FA’s head of marketing and commercial for women’s football, said the new set – which will feature female players prominently on the box – reflected the “rapid growth” in women’s football in the UK. “We aspire to greater equality all the way from board games to boardrooms, and every day we are striving to transform the future of the women’s game on and off the pitch,” she said.

Hasbro’s senior vice president, James Walker, said: “This all-female playset is recognition of the vital role that women’s football has in our culture.”