Mark McGhee devised the game, which involves creating famous names from initials, when he played for Aberdeen in the 1980s

It is a question which has troubled football managers for decades: how to stop players getting bored on the coach trips to and from games. But the answer may have been at the back of the bus all along.

Using a pen and scraps of paper Mark McGhee, Scotland’s assistant manager, came up with a word game when he played for Aberdeen in the 1980s.

Now he believes it could be a hit in the smartphone era. With backing from industry experts, his game is to be launched as an app.

Chris van der Kuyl, the Scottish entrepreneur who helped to develop Minecraft, described McGhee’s game as “brilliant” because of its simplicity.

A player has a screen showing 16 pairs of initials and has