the story
	It started as a whim, an impulse I couldn’t resist… It was in March 2005. I had recently recovered from a severe low back problem that had tormented me for more than five years and had kept me from playing Subbuteo and painting figures throughout the whole period. It was a Sunday afternoon, during a club meeting. I had just finished a game and I was nagging, as I usually do after a bad performance, when an old friend approached me holding a box that obviously contained a Subbuteo Team. He knew, as every friend of mine did, that I used to be a teams’ painter. He smiled faintly at me. -“You have never seen anything like this!!” he said as he opened the box. -“Do you mean the team?” I answered snobbishly before I even took a look, thinking that no painting could really impress me. Indeed, I was not impressed, I was AMAZED!! A wonderfully painted Olympiakos S.F.P. stood before my eyes!!! -“Wh…where did you … find it? Wh…who painted it??” I stammered, staring at the perfectly written SIEMENS logo on the shirts. -“A guy from England…” I heard the voice saying, “…his name is Stefan Corda!”. -“This is not an English name…” I answered uneasily, “…and the guy is a sorcerer!!” That was it!!! From that day all my thoughts were concentrated on how to make such top notch teams myself. It was plain that this was not only painting. What was it then? Printing… on the figures? You must have very expensive machinery to do this. Another friend of mine gave me the answer: “It is decal paper. I have heard he prints the detail on decal paper and then he applies it on the figures”. Aha, this was something I could do, I had been in the computer business for fifteen years!! So, I got into the web, searched for a decal paper source and ordered a pack of sheets. My first effort was my favourite team Ajax. To my surprise, the trick with the decals worked after a few trials. I had to complete the painting of the figures and work them with some modelling clay to personalize them, before I hold my first “new generation” team in my hands!! Soon, I had made a few more teams for some friends. Without even having pursued it, I started receiving orders. I was really happy with the revival of my painting career and very anxious to let the world know about it!!! So, I decided to create a web site and sell my artwork to people all over the world. A catchy name “BestTeamsEver” was found and off we went!!! Orders started coming from several countries and I was happy (again) to watch the renown of “BestTeamsEver” growing. Then, I realized I just did not have the time to handle the demand. Therefore, I started planning the outsourcing of the “business”… But then, I found out that no one else but me was willing to spend at least 15 hours on just one team, just to make it as perfect as it can be. The project was just inexpedient… Thus, one year after it started, it came to an end. Not an inglorious one, I believe. If there is something I earned from this adventure, this is the reputation of “BestTeamsEver” and the respect of players and collectors around the globe. Concluding this chronicle, I would like to thank all these friends who trusted “BestTeamsEver” for the painting of their teams. I hope they were all satisfied. I really do not claim to have created the best teams ever. In the “Links” page you can find several other sites, the owners of which do great painting jobs. Some of them are good friends of mine. The rest, I do not have the privilege to know personally. But, as long as they spend endless hours creating lovely Subbuteo teams, I feel they are all my brothers in arms. George
	Last update: 17/12/2006