12 Football Ballet, FOBA (1958) NEW!!!!

'Football Ballet'  is a story of a referee trying to maintain discipline amongst a boisterous team and taking drastic action against them in the end. It was published in two parts:- 

"The Football Ballet" and "To Detention" (FOBA and FOBA2)

Both parts appear in 'List A' of Royale's Catalogue which means they were released sometime in 1958, the first full year of Royale's existence. It is therefore one of the earliest storyettes and it features some of Royale's most loved images (see below).

Though it has a straightforward plot, this piece does not lack ambition, boasting a cast of five, a number only equalled in 'PT Class' (aka 'Jimnasium'). It stars Ian Oliver as the referee (centre, top image). On the far right is Fred Collins and standing next to him is John Skilling (they also appear together in Soldier-Sailor). The model on the far left is Tom Manlick, infamous for his appearance wearing a chain pouch in a Horse Guard solo series. Next to him is a less well documented model, Alan Hythe.

It's something of a mystery why Royale called it a ballet,

I'm still researching for links that will explain. 

Royale's Catalogue Description for FOBA "The Football Ballet"

The archive has 20 of the 25 images from part 1. 

The majority of these originated from the anonymous p-collection (Sources No 7)

Royale's Catalogue Description for FOBA 2 "To Detention"

The archive has 3 of the 10 images from part 2

This is an early set but Royale seem to have been cagey about advertising their storyettes in the beefcake press in the early days, concentrating instead on solo sets and occasional 'duals'. This may have been due to reluctance on the part of magazine publishers to promote scenes which didn't fit the norm of beefcake imagery and which might be seen as homosexual. 'Football Ballet' which features a men-on-man stripping scene certainly challenged this taboo and was not advertised until 1959. 

"To Detention" (FOBA2) was less contentious in that respect and was one of  five "picture stories" listed in the earliest storyette ad - in "Tomorrow's Man", vol 7 no 1, dated December 1958.  The term Story-ette was not used until the next ad which didn't appear until Jul 1959 in 'Manual' Vol 1 No 4. That ad listed 10 titles, including "Into Bondage" (which may be FOBA2 again, re-titled to sound more edgy and less like a school episode). "Football Ballet" only appeared in it's own right in Aug 1959, in the well-known display ad, listed along with with 18 other titles. We can't be absolutely certain therefore that Clavering originally intended these two sets to be one storyette, but the wording in the 1960 catalogue suggests as much.

Read 'Football Ballet' Parts 1 & 2' 

You can also read the Original mitchmen article about the set