Ball Boy is a strip in UK comic The Beano and also the name of the main character. It first appeared in issue 1,735, dated 18 October 1975. It features a five-a-side football team who usually lose all their matches, often heavily, that includes: Ball Boy and his team have both been at two World Cups. Italy in 1990 featured in that year's Beano Book and a long running strip in the comic appeared during the 1998 finals featuring the team in France.