First played in 1986 at Combat Zone near Jodrell Bank. They used scorpion air-pistols with plastic "silencer" type tubes which held a single paintball (at 50p each!) You had to cock the air rifle, remove the old tube and put a new one on to fire. Accuracy and range were... limited. It was like a paintball musket. My first day facing Splatmasters was a culture shock.
Played for a number of teams in the early 90's - Worsley Warriors and Death Wombles for the laugh of it then team SWAT for a couple of years.
Got to shoot Ian Beale/Adam Woodyatt at the Mayhem Masters in 1992 but by the late 90's I lost interest in tourney play when it became obvious that the only way you stood any chance of winning was by having a couple of guys throwing a box of sponsored paint down-field every 20 minutes.