The stories and information behind the sports cards
John Campbell 1, Ned Doig, Andy Aitken, John Cambell 2, JAMES COWAN, While reading about the history of football at the turn of the 19th century, I was struck by a thought. Almost all of the most famous players associated with this era were from England such as the likes of Bassett, Goodall, Athersmith, Crabtree, […]
Read More LOAFR 21 – The Scottish Edition 1A Boxer so feared, His Opponents Created the Colour Line When we think of the greatest heavyweight champions, we may think of Mike Tyson, Muhammed Ali, perhaps Joe Louis. We may even harken back further to Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, or John Sullivan. And yet, many of us don’t immediately consider the holders of the […]
Read More Peter Jackson: The Greatest Heavyweight Champ of The Victorian EraRookie Card Player Index This index provides links for the cigarette rookie cards of each prewar legend of Football League. Note it does not include Shield type cards such as Baines or Sharpe. No. Player Card Football League Career Rookie CardYear 1. Billy Bassett Rookie Card 1888–1899 1896 2. Archie Hunter (No Card) 1888–1890 N/A […]
Read More Pre-war Association Football Soccer Rookie Card ListThe information provided is based upon research conducted on the subject; however, football cards and their issued dates should be considered vast evolving subject matter. I will update to the best of my knowledge as new information comes available but no one source should be considered definitive. If you have comments or corrections, please contact […]
Read More Legends of Association Football Rookie SeriesNorway’s Unsung Football Legend On October 10th, 2024, Erling Haaland scored his 34th international goal to become Norway’s all-time leading international goal scorer. While Haaland enjoys widespread global recognition, much less known is the man who held the Norway’s international goal record before Haaland grabbed the title. For more than 90 years, it belonged to […]
Read More Jørgen JuveHungary’s Goal Scoring Genius Collectors that venture into collecting the prewar pioneers of association football will inevitably come across the name of one of football’s greatest goal scorers of that era: Imre Schlosser. Prior to World War 1, England and Scotland had dominated the world association football; however, during the beginning of the 1900s the […]
Read More Imre SchlosserRookie: A sports card that is the first to feature an athlete after that athlete has participated in the highest level of competition within his or her sport. Sugar Ray Robinson is widely regarded as the best pound for pound fighters of all time. So it isn’t surprising that boxing card collectors would consider his rookie card to be essential for any complete boxing […]
Read More What is Sugar Ray Robinson’s Rookie Card?Celtic’s first Football star Few football clubs can boast as rich and storied history as Glasgow Celtic. The club has won multiple honours and titles and has produced countless legends such as Jimmy McGrory, Kenny Dalglish, Patsy Gallacher and Jimmy McMenemy. But who was Celtic’s very first star player? Well, that title belongs to footballer […]
Read More LOAFRS 20 Sandy McMahonThe Greatest F.A. Cup Performance of All time Sandy Brown may not have enjoyed the same legendary status as John Goodall, G.O. Smith, R.S. McColl or some other football greats from the turn-of-the-century, but from February to April in 1901, Brown went on the most sensational scoring runs the F.A. cup history. In the process, […]
Read More LOAFRS 19 – Alex “Sandy” BrownFred Wheldon, Harry Hampton, Colin Veitch Joseph Smith The Football League 100 Legends list and the English Football Hall of Fame were designed to honour the greatest players of Football and Premier Leagues. However, one legitimate criticism of these tributes is that they are too heavily weighted towards modern or at least post-1950 players. This […]
Read More LOAFRS 18 – Early ENGLISH Legends 1The Victorian George Best One of the most talented football wingers of all time, Fred Spiksley (pronounced Spike slee) has been dubbed “the Victorian George Best“. Both players were star wingers known for their dazzling dribbling and scoring skills and phenomenal showmanship. But perhaps the parallels between the two are even more dramatic for their […]
Read More LOAFRs 17 – Fred SpiksleyThe Amazing Scot who outshone G.O. Smith as Football’s Greatest Center Forward Football’s Greatest Center Forward The name that invariably emerges during discussions on the greatest association footballer at the turn of the century is usually G.O. Smith. Smith was the darling of English press in the 1890s and early 1900s, known for his outstanding […]
Read More LOAFRS 16 – R.S. McColl
The Cardboard Junkie 