Getting Started in Pre-War Soccer or Football or whatever you want to call it…

Now, let’s start by making something perfectly clear: my original first love is hockey.  Two of my cousins played at a professional level, and it always in my blood to love the sport and I still do.  However, I also played a lot of soccer growing up and have a love for that game as well.  Not surprisingly, my card collecting interests took me towards English football.  Anyone who loves vintage cards should consider looking into English and international football cards and here’s why: vintage soccer is something the average collector can actually afford.  Compared to baseball, basketball and hockey, pre-War English football is a huge bargain. Part of the reason is the mass production that occurred especially back in the 1920s and 30s of cards. However, I believe that it is also due to the differences in the mentality and approach of English and North American sports card collectors.

Okay, but how do you get started in vintage English Soccer? First off, it’s important to note that there are some serious collectors and some really hard to find and expensive cards. However, a collector can find cards from the 1900s that are relatively cheap compared to other sports.  Two fantastic entry level sets from Ogden’s cigarettes that are relatively cheap:

1) Odgen’s 1906 Club Colours

2) Ogden’s 1908 Famous Footballers. 

The reason that these two sets are terrific in addition to their beautiful design is that they contain the two most affordable cards of the first two megastars the sport had ever seen: 1) Steve Bloomer and 2) Billy Meredith. 

Ogden’s Club Colours set is an attractive issue of 50 teams including Derby, which is a portrait of the great Steve Bloomer.   Bloomer still ranks only 2^nd to Jimmy Greaves in all time goals in top tier English football scoring 312 goals, one of only 3 players ever to reach the 300 mark.  He also won the league scoring title 5 times, a record that lasted until broken by Jimmy Greaves with 6. 

The set also contains many soccer legends including Bob Crompton one of the few early footballers in the English Football Hall of Fame, Liverpool legend Alex Raisbeck, Sheffield United great Ernest Needham, and Alf Common representing Middleborough.

The 1908 Ogden’s Famous Footballers set is equally attractive.  The set’s centerpiece is the great Billy Meredith also known as the Welsh Wizard.  Meredith cards are definitely some of the most sought after in turn of the century football

However, there are also many other star players including the aforementioned Bob Crompton, Ernest Needham,  Alex Raisbeck, and Alf Common as well as other great players such as Colin Veitch, Jessie Pennington and last, but certainly not least, the incomparable William “Fatty” Foulke.  If you don’t know Fatty Foulke, I suggest take twenty minutes and look him up and some of the hilarious stories about this legend of the game.  

I like both these sets as a way to get to know some of the biggest players first hand.  I had never heard of Colin Veitch for example, but you do a little digging and some really interesting stories about these legends of the game.

It’s hard to believe that these two sets predate the infamous “Monster” T206 set from baseball and that an average collector can afford and own some of these original cards which are over a 112-years old!   While they may not be scarce compared to some of the other sets of the same era, their attractiveness, affordability and diversity make them an excellent entry point to Pre-war soccer.