LoAFRS 10 – James, Camsell, Hibbs

Legends of Association Football Rookie Series – Group 10 – Alex James, George Camsell, and Harry Hibbs

24) Alex James – Football League Career 1925–1938

Alex (sometimes Alec) James started in the Scottish League with Raith Rovers and then Preston North End before settling down and establishing himself as a true Gunner Legend at Arsenal. Unlike the three strikers from LoAFRS 9, James established himself as a play-maker and passing wizard. With James controlling the Arsenal offense, the Gunners won six trophies from 1930 to the 1936 season.

James also represented Scotland on the International stage and was part of the “Wembley Wizards” that trounced England 5-1 at Wembley in 1928.

Bleacher Report ranked him 7th on Arsenal’s 100 all-time great players ahead of Cliff Bastin and Ted Drake.

Rookie Card: Year: 1927 – Manufacturer – D.C. Thomson – Set – Rover This Year’s Top-Form Footballers – Card Number #24

Image Source: Personal Collection

Card Notes:

Alex James started his career with Raith Rovers 1922 and was featured in a small booklet with three other footballers issued by DC Thomson Adventure in a set called “The 50 Star Footballers of 1924”. However, this is not a true card as it is more of a booklet and not made from card stock. In addition, the biography of the players are located on the facing page as opposed to the back on .

The D.C. Thomson Rover This Year’s Top Form Footballers was issued in early 1927. The James” card was included in Issue #258, on 26, March 1927. James also is featured in a card (#70) in the 1927 J.A. Pattreiouex Footballers series. However, this set was issued in two series: 1) with a blue caption first 50 cards 2) a brown caption for all 100 cards. As James is part of the later series, it is likely that this card post-dates the D.C. Thomson Rover card. James also had a card issued in the Player’s 1927 Caricatures by MAC set.

25) George Camsell – Football League Career 1925–1939

George Camsell was another sensational striker who got his start in the 1920s and spent almost his entire career at Middlesbrough.

While everyone remembers Dixie Dean for his incredible 60 goal season in 1927/28, Middlesbrough striker George Camsell had set the record the previous year with only one goal fewer at 59. While it’s important to note that Boro were in the second division when Camsell set the record, the feat is truly impressive when you consider a couple of points.

1. Camsell scored 59 goals in 37 games with a goals per game ratio of 1.59 whereas Dean scored 60 in 39 games with a goals per game ratio of 1.53 meaning that Camsell’s goal per game ratio was actually higher than Dean in his 60 goal season.
   
2. Camsell only took 3 penalty kicks in 1926 season after missing one in the FA Cup. After this point, Middlesbrough were awarded 6 additional penalty kicks. Camsell would surely be the goal scoring record leader had he opted to take these kicks and likely would have scored all 6. That likely would have put his total closer to 64 or 65.
   

During the 1926-27 season, Camsell nine hat-tricks which remains an English record for most in a League season. He also scored 5 goals in one match on December 26th, 1926. After his breakout season where he broke the previous goal record of 44 by 15 goals, Camsell would lead Boro in goals for the next 10 seasons. He remains Boro’s all-time goal leader with 325 goals in 419 games. Even without including his spectacular 1926-27 season, Camsell had a stellar top-tier goals per game ratio of 0.69.

It wasn’t just at Boro that Camsell could score. He was even more impressive on the International stage where he scored a gob-smacking 18 goals in 9 performances, which is still the highest goal per game ratio of any English player on the National team.

Rookie Card Year: 1927 – Manufacturer – John Player and Sons – Set – Caricatures by MAC – Card Number #7

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Image Source: Personal Collection

Card Notes:

I feel that it is a bit unfortunate that Camsell’s rookie card is part of this caricature set. Gallaher issued two beautiful cards of Camsell the following year in their 1928 Footballers in Action and Famous Footballers (Red backs) series. In addition, Camsell was included in the very scarce Crescent Confectionery Footballers set from 1928. The 1927 Players set had a high production run so the good news is that collectors can pick up the rookie card of one of the greater center forwards the Football league has ever seen for relatively cheap.

26) Harry Hibbs Football League Career 1924–1939

Hibbs was an English goal keeper who known for his steady consistent play. Hibbs played almost his entire career with Birmingham playing from 1924 to 1939. He wasn’t by any means flashy, but he found success by sticking to the fundamentals of the game. In this manner, he was similar to the great Liverpool keeper Sam Hardy. Not surprisingly, he was the go-to keeper for England during international play earning 25 caps.

Rookie Card: 1929 – Manufacturer – Topical Times – Set – Footballers (pairs) – Card Number – Unnumbered

Image Source: Personal Collection

Card Notes:

Hibb’s rookie card is from a relatively scarce pairs set from the Topical Times in 1929. The Hibbs card shown above is a single cut but was originally issued paired with Derby legend Sammy Crooks. The Lambert and Butler card from the following year in 1930 appears to be painted based upon this image.