LoAFRS 11- Bastin, Brook, and Hapgood

Legends of Association Football Rookie Series Group 11 – Cliff Bastin, ERic Brook, Eddie Hapgood

28 Cliff Bastin – Football League Career 1927–1948

Arsenal were the dominant team in the 1930s and Cliff Bastin was one of their main offensive threats. Bastin first played with Arsenal in 1929 when he was only 17 years old. As a winger, he went on to score more goals than any other player between 1930 and 1947. Only Billy Wright and Thierry Henri have scored more goals as a Gunner. This stat is truly impressive when you consider that Bastin who was just hitting the peak of his career was injured in the 1938 -39 season and then the Second World War effectively ended his football career. It’s fun to imagine the numbers that a talent like Bastin would have produced had the political history been different.

Bastin is number 22 Football League’s 100 Legends and was elected to the English Football Hall of Fame.

Rookie card 1: Year – 1930 – Manufacturer – D.C. Thomson – Set – Footballers and Motor Cars – Card Number #4

Image Source: Doingthe92

Card Notes:
Bastin is only 18-years old (nick-named “Boy Bastin”) on this card as his prodigious skill was noted early, he started with Arsenal in 1929 at 17 years of age. It is from a quite unique set by D.C. Thomson featuring an Association Footballer on one side and a popular motor car on the other side.

Bastin also features on the Barratt and Co. 1930 entitled Football Teams 1st Division. As this card emphasizes the team of Arsenal, as opposed to Bastin, I selected to profile he D.C. Thomson as his rookie card for this series.

Rookie card 2: Year – 1930 – Manufacturer – Crescent Confectionary- Set – Sportsmen – Card Number #4

Card Notes

Initially, this rare set was thought to come out in the 1920s but Hughie Gallacher’s team is Chelsea with whom he joined in July 1 1930. Bastin is erroneously listed as Cyril in this series.

29 Eric Brook Football League Career 1926 – 1939

Eric Brook, who established himself as a force at Manchester City, was feared by keepers across the league for his incredibly powerful shot. Actually, it wasn’t just his shot that was powerful as Brook was exceptionally physically strong making him a dominant outside left in the 1930s. Not surprisingly, he was a regular selection for the English National team was capped 18 times. He is considered one of the all-time greatest Man City players and was Man City’s all time leading scorer at 177 goals prior to Sergio Aguero. He led City to an FA Cup as well as a League title.

Rookie card: Year – 1930 – Manufacturer – Lambert and Butler – Set – Footballers 1930-1 – Card Number #7

Image Source: Personal Collection

Card Notes:
Lambert and Butler issued a very nice looking set with their cigarettes that featured painted portraits of Footballers.

30 Eddie Hapgood – Football League Career -1927–1939

Edris Albert Hapgood (but you can call him “Eddie”), played pretty much his entire career with Arsenal. It’s very hard to understate how important Hapgood was for the dominant Arsenal squad of the 1930s. Hapgood was a complete player and natural leader, known for his defensive ability and skillful dribbling. It was Hapgood who was selected to captain this star-studded Arsenal team which included Cliff Bastin, Jack Lambert, Ted Drake and Alex James.

Hapgood excelled in the role as captain and went on to become the captain of the English National team.

Hapgood is the first player in this series to have two possible rookie cards from separate sets.

Rookie card No.1: Year – 1932 – Manufacturer – De Beukelaer Biscuits – Set – All Sports – Card Number #38

Image Source: Personal Collection

Card Notes:
This card, which was issued by De Beukelaer Biscuits in 1932, are smaller than most other card types measuring 28 x 49mm. Hapgood was one of 50 footballers to be a part of this 100 card multi-sport set.

Rookie card No.2: Year – 1932 – Manufacturer – Godfrey Phillips Ltd. – Set – B.D.V. Sports Package – Card Number #Unnumbered

Image Source: Doingthe92

Card Notes:
This is a somewhat strange set that was issued by Godfrey Phillips Ltd. B.D.V between 1932 -34 (although there is some evidence that it was issued even later than these dates). The cards were generally (but not always) cut from the cigarette wrapper with blank backs. The set has a huge number of variations including two Hapgood cards one that says (Arsenal) E. Hapgood and one that says just Hapgood.

Like Bastin, Hapgood was also featured on the Barratt and Co. 1930 entitled Football Teams 1st Division series.