Jørgen Juve
Norway’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…
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LOAFR 21 – The Scottish Edition 1
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,…
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Imre Schlosser
Hungary’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 Schlosser Keep readingWhat is Sugar Ray Robinson’s Rookie Card?
Rookie: 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? Keep readingLOAFRS 20 Sandy McMahon
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…
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The 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” Brown Keep readingLOAFRS 18 – Early ENGLISH Legends 1
Fred 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…
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The 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…
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The 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…
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Peter Jackson: The Greatest Heavyweight Champ of The Victorian Era
A 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 Era Keep readingIssue Dates of Pre-1900 Cricket Cigarette Cards
This article will attempt to provide overview the first issue dates of sets of pre-1900 cricket cigarette cards. It is acknowledged that this list may not be comprehensive as other lesser known sets may exist. For instance, there are reports of a very early Anonymous issue cricket card set from Australia that was released some…
Read More Issue Dates of Pre-1900 Cricket Cigarette Cards Keep readingChromolithographs and Prints of Association Football’s Early Legends
Pre-Cardboard treasures Like many others, I enjoy sports card collecting as an interactive way of learning the history of a sport. But what should one do, when you discover legendary players that were around before cigarette cards existed? Luckily for association football collectors, there are “shield cards” that were made by Briggs, Baines, and Sharpe…
Read More Chromolithographs and Prints of Association Football’s Early Legends Keep readingDaily Herald SportFoto Football Series
A Complicated but Important Association Football Set Between 1950 and 1954, the now defunct Daily Herald Newspaper issued several sets of association footballers. The sets are important as they include early and rookie cards of some of the games greatest players including the legendary John Charles. However, there are a lot of variations among the…
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The BIG Six Determining the dates of pre-1900 cigarette cards has been a notoriously challenging exercise. The following section reveals through research what are likely date(s) for which the sets were issued. I will focus on the big six in the order from oldest to newest with newest still being over a 120 years ago.…
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Legends of Association Football Series – John Charles In this segment, only one player is going to be featured and that player is John Charles. There are two reasons that I am only featuring Charles: 1) additional biography for the achievements for a player, who is arguably the greatest that Britain has ever produced and…
Read More LOAFRS 15 – John Charles’ Rookie Card Keep readingThe Complicated Case of Tommy Burns
Why Tommy Burns just might be the greatest Canadian Athlete ever? The greatest Canadian athlete ever? Come on. Well, hold on, hold on. It’s complicated, let me explain. First, let me tell you a little about Tommy Burns and then I will make my case. Tommy Burns is best known as a professional boxer and…
Read More The Complicated Case of Tommy Burns Keep readingPre-war Association Football Soccer Rookie Card List
Rookie 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…
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Legends of Association Football Rookie Series 14 – Frank Swift, WIlf Mannion, and Tommy LAwton 37. Frank Swift – Football League Career 1933–1951 Spending an entire 18-year career with one club takes a special type of player, and even more special if that position is a goal keeper. Frank Swift shares the title of best…
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Legends of Association Football Rookie Series: Raich Carter, Wilf Copping and Joe Mercer 34. Raich Carter Football League Career 1932–1953 Born Horatio Stratton, but known in the football world as just Raich, Carter started his career at Sunderland in 1934, where he quickly became one of the best inside forwards in the game. Shortly after…
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Legends of Association Football Rookie series 12 – Stanley Matthews, Ted Drake and Peter Doherty 31. Stanley Matthews – Football League Career 1931–1966 A generational talent, Stanley Matthews is the only player to ever be knighted while still playing. Yes, imagine how it must have been for the other players to play against “Sir Stanley”…
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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.…
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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.…
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Legends of Association Football Rookie Series – Group 9 – Jack, Halliday and Dean In this series, we profile three of the most gifted forwards the League has ever produced: David Jack, Dave Halliday and Dixie Dean. 21 David Jack – League Career 1919–1935 David Jack was both a prolific scorer and a born winner.…
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Legends of AssocIation Football Group 8 – Elisha Scott, Nils Middelboe and Hugh Gallacher The first seven posts identified Legends from the Pre-World War 1 era. Now we move on to the post-World War 1 era starting in the 1920s During the World War 1, understandably not many football cards were produced. F &J Smith…
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Legends of Association FOotball Rookie Group 7 – Patsy Gallagher, Charles Buchan, Clem Stephenson 15. Patsy Gallagher (sometime written as Patsy Gallacher (the Mighty Atom) Patrick Gallagher, better known as Patsy Gallagher, was a small, but exceptionally skilled Irish footballer, who earned the nickname of “the Mighty Atom”. Gallagher is best known for his play…
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Legends of Association football Rookie Series Group 6 – Bill MCCracken, Vivian Woodward, and Sam Hardy 14, William McCracken – Football League Career 1904 – 1924 Bill McCracken came from Northern Ireland and played for Newcastle United bringing a new level of tactical play to the game. He was an outstanding defender and is largely…
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Legends of Association Football Rookie Series – Group 5 Alf Common, Bob Crompton and Charlie Roberts 11. Alf Common Alf Common is the next on the Legends of Football list. Early in his career, Alf was a very sought after player as he broke the record transfer fee when he was transferred to Sunderland for…
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Jimmy Crabtree – Football League Career – 1889 – 1904 Only one player is included in the 4th installment because I wanted to spend a bit extra time on explaining why Jimmy Crabtree should be considered among of the true all-time greats of Association Football. In other words, it’s time give Jimmy Crabtree his due.…
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Legends of Association Football Series Group 3- Steve BLoomer, Alex Raisbeck and Billy Meredith The next three in the rookie series are probably the top three superstars of their era: Steve Bloomer, Alex Raisbeck and Billy Meredith. 7. Steve Bloomer – Football League Career 1892–1915 If you are collecting vintage soccer, then you know Steve Bloomer and…
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Legends Of Association Football Rookie Series Group 2 -Fatty Foulke, Ernest Needham and John Goodall 4. William Foulke – Football League Career 1894–1908 William “Fatty” Foulke was an enormous figure in Association Football both literally and figuratively. He is best known for his giant stature and being the heaviest footballer ever weighing over 330 lbs;…
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Legends of Association Football Rookie Series Group 1- Billy Bassett, Charlie Athersmith and John Devey Well, where is the best place to start with the rookie cards of legends of association football league? How about the beginning? We will begin with “the big three”, arguably the three of the most important players in association football…
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The 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 Series Keep readingGetting 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…
Read More Getting Started in Pre-War Soccer or Football or whatever you want to call it… Keep readingHow do we define “rookie” card?
Definition from Wikipedia – A rookie card is a trading 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. For North American collectors, the most sought-after cards have almost always been the infamous “rookie card”. Think of the iconic Mickey…
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The greatest pre WW1 goalie Okay, I have always been a bit envious of guys that can play mulitiple sports at a high level. It’s no wonder that for me one name stand above the rest when I am looking at the unsung heros of the past: John Bower “Bouse” Hutton. Throughout the late 1800s…
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Reach out to discuss, debate, correct or chat. definition: Cardboard Junkie : a Sports card collector Interested in old cards and their old stories.
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I like collecting old sports cards: the older the better. I think everything about them is interesting, but what I especially love are the old stories behind the players. I decided to create a site to connect the player, the stories and the cards. I will try to focus on thelesser known stories from the…
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