Billy Meredith Rookies

[aljurgela]

For those of you who did not read through the Top Soccer cards thread, I promised to post some Billy Meredith cards. He was one of the first superstars. You can read more about him at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Meredith

With the cards. I consider his rookie card to be the 1901 "Meredith at Work" card. But the first time that you can see his face is on the 1902 Clarke & Son and WE & HO Will's cards. Those have both "regular" versions and some that were printed in violet for whatever reason The "violet" versions appear much less frequently. While all these cards are amazing, I believe that the three preferred Meredith cards are the 1907 Taddy, 1910 Cope's Clips (Blue cards), and the Cope's Solace card. So these are certainly the most valuable in the UK (which should know something about rarity and desirability). I think that they are most desired because of the scarcity of the issues themselves and aesthetics. So I would have have a problem putting any Meredith rookie on my Mt. Rushmore of soccer cards. When discussing UK cards, I would likely give preference to the Dixie Dean rookie or the George Best rookie.

[Anish]

All beautiful cards, thanks for sharing. Do you own them?

I don’t consider the 1901 a RC because it is a subset/action card, but it’s nice too. The Wills is my favorite aesthetically. And I’m a City fan so I prefer his early issues

[aljurgela]

Originally Posted by Anish

All beautiful cards, thanks for sharing. Do you own them?

I don’t consider the 1901 a RC because it is a subset/action card, but it’s nice too. The Wills is my favorite aesthetically. And I’m a City fan so I prefer his early issues

Yes Anish. All of the cards that I post are from my personal collection. I fully understand that you do not consider In-Action cards as rookies. That is fair enough. You are certainly entitled to your opinion and thoughts! Best, Al

[Ulidia]

Thanks for posting these.

My interest is football / soccer and my memorabilia collection is reasonable, albeit cards are not a part of my collection.

I’ve always thought that, if I did venture into cards, I would collect some of the Spanish issues from the 1920s and 1930s - beautiful cards from an important period of Spanish history and can generally be purchased for very low prices in relative terms.

[aljurgela]

Originally Posted by Ulidia

Thanks for posting these.

My interest is football / soccer and my memorabilia collection is reasonable, albeit cards are not a part of my collection.

I’ve always thought that, if I did venture into cards, I would collect some of the Spanish issues from the 1920s and 1930s - beautiful cards from an important period of Spanish history and can generally be purchased for very low prices in relative terms.

And they have a number of great stars like Alcantara & Zamora. I will post some of those cards at some point. Good luck with your collecting!

[Ulidia]

Thank you - the good wishes are appreciated as I flew to Madrid today with the purpose of completing a (relatively) big transaction of Real Madrid memorabilia.

[aljurgela]

Originally Posted by Ulidia

Thank you - the good wishes are appreciated as I flew to Madrid today with the purpose of completing a (relatively) big transaction of Real Madrid memorabilia.

Very cool! Any Di Stefano or Puskas items? If so, please post them!

[samosa4u]

Rookie card or not, I don't like the "Meredith at work" card. I prefer his 1902 issues instead. As for his best-looking card, I would have to go with the 1910 Cope's Clips.

Nice cards, Al.

[aljurgela]

I mentioned that I would post this one, so here it is

[Anish]

That Wills SGC 8 is STUNNING! I have two copies, but they're both around VG.

Do you consider 1902 Wills (or Clarke's) to be the first football card set? I believe there are a few rugby cards in there, but they describe it as a "football" series unlike the other multi-sport sets from around that time.

Also, I see that PSA dates the Ogden's cards as 1902, so the Meredith "at work" may not precede the others.