OK, so this area has been quite dead for awhile now, so I decided to try and get it going with this post.
I was asked the other day about the top 15 soccer cards of all time and I started thinking that it is a very difficult question, but one that I think that I should (at some point) put pen to paper on. For now, I will just post some highlights with some Wikipedia links if you are interested in learning about the player. Most pre-war soccer players (and indeed many of the best players from the 1950s, 60s & 70s) are unknown to many Americans.
Since this is a bit scholarly, I will start with the first Captain for England, Oxford educated, G.O. Smith. One of the first soccer cards issued with one of the sport's first stars in a super scarce and attractive card... let's say that this card basically "started it all" for soccer and soccer cards... or correctly said, football and football cards!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._O._Smith