Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulidia
Interesting to see these trends compared to the soccer memorabilia market here in the UK.
As most of you will be aware, soccer is the primary sport in the UK. By some distance, the main soccer collectible in the UK has, however, been programmes / programs with very little attention paid to cards (unlike parts of continental Europe).
Programmes surged in value in the late 1980s through to the early to mid 2000s and, for the very best programmes, prices could hit five figure sums. However, since then, although those very best programmes have retained their value, there has generally been a considerable decline in value - including for those programmes which, in UK terms, would still be considered as very high end i.e. costing circa $1k to $3k each at their height.
More so, there’s a concern as to collectors ageing and few new collectors entering the hobby - in some respects not too dissimilar to some of the discussion in the US - and exacerbated by the decision of an increasing number of soccer clubs to stop producing programmes in favour of online media.
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Yes, I frequent many UK auction sites and am typically disappointed with the amount of programs and tickets and the lack of cards available. I, for one, am bullish on soccer cards in general and very much like the early UK cards as there are many to choose from, they are attractive and show some of the early football stars. I also enjoy reading the history of the sport. Steve Bloomer, Billy Meredith, Fatty Foulke, GO Smith, CB Fry and many more. I love the Cope's Clips, Taddy & Co. cards especially.
If people globally get more interested in soccer and its history, you could make a case than that will spike interest in the early UK cards globally. I, of course, am unsure that this will happen, but I am a collector first and don't really care too much as I appreciate the learning, the history and, ultimately, the artifacts themselves. A few of my most prized cards in all of my collections are UK cards.