Some of My Favourite Vintage Soccer Cards

[Ray Van]

Here's a list I compiled from the book "Half Time, Football and the Cigarette Card 1890-1940". In all there are 58 sets listed from pre-1920. Not all of these sets contain strictly soccer cards, some are general topics that include a selected number of soccer players (e.g. Ogdens). I tried to stay away from sets that contain only 1 card somewhat related to soccer, i.e. cards that only depict the game, not actual players. Also note that these are just the cigarette card sets ... there were also sets put out by food manufacturers and magazine/comic book makers, though those may have been post-1920. Anyway, this is hopefully a good start.

Year Maker Set # Cards
1897 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Heroes Of Sport 100
1898 Kinnear Ltd - Footballers and Club Colours 25
1900 Wills - Sporting Terms 50
1900 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Cricketers, Footballers, & Jockeys 20
1900 W&F Faulkner - Football Terms - Series 1 12
1900 W&F Faulkner - Football Terms - Series 2 12
1900 Ogdens Ltd - Footballers - Base M (Guinea Gold) 150
1900 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs 39
1900 St Petersburg Cigarette Co - Footballers 10
1900 Robert Sinclair Tobacco - Footballers 7
1901 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Actresses, Footballers, & Jockeys 36
1901 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs - A Series 14
1901 Ogdens Ltd - Our Leading Footballers 17
1902 J&F Bell Ltd - Footballers 30
1902 D&J Macdonald - Cricket & Football Teams 4
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs 3
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest 24
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs - C Series 5
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs - D Series 13
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs - F Series 45
1902 WD & HO Wills - Football Series 66
1904 Percy E Cadle & Co - Footballers 20
1905 Singleton & Co - Footballers 50
1905 F&J Smith - Footballers 120
1905 Spiro, Valleri & Co - Noted Footballers 10
1906 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Owners, Jockeys, Footballers, & Cricketers 50
1906 R&J Hill - Football Captains Series 20
1906 Ogdens Ltd - Football Club Colours 51
1906 John Sinclair Ltd - Football Favourites 50
1907 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Owners, Jockeys, Footballers, & Cricketers 20
1907 Taddy & Co - Prominent Footballers 595
1907 WD & HO Wills - Football Club Colours 50
1908 Murray Sons & Co - Football Colours 20
1908 Ogdens Ltd - Famous Footballers 50
1908 F&J Smith - Footballers 100
1908 Taddy & Co - Prominent Footballers 400
1910 Cope Bros & Co Ltd - Noted Footballers - Clip Cigarettes 472
1910 Cope Bros & Co Ltd - Noted Footballers - Solace Cigarettes 195
1910 Gallaher Ltd - Association Football Club Colours 100
1910 Hunter - Footballers 11
1910 Ogdens Ltd - Football Club Badges 43
1911 Murray Sons & Co - Football Rules 25
1912 Brigham And Co - Reading Footballers 16
1912 Gallaher Ltd - Sports Series 100
1912 R&J Hill - Famous Football Series 20
1912 Jones Brothers - Spurs Footballers 18
1912 Murray Sons & Co - Footballers - Series H 32
1912 F&J Smith - Footballers 150
1913 Murray Sons & Co - Footballers - Series J 104
1913 Taddy & Co - Prominent Footballers 371
1914 WA & AC Churchman - Footballers - Brown 50
1914 WA & AC Churchman - Footballers - Coloured 50
1914 Anonymous - Football Club Colours (Silks) 21
1915 J Lees - Northampton Town FC 20
1917 F&J Smith - Football Club Records 50
1905-10 Casket Tobacco - Football Fixture Cards 12
1907/08 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Football Captains 60
1909-10 WD & HO Wills - International Footballers 67

[Ray Van]

And then of course there were the Baines, Sharpes, etc cards. These are not mine (they are from the Leslie Millman collection or other locations from the internet) but are the holy grail for me: early Newton Heath and Manchester United cards.

[wake.up.the.echoes]

Awesome list! Thanks for posting that!

Originally Posted by Ray Van

Here's a list I compiled from the book "Half Time, Football and the Cigarette Card 1890-1940". In all there are 58 sets listed from pre-1920. Not all of these sets contain strictly soccer cards, some are general topics that include a selected number of soccer players (e.g. Ogdens). I tried to stay away from sets that contain only 1 card somewhat related to soccer, i.e. cards that only depict the game, not actual players. Also note that these are just the cigarette card sets ... there were also sets put out by food manufacturers and magazine/comic book makers, though those may have been post-1920. Anyway, this is hopefully a good start.

Year Maker Set # Cards
1897 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Heroes Of Sport 100
1898 Kinnear Ltd - Footballers and Club Colours 25
1900 Wills - Sporting Terms 50
1900 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Cricketers, Footballers, & Jockeys 20
1900 W&F Faulkner - Football Terms - Series 1 12
1900 W&F Faulkner - Football Terms - Series 2 12
1900 Ogdens Ltd - Footballers - Base M (Guinea Gold) 150
1900 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs 39
1900 St Petersburg Cigarette Co - Footballers 10
1900 Robert Sinclair Tobacco - Footballers 7
1901 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Actresses, Footballers, & Jockeys 36
1901 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs - A Series 14
1901 Ogdens Ltd - Our Leading Footballers 17
1902 J&F Bell Ltd - Footballers 30
1902 D&J Macdonald - Cricket & Football Teams 4
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs 3
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest 24
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs - C Series 5
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs - D Series 13
1902 Ogdens Ltd - General Interest - Tabs - F Series 45
1902 WD & HO Wills - Football Series 66
1904 Percy E Cadle & Co - Footballers 20
1905 Singleton & Co - Footballers 50
1905 F&J Smith - Footballers 120
1905 Spiro, Valleri & Co - Noted Footballers 10
1906 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Owners, Jockeys, Footballers, & Cricketers 50
1906 R&J Hill - Football Captains Series 20
1906 Ogdens Ltd - Football Club Colours 51
1906 John Sinclair Ltd - Football Favourites 50
1907 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Owners, Jockeys, Footballers, & Cricketers 20
1907 Taddy & Co - Prominent Footballers 595
1907 WD & HO Wills - Football Club Colours 50
1908 Murray Sons & Co - Football Colours 20
1908 Ogdens Ltd - Famous Footballers 50
1908 F&J Smith - Footballers 100
1908 Taddy & Co - Prominent Footballers 400
1910 Cope Bros & Co Ltd - Noted Footballers - Clip Cigarettes 472
1910 Cope Bros & Co Ltd - Noted Footballers - Solace Cigarettes 195
1910 Gallaher Ltd - Association Football Club Colours 100
1910 Hunter - Footballers 11
1910 Ogdens Ltd - Football Club Badges 43
1911 Murray Sons & Co - Football Rules 25
1912 Brigham And Co - Reading Footballers 16
1912 Gallaher Ltd - Sports Series 100
1912 R&J Hill - Famous Football Series 20
1912 Jones Brothers - Spurs Footballers 18
1912 Murray Sons & Co - Footballers - Series H 32
1912 F&J Smith - Footballers 150
1913 Murray Sons & Co - Footballers - Series J 104
1913 Taddy & Co - Prominent Footballers 371
1914 WA & AC Churchman - Footballers - Brown 50
1914 WA & AC Churchman - Footballers - Coloured 50
1914 Anonymous - Football Club Colours (Silks) 21
1915 J Lees - Northampton Town FC 20
1917 F&J Smith - Football Club Records 50
1905-10 Casket Tobacco - Football Fixture Cards 12
1907/08 Cohen, Weenen & Co - Football Captains 60
1909-10 WD & HO Wills - International Footballers 67

[Ray Van]

I just picked up a few of the "flag" cards that are not already stuck onto pins.

[Copa7]

While Britain issued many sets of soccer cards prior to 1920, the explosion of international interest begins after the 1924 Olympics. South American issues and Continental European issues begin to increase.

So the key dates are from 1924 to 1938 - until the advent of the Second World War.

Note: there is a noticeable drop of any issues surrounding the First World War (1914-1918). Production begins in earnest from the UK by 1920 again.

I suspect there are many issues still undiscovered around the world

[sdkammeyer]

THANK YOU very much for posting that list. very very helpful. thanks.

i've decided to start collecting tobacco soccer cards and just got my first ones in.

1938 W.A. & A.C. Churchman Cigarettes Footballers. complete set of 50.

next up is a set of something w/ color

[Collect Equity]

Congrats on the nice pick up!

[sdkammeyer]

Originally Posted by Collect Equity

Congrats on the nice pick up!

thanks very much! i'm very happy with them. now to decide what im going after next

my new-found obsession was sparked by a couple articles i read online a few weeks ago. the article spoke of how collecting these cards really hasn't caught on in the united states. the articles pointed out that if/when it DOES catch on in the U.S. the prices could quickly skyrocket because some of these older footballer cards are pretty scarce.

after i got the set of churchmans delivered i remembered that in one of those articles they named a certain set that may become more valuable because there were only 50,000 sets produced. so i scoured the net to find the article again to see exactly what that set was. i had not realized it the first time i saw it, but it that article was printed in 1990!!!

23 years ago and soccer cards STILL haven't caught on