Nigel's WebSpace - English Football Cards

A&BC Chewing Gum - Scottish cards Though A&BC Chewing Gum began producing football card sets in England for the 1958/59 season it wasn't until 1962 that they decided to produce sets specific to Scotland. They then continued on producing Scottish sets throughout the history of the company. You can see the English sets here. As a general rule the Scottish cards are rarer, and therefore more valuable than their English equivalents. If you can help with additional information or images please contact me using this email link.
1962/63
Footballers. A set of 44 black and white photograph cards with facsimile autographs and plain backs. I've dated this set as 1962/63 though some catalogues list it as 1961/62. The set includes cards showing the 1961/62 League Champions and Cup Winners, so I've assumed that A&BC would have produced this set around June/July 1962 ready for the 1962/63 season. Nigel's Webspace is pleased to be able to display a full set of these cards. They are incredibly rare as a set, so the displayed images have my website address overwriting the photographs. I am indebted to Adrian for allowing me to display this set on my website. Number in set: 44 Gallery: Set gallery Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
1963/64
Footballers. A set of 81 green backed 'Make-a-Photo' cards. A superbly democratic sets of cards from A&BC with four players each from the top 19 teams, though only 3 from Clyde, making a total of 79 player cards and two checklists. The cards show very relaxed photos of players within a coloured oval frame, making the overall effect very appealing. Number in set: 81 Gallery: Set gallery Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
1964/65
Footballers. An interesting set of 81 green backed 'Quiz' cards, issued in two series, 1-44 and 45-81. One of the things to note about this set is the mix of teams, with four players from East Stirlingshire, two from Stranraer, but only three from Aberdeen. Nice to see the lesser-known club players featured for a change! Number in set: 81 Gallery: Set gallery Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist Special: A&BC counter boxes gallery
1967/68
Footballers. A set of 66 coloured photograph cards issued in pairs, but most often seen as singles. There are 42 different individual footballers to collect, although they were issued as a number of different 'pairs' - each footballer may therefore appear on more than one paired card. There are 55 known paired card combinations. There are also 12 paired cards (24 individual cards) which each depict part of a photograph of the Celtic team group - these cards are very rare. Number in set: 67 paired cards, or 66 individual cards Gallery: Set gallery Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
1968/69
Footballers - Yellow backs. Similar to the English yellow backs of the same year. Douglas Coakley of A&BC Gum has advised that in 1968 they had terrible trouble in the factory mixing up the English and Scottish cards so after that year they made the two sets different colours each year. Apparently there are a number of different versions of each card, where the photograph and text are the same but the Football Quiz questions differ. Number in set: 81 Gallery: Set gallery Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
Team pennants. Team pennants folded in the yellow back card packets, hence the folds whenever you see these attractive pennants. The pennants have instructions to 'Cut out Pennant along black line' but thankfully not too many boys seem to have done this. Number in set: Unknown
1969/70
Football - Blue backs. A set of 75 cards plus two checklists. Whereas the previous Scottish sets had only players from Scottish clubs, this set included a number of English clubs and players. Number in set: 77 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist Special: A&BC counter boxes gallery
Crinkle-cut photographs. Attractive black and white photograph cards with a crinkle-cut edge. These cards were issued with the Blue back set. Number in set: 15 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
1970/71
Footballer - Green backs. The first large Scottish A&BC set. There are checklist cards 85 and 170, though I'm not sure if these cards were issued as two series. Number in set: 171 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist Special: A&BC counter boxes gallery
Pin-ups. An attractive set of 'pin-up' posters issued with the Green Backs. Since these pin-ups were squeezed into the bubble gum packets they always have the creases. While the equivalent English set had 14 pin-ups the Scottish, for some reason, has 28. I'm not sure, but suspect that the first 14 pin-ups where issued with Series 1, and the second 14 (relabelled as 'Superstar posters') were issued with Series 2. Number in set: 28 Gallery: Set gallery Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
1971/72
Footballers - Purple backs. A&BC reversed their previous decision and went with the same colour backing for the English and Scottish sets of this year. This set was issued as two series, 1 to 73 and 74 to 144. Number in set: 144 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
Football club crests. Similar to the English set, issued with Series 2 of the Purple backs. They belonged in an album which could be ordered from: A&BC Chewing Gum Ltd. Spilsby Road, Romford, Essex Number in set: 16 Gallery: Set gallery Checklists: Set checklist Special: A&BC counter boxes gallery
1972/73
Footballers - Blue and Orange/Red backs. This set was issued as two series, 1 to 89 and 90 to 178. Series 1 cards have a blue back, and Series 2 an Orange/Red back. Card number 178 (George Connelly) is known with both a blue and an orange/red back. Card number 164 is not known to have been issued. Number in set: 178 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
1973/74
Footballers - Red backs. This set was issued as two series, 1 to 90 and 91 to 178. Number in set: 178 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
1974/75
Footballers - Green backs. The last ever A&BC Footballers production before the takeover by Topps. A small set, only 132 cards, and no special giveaways. Checklist card is number 69. Number in set: 132 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist		Images not currently available.

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