Season 1971/72 Yet another bumper year of cards and an increasing range of 'other stuff'. The Cleveland Petrol / Joe Mercer heads are a highlight. The Daily Mirror cards provide coverage of 92 teams, plus the option of sending away for 'My Club'. I'd love to see the numbers distributed for each team. Esso issued their football club badges, which every boy seemed to have hundreds of at the time.
A&BC Gum (English)
Footballers - Purple backs. Perhaps not one of A&BC's better designed sets. The backs are stylish, but the fronts don't have the same appeal as in previous years. Series 1 comprises cards 1 to 109 (checklist 57), Series 2 cards 110 to 219 (checklist 170) and Series 3 cards 220 to 290 (checklist 277). Number in set: 290 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Series 1 (1-109), Series 2 (110-219), Series 3 (220-290), Team checklist Special: Purple-back wrappers gallery Special: A&BC Chewing Gum variants and error cards Special: A&BC counter boxes gallery
Football club crests. A set of strange looking stickers which were issued with Series 2 of the Purple backs. They belonged in an album (cost 8p) which could be ordered from: A&BC Footballer Album A&BC Chewing Gum Ltd. Spilsby Road, Romford, Essex Number in set: 23 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist
Footballer Superstars. Attractive stickers which were issued with Series 3 of the  Purple backs. These stickers, like the crests, advertise the A&BC Footballer Album to stick them in. Number in set: 23 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
A&BC Gum (Scottish)
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
Anglo Confectionery
Football Hints. OK, so they are not technically football cards, but they are interesting and collectable. A set of 12 'volumes', prepared with the co-operation of the Football Association. The 12 volumes all have the same picture on the front cover, but the colours and writing change for each book. You bought these Minibooks on Football Hints with a piece of Anglo Bubble Gum. It cost 3p for the bubble gum. The gum and book came in wrappers which themselves came in a variety of colours. Number in set: 12 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist
BAB Souvenir Company
Century Series of Sticker Stamps. BAB produced a number of these beautiful sheets, copyright 1971. The sheets contained a 'century of' i.e. 100, stickers. The football related ones I am aware of are: 1. Soccer favourites 3. Clubs, crests and colours. The sheets were accompanied by 'Index sheets' which provide information for the sticker/ stamps. Alan informs me that sheets for 'Flags' and 'Wild West characters' also exist. I have dated Sheet 1 as October or November 1971 based on the inclusion of transfers such as Keith Weller, Chelsea to Leicester City in September 1971. Transfers such as Tommy Gemmell from Celtic to Nottingham Forest or Alan Ball from Everton to Arsenal in December 1971 are not recorded. Number in set: 100 per sheet. Checklists: Soccer favourites - Set checklist, Team checklist
Barratt and Co. Ltd.
Goldflake Famous Sportsmen. A set of 50 cigarette style cards issued by Barratt & Co Ltd, London, England. A return to football-related cards by Barratt, but only 11 footballers amongst the 50 sportsman.The footballers are: Alan Ball, Gordon Banks, George Best, Billy Bremner, Wyn Davies, Emlyn Hughes, Brian Kidd, Billy McNeill, Alan Mullery, Bobby Moore and Pele. Number in set: 50 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist (partial).
Cadbury
Hartley's Football Stars. OK, so they are not football cards, but they are attractive and collectable.The jam jar lids were produced for Cadbury Schweppes Foods Ltd., Bournville, Birmingham while the images on the lids were provided by Coffer, with an inscription on each lid saying © Coffer, London. The jam jar lids fit into a folder (pictured below) which names them as 'Hartleys Football Stars 1971-72'. So, Cadbury or Hartley's? Who knows? Number in set: 12 Gallery: Set gallery Checklist: Set checklist
Cleveland Petrol
Joe Mercer's Great Britain Soccer Squad 1971. Busts of top players available from Cleveland Petrol outlets. The collection fitted into a black plastic display stand. Number in set: 16 Gallery: Set gallery
Daily Mirror
Star Soccer Sides. One card for every team. This popular set was to be stuck onto a large wallchart with the title 'Bobby Moore's Gallery of Soccer Sides'. Number in set: 100 Gallery: Set gallery Checklist: Set checklist
My Club. The My Club cards were able to be ordered separately from the Mirror, and then stuck onto your Bobby Moore wallchart. The idea was that you collected the card for your favourite team to personalise your chart. Obviously very few were ordered, and most of those stuck to the charts, so it is rare to find them in unmarked condition. Since one was available for each of the 96 teams (92 league teams plus the home international teams) I'm guessing that perhaps some of the lower division teams' cards would form the rarest recent football cards of all. This website is proud to be able to display all of the cards in the galleries below. Since the cards are quite large, the teams are divided up for display into the Divisions they played in in the 1971/72 season. Division 1 teams gallery - Arsenal, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Derby County, Everton, Huddersfield Town, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Southampton, Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, W.B.A., West Ham United. Wolverhampton Wanderers Division 2 teams gallery - Birmingham City, Blackpool, Bristol City, Burnley, Cardiff City, Carlisle United, Charlton Athletic, Fulham, Hull City, Luton Town, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Norwich City, Orient, Oxford United, Portsmouth, Preston North End, Q.P.R., Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland, Swindon Town, Watford Division 3 teams gallery - Aston Villa, Barnsley, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Bournemouth, Bradford City, Brighton, Bristol Rovers, Chesterfield, Halifax Town, Mansfield Town, Notts. County, Oldham Athletic, Plymouth Argyle, Port Vale, Rochdale, Rotherham United, Shrewsbury Town, Swansea City, Torquay United, Tranmere Rovers, Walsall, Wrexham, York City Division 4 teams gallery - Aldershot, Barrow, Brentford, Bury, Cambridge United, Chester, Colchester United, Crewe Alexandra, Darlington, Doncaster Rovers, Exeter City, Gillingham, Grimsby Town, Hartlepool, Lincoln City, Newport County, Northampton Town, Peterborough United, Reading, Scunthorpe United, Southend United, Southport, Stockport County, Workington Home international teams gallery - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales. Number in set: 100 Checklist: Set checklist
Esso
Football club badges. A set of foil badges which could be stuck onto a large collectors card. You could start off your collection by purchasing a special starters pack which included 26 badges for only 20p. After that I guess that you had to get your parents to buy some petrol. Number in set: 76 Gallery: Set gallery Checklists: N/A
FKS Publishers
The Wonderful World of Soccer Stars 1971/72 First Division. The one-off trial with a small black-and-white head shot on the back of the sticker. Jack Rollin continued as album editor, while the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) approved the collection. A club badge sticker was available for each team, and a place for each in the album. Each packet contained one self adhesive team badge sticker and seven player stickers. Album: Price 15p. Number in set: 352 Packet: 7 stickers for 3p Gallery: Arsenal, Chelsea, Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Derby County, Everton, Huddersfield Town, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Southampton, Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist Special: FKS album gallery
IPC Magazines
Shoot's All Star Line-Up. The Shoot magazine began in 1969, and has become an institution for young football fans. In September 1971 they began a new series of collectables by suggesting that readers cut out a four page section and fold and trim the pages to form the first four (1-4) and the last four (109-112) of a booklet.Each of the pages includes a photo of a player with an accompanying biography. There was also a space to attach an autograph for each player. The autographs were available separately from the Shoot magazines. Number in set: 111 (numbered 2 to 112)
My favourite soccer stars (Red backs). The blue backed cards from 1969/70 obviously proved successful, since IPC tried again 20 months later, albeit with a different set of comics. The comics were: Buster and Jet, Lion and Thunder, Scorcher and Score, Tiger, and Valiant and TV 21. The publication dates were: October 16, 23 and 30, and November 6, 1971. Number in set: 160 (32 x 5)
Lord Neilson
1st Division Football League Club Badges. These attractive badges are also available with the Mister Softee and Tonibell company names. Number in set: 24 Gallery: N/A Checklist: N/A
Lyons Maid
International Footballers. Number in set: 40 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist or Team checklist.
Marshall Cavendish
Book of Football, Top Teams. In 1971 Marshall Cavendish began the massive production of the Book of Football, a Marshall Cavendish Encyclopedia, in 75 weekly parts. The parts cost 23p each, or £13.30 for a 12-month subscription (52 issues including postage and packing). The weekly parts could be stored in 5 binders (each holding 15 issues). For the first 20 of its 75 parts the Book of Football included sheets of 16 'colour star portraits' in the centre pages. An album 'Top Teams' was provided free with Part 2, or could be purchased later for 25p.The album has 364 sticker spaces but has 44 portraits already printed inside, so there were actually only 320 stickers to collect. They are available as sheets of 16 or individually. The album was published by Marshall Cavendish Ltd., 58 Old Compton Street, London W1V 5PA. © Marshall Cavendish Ltd., 1971. The album was printed in Great Britain by Petty & Sons Ltd., Leeds. Number in set: 320 Gallery: N/A Checklist: Set checklist.
Mister Softee
1st Division Football League Club Badges. These attractive badges are also available with the Lord Neilson and Tonibell company names. Number in set: 24 Gallery: N/A Checklist: N/A
The Sun
Soccerstamps. Following on from the undoubted success of the Swap cards the Sun followed up in 1971/72 with the ambitious Soccerstamps collection. The Soccerstamps were stamps, rather than cards, and came in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colours. The tokens for Soccerstamps appeared in the Sun each day. The Sun only accepted tokens in lots of six, plus 5p, to get your 12 Soccerstamps by return post. The stamps were to be mounted in the spaces for them in the 164-page Football Encyclopaedia and Soccerstamp Album (available from newsagents for 10p). The album suggests that you stick them in with stamp hinges. Collectors of these stamps therefore distinguish between those which were (a) never stuck into an album, (b) stuck in with stamp hinges or (c) stuck in as stamps. The Sun claimed at the time that over 60 million Soccerstamps were to be printed, which means that they often turn up today. Number in set: 500 stamps. Four additional stamps are also known, numbered 501 to 504, issued as a block of four 'Christmas Greetings'. Gallery: N/A Checklist: N/A
D.C. Thomson
The All-Star Banner. A large fold-out banner presented with the Wizard comic. The banner includes: Arsenal (League Champions and F.A. Cup Winners 1970-71), Francis Lee, George Best, Steve Heighway, Billy Bremner, Ron Davies, Martin Chivers, John Jackson, Joe Corrigan, Iam McFaul, Peter Shilton, Phil Parkes, Pat Jennings, Peter Bonetti, Gary Sprake, Bob Wilson, Gordon Banks, Jeff Astle, Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey, Sandy Jardine, and Celtic (Scottish League Champions and F.A. Cup Winners 1970-71)
Tonibell
1st Division Football League Club Badges. These attractive badges are also available with the Lord Neilson and Mr Softee company names. Number in set: 24 Gallery: N/A
Top Sellers
Football 72. A large set of cards featuring the First Division teams, plus some puzzle cards. The cards were to be stuck into an album 'Football 72', which cost 15p. The album was printed by Allens Printers (Wales) Limited, Pontygwindy Industrial Estate, Caerphilly, Glam., in association with Print and Marketing Services (Europe) Ltd. The back of these cards states 'Printed in Italy by Panini 1971'. You could obtain individual cards to complete your collection by sending missing numbers to: Top Sellers Ltd. Dept. F72, Melton Road Thurmaston, Leicester Number in set: 420 Gallery: N/A Checklists: Set checklist Special: Puzzle cards master index

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