1928-29 Player and Sons Footballers Set Combined Soccer and Rugby

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Pre-War Cards

Large UK issue included two sports and two series

With the site covering cards from eight different sports, it’s generally tough to do much more. As I said during the last major site update, I don’t anticipate adding something like soccer just because of the massive amount of international issues. But what I do want to do is occasionally cover some sets from soccer and other sports just because there’s a lot of great pre-war stuff out there.

One of the soccer issues I love the most is the 1928-29 Player and Sons Footballers set. This set includes both soccer and rugby. Even if you don’t know the players necessarily, you can see that just from the pictures as some of the players are dribbling the ball with their feet and others are carrying it like a running back in American football.

I love the colorful drawings of these cards. Backs include detailed writeups of each player, providing some background into their history. The back layout is similar to other 1930s Players sets.

If you are familiar with international issues from the UK, you have almost certainly heard of the Player and Sons name. Player and Sons cigarettes were a brand under the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland, Ltd. name. Player and Sons issued a few hundred pre-war sets. Many were non-sports issues but the company also produced a good amount of sports sets, including issues in tennis, soccer, boxing, and golf.

As was the case with other cigarette cards, these were used as stiffeners in the packages of cigarette products.

Two Series’

While this is called the Footballers set, it’s really two sets rolled into one. More specifically, it includes two series’.

The first series included a total of 50 cards and was printed in 1928. This site actually nails down the month, saying it was printed in October. The second series was produced the following year in 1929 only a few months later in February. For whatever reason, that series includes only 25 cards. Why that series was shorter is a mystery. But it is worth pointing out that many Player and Sons sets included either 25 or 50 cards.

Series 1 cards are numbered 1-50 while Series 2 were 51-75, essentially making this one big set.

B.O. Male Variations

I haven’t seen many variations in this set but at least one does exist on the card of B.O. Male. B.O. stood for Benjamin Oswald and he was typically known as Ossie.

Male is No. 24 in the set and found in the first series. He is cited in his biography on the back as one of the best fullbacks in Wales, despite suffering major injuries. The Welsh rugby standout was said to be a ‘safe player with good hands’ that has a ‘brilliant place kick.’

For whatever reason, Male has two different cards in the set. Both utilize the same pose but he is wearing different colored clothing. On one version, he is wearing white shorts with black and red socks. On another, he is seen in dark shorts with black and white socks.

Male’s hair color is also slightly different between the two cards. On the card with white shorts, his hair appears black while it is more brown on the other card.

The white shorts version is the easier one to find.

Pricing

Like many 1930s sets from the UK, this is a pretty affordable set. If you buy the complete sets, you can often get it at around $.50 a card. Singles are usually sold for a few bucks a piece so, unless you really just want one as a type card, you’re better off buying a complete series.

Series 1 cards seem to sell for a little less than Series 2 issues.