Card of the Day - 2022-05-14

there were two possible clues here. The first is that our man is the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, in 1966, England versus West Germany at Wembley. The second is that we are only just discovering that football can cause brain injuries through heading the ball, and on field conflicts; and just in the 1966 World Cup team the incidence of brain injury is four times the national average, as you can read in this excellent Australian bulletin.

These cards measure 81 x 56 m/m. Ours is from series one of a huge three part set, known as the "Football Series 1969-70". The parts were numbers 1-64 and a checklist, numbers 65-117 and a checklist, and 117-170 and a checklist. Though the checklists were not numbered they are counted in the total. In case you think I have erred with my numbering, card 117 of the second part shows David Woodfield whilst card 117 of the third part shows Tommy Lawrence. They measure 80 x 55, and you can find the backs including the words either "Football Facts" or "Football Quiz". This is the English issue, in green and black.

There was also a Scottish issue, in blue and black. That only had two parts, numbers 1-41 with checklist, and numbers 42-75 with checklist. However some of these second checklists have been found showing cards #76 P. Gardner and #77 E Stevenson. These players were not thought to have been issued. However, if you know otherwise, do tell us.

Our card is Geoff Hurst of West Ham United, cited as playing in the inside left position The first thing I noticed was that for some reason the Geoff on this card seems to have lost one of its “F”s. The same error is repeated on the reverse as well. It tells us that he “started as a wing half for Chelmsford Boys team before joining West Ham in 1960. And then we get one of the reasons why we chose this card, that “he is the first man ever to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final in 1966”