![AMA-150 : AMC-2 [trade : magazine ; UK] Amalgamated Press “English League (Div.1) Footer Internationals” (20th of February 1926) 9/24](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-07/2%20notts%20county_0.jpg?itok=9KNTCRKx)
Here we have William Flint of Notts County, a “right half-back” and “for many years captain”. The text also tells us that he “Has been long enough with his present club to earn two benefits” but does not say what they are. A free sandwich and a cup of coffee at half time perhaps? (You can tell from this that I am but a very simple soul). And it says he “Is not very big – he only stands 5 ft 6½ ins”, though that is taller than I.
His full name was William Arthur Flint and he was born in Underwood, Nottinghamshire on March the 12th, 1890. He started with the local side, Underwood, in 1906, and either moved to Bagthorpe the same year or played for both teams at the same time. We know that the following year he was playing for Eastwood Rangers, and somehow this got him to the attention of Notts County, who he joined in 1908, though he did not play for them until the following year.
We know that his career was interrupted by his wartime service, but not yet what he did. However after the war he returned to Notts County. According to the set of cards issued by "Magnet" in 1922, he was "A long-service right half-back and captain of Notts County, who is also a county cricketer". In fact both he and his brother were first-class cricketers, something that you can read more about that at the Trent Bridge website - but I am not sure if he, or his brother, appear on any cricketing cards – if you know do tell us.
In all he turned out just over four hundred times for Notts County, until he retired, in 1926, at the age of thirty-six.
As far as his cartophilic portraits we know of these:
- Clarnico "Footballers" (1922) Unnd
- Magnet "Real Photos of Famous Footballers" (3 June 1922) No.8
- Sport & Adventure "Famous Footballers" (15 Aug 1922) No.44
- Godfrey Phillips Pinnace brand “Footballers” (1922) No. 47
- Lacey`s Chewing Wax "Footballers" (1925) No.43
- Amalgamated Press "English League (Div.1) Footer Captains" (20 Feb.1926) Unnd
- Ogden`s "Captains of Association Football Teams and Colours"(1926) no.27
However if you know of any others please let us know and we will add them here. I am not sure why most of his cards were issued in 1922, but we do know that in 1923 he was made Notts County Captain, so perhaps the two are connected.
Our original "Index of British Non-Tobacco Issues up to 1945", published in 1962, which would colloquially become known as British Trade Index part one, describes this set as :
- ENGLISH LEAGUE (DIV. 1) FOOTER CAPTAINS. Md. Brown. Nd. (22). Dated 23-1-26 to 3-4-26 (C) (T) ... AMC-2
The heading explains that the size of medium cards is 76 x 51 m/m - and that the initials not only stand for "Champion" and "Triumph", but that "half the subjects bear the name of each periodical". What actually happened was that a different card was given in each of these magazines, making two cards a week. This was actually a rather cunning marketing strategy, for it meant that the collector had to buy both magazines in order to get the full set.
By the time of our updated British Trade Index, RB.125, issued in 2006, there is not much difference, only in the fact that the size of the cards now appears in the entry, and, of course, a new card code. That reads :
- ENGLISH LEAGUE (DIV. 1) FOOTER CAPTAINS. (C) (T). 76 x 51. Brown. Nd. (22). Dated 23-1-26 to 3-4-26 ... AMC-2
The cards in the set are as follows :
| Frank Hudspeth (Newcastle United) | - Triumph | - 23 January, 1926 | |
| Frank Barson (Manchester United) | - Champion | - 23 January, 1926 | |
| Charles Buchan (Arsenal) | - Triumph | - 30 January, 1926 | |
| William Gillespie (Sheffield United) | - Champion | - 30 January, 1926 | |
| Joseph Smith (Bolton Wanderers) | - Triumph | - 6 February, 1926 | |
| James Blair (Cardiff City) | - Champion | - 6 February, 1926 | |
| Frank Moss (Aston Villa) | - Triumph | - 13 February, 1926 | |
| George Kay (West Ham United) | - Champion | - 13 February, 1926 | |
| William Flint (Notts County) | - Triumph | - 20 February, 1926 | |
| Charles Pringle (Manchester City) | - Champion | - 20 February, 1926 | |
| Charles Parker (Sunderland) | - Triumph | - 27 February, 1926 | |
| Frank Reed (West Bromwich Albion) | - Champion | - 27 February, 1926 | |
| Clement Stephenson (Huddersfield Town) | - Triumph | - 6 March, 1926 | |
| Frank Womack (Birmingham City) | - Champion | - 6 March, 1926 | |
| Hunter Hart (Everton) | - Triumph | - 13 March, 1926 | |
| William Stage (Bury) | - Champion | - 13 March, 1926 | |
| Harry Healless (Blackburn Rovers) | - Triumph | - 20 March, 1926 | |
| Donald McKinlay (Liverpool) | - Champion | - 20 March, 1926 | |
| John Duncan (Leicester City) | - Triumph | - 27 March, 1926 | |
| John Hill (Burnley) | - Champion | - 27 March, 1926 | |
| William Wainscoat (Leeds United) | - Triumph | - 3 April, 1926 | |
| Arthur Grimsdell (Tottenham Hotspur) | - Champion | - 3 April, 1926 |