The reason for this card was that in September 1937 the first ever televised football match appeared on the BBC. It was a special match between the main Arsenal squad and the reserve squad. It was really only a test, and not nationally broadcast, so only those who lived close to Alexandra Palace managed to tune in. And apparently this man, C. M. Buchan, scored the first goal - the first ever goal to be seen on television. On this card he was with Sunderland, with whom he played in the 1913 F.A. Cup Final, and which was the team he left to join the Sherwood Foresters and fight in the First World War. He came back, with the Military Medal.
This card proves that after the war he rejoined Sunderland, but in 1925 he joined Woolwich Arsenal, and was still there when the BBC came calling. And after he had left football as a player, he turned to commentating, coincidentally for the BBC.
This is an unusual card, which was issued through a magazine called "Sport & Adventure", and that is why it appears in both sets of our Trade Indexes as SPO. However research seems to suggest that this was actually published by Amalgamated Press. The cards were issued weekly between the 29th of April and the 12th of August 1922 and measure 68 x 44 m/m but they vary because as our picture suggests, with a cut out line, they were issued in strips. The first twelve strips, containing cards 1-42, were three cards long, but the last two strips only had two cards on each.
And thanks to a reader we have a checklist, including the magazine numbers in which they were issued, which is :
issued with No.1 - on 29 April, 1922
- 1. F. Barson (Aston Villa)
- 2. T. Clay (Tottenham Hotspur)
- 3. C.M. Buchan (Sunderland)
issued with No.2 - on 6 May, 1922
- 4. W. Meredith (Manchester City)
- 5. H.A. White (Arsenal)
- 6. J. Bauchop (Bradford Park Avenue)
issued with No.3 - on 13 May, 1922
- 7. J. Dawson (Burnley)
- 8. J. McCall (Preston North End)
- 9. H. Gough (Sheffield United)
issued with No.4 - on 20 May, 1922
- 10. D. Rollo (Blackburn Rovers)
- 11. W. Thirlaway (West Ham United)
- 12. R.C. Brittan (Cardiff City)
issued with No.5 - on 27 May, 1922
- 13. A. Ducat (Fulham)
- 14. I. Boocock (Bradford City)
- 15. F. Bullock (Huddersfield Town)
issued with No.6 - on 3 June, 1922
- 16. W. McCracken (Newcastle United)
- 17. W. Feebury (Crystal Palace)
- 18. F. Morris (West Bromwich Albion)
issued with No.7 - on 10 June, 1922
- 19. F.W. Walden (Tottenham Hotspur)
- 20. J. Mew (Manchester United)
- 21. C. Wallace (Oldham Athletic)
issued with No.8 - on 17 June, 1922
- 22. J. Harrow (Chelsea)
- 23. G. Utley (Sheffield United)
- 24. S. Atterbury (Plymouth Argyle)
issued with No.9 - on 24 June, 1922
- 25. F. Foxall (Southampton)
- 26. E.T. Vizard (Bolton Wanderers)
- 27. S. Fazackerly (Everton)
issued with No.10 - on 1 July, 1922
- 28. T. Bromilow (Liverpool)
- 29. A.E. Quantrill (Preston North End)
- 30. G. Lillycrop (South Shields)
issued with No.11 - on 8 July, 1922
- 31. J. Broad (Stoke City)
- 32. A.E. Knight (Portsmouth)
- 33. G.W. Donkin (Barnsley)
issued with No.12 - on 15 July, 1922
- 34. H. Halse (Charlton Athletic)
- 35. F.C. Hudspeth (Newcastle United)
- 36. J.E. Davison (The Wednesday)
issued with No.13 - on 22 July, 1922
- 37. J. Spaven (Nottingham Forest)
- 38. L. Bookman (Luton Town)
- 39. R. Downs (Everton)
issued with No.14 - on 29 July, 1922 -
these cards did not say who would be appearing next week, which leads to a theory that they were intended to be the final ones
- 40. H. Hampton (Birmingham)
- 41. O. Williams (Clapton Orient)
- 42. H. Fleming (Swindon Town)
issued with No.15 - on 5 August, 1922 -
however these cards did say who would be appearing next week
- 43. R.E. York (Aston Villa)
- 44. W. Flint (Notts County)
issued with No.16 - on 12 August, 1922 -
but these cards did not say who would be appearing next week, because they were the last in the series
- 45. A. Wilson (Middlesbrough)
- 46. H. Middlemiss (Queens Park Rangers)