The clue here was on the top line, "PLAY" the Game. It also shows one of the most popular games that teams of children play, football. Also, the idea of the cards was that they were collected, as a plaything, and, when you had amassed a certain number, in this case twelve, you would send them in with a poem, rhyme, or essay, and you could win football or cricket supplies.
If you hadn`t noticed, this card is titled "Tottenham Hotspurs". We are not sure if Mr. Baines was referring to the team, or the players, in the plural - but there is no record I can find of the team being called this.
They began in 1882 as Hotspur Football Club, adding the Tottenham prefix two years later, because that was where they played. Then, in 1885, the team decided to move up, shedding their amateur status and becoming a professional team. And they first won the F.A. Cup in 1901, amazingly, because they were in the Southern League, not the Football League. They were only elected to the Football League, to the Second Division, in 1908.
The clue to dating these cards is in the address, because that varied. The address on this card, of Oak Lane, Bradford, means that it dates from after Tottenham Hotspur(s) were in the Second Division, and no earlier than 1910, because in 1909 the heirs of the original Mr. Baines had created another firm, so we end up with J. Baines and J. Baines Ltd, and, as of 1910, they have separate addresses, J. Baines Ltd running out of 15 North Parade, Bradford, and J. Baines out of Oak Lane, Bradford.
And it looks like our section of the former firm relocated to Kent in the mid 1920s
Now I am not going to attempt to write the story of Mr. Baines and his cards, just to send you to a couple of websites. The first is courtesy of When Saturday Comes / John Baines (which tells of his life) and the second is LDC Auctions / Baines (which shows a wonderful selection of the actual cards, and clicking on them makes them even bigger). I will say that when you look at that site, you will notice that the cards are a variety of shapes, our one today being a simple, round, soccer ball shape.