This card gave us Leeds, in West Yorkshire, which is the site of one of the current Royal Armouries. It is sited in Leeds Dock, and the museum was purpose built, only opening in 1996. Many of the items that it displays were formerly at the Tower of London, but owing to space restrictions they were seldom, if ever, on display.
Our player, William John Charles CBE was born on the 27th of December 1931, Swansea, Wales. This card shows him at Leeds United, but it was not his only club, for he began at his local team, Swansea Town, and went on to play abroad, in Italy, for Juventus of Turin, and Associazione Sportiva Roma, of Rome.
Some say that he lost vital years at the beginning of his career, for not long after joining Leeds United he had to do his National Service, and he did not return until 1952. However, he soon made his mark, scoring many goals, being made the captain of the team, and seeing Leeds United rise to the first division. He moved to Juventus in 1957, but came back to Leeds in 1962, to find that the way the game was being played in England was quite different from the way he had become accustomed in Italy, so much so that he moved back there and joined A S Roma, for one year before he returned home to Wales, to play for Cardiff City. He then took on player-manager roles at smaller clubs. And he also played internationally, for Wales, from 1950 to 1965. One surprising fact that I discovered is that he was never sent off and never cautioned, and never performed a questionable tackle, though some were done on him.
The Trading Card Database/JohnCharles cites sixty four cards, and gives ours as his Rookie - though he appeared on other cards in that same year.
As far as Liam Devlin, you can read his story courtesy of cardhawkuk/LiamDevlin.
To our card now, and I am pretty sure this was not the back you expected to appear when it was revealed; however, the reason for that is explained in our British Trade Index part II, where the header for Liam Devlin reads : "Sweet Cigarettes. Makers of Barratt products in Eire. Cards issued 1952 - 68".
They actually issued cards for longer, until 1971, but our British Trade Index part II was published in 1969, the others appear in our British Trade Index part III.
Now this set is one of four "Famous Footballers" issued by Liam Devlin. The entry for the group, in our British Trade Index part II, reads :
FAMOUS FOOTBALLERS. Md. 62 x 45. Black. Nd. ... DEV-3
- "New Series of 50". See D272-1
- "Series A.1". (50). See D272-2
- "Series A.2". (50). See D272-3
- "Series A.3". (50). Officially cut to about 36 m/m wide. See D272-4
The "D" codes lead you to the back of the book, and it means these sets were duplicated, or issued by another manufacturer. What that tells us comes as no surprise, for it reads :
D.272. FAMOUS FOOTBALLERS. Nd. Four Series, each 50.
- New Series of 50.
Barratt - Set BAR-71.1
Liam Devlin - Set DEV-3.1- Series A.1 (50).
Barratt - Set BAR-72.1
Liam Devlin - Set DEV-3.2- Series A.2. (50).
Barratt - Set BAR-72.2
Liam Devlin - Set DEV-3.3- Series A.3. (50).
Barratt - Set BAR-72-3
Liam Devlin - Set DEV-3.4
The Barratt version of our set is described as : "Series A.2. 1954. Medium. Black.(50). See D272-3. No. 13 (C. Wayman) is found with team (a) Preston North End (b) Middlesborough. ... BAR-72.1" The team name appears below that of the player, but also the text on each card differs. Our updated British Trade Index adds that there is an un-numbered card too, of "A. Ramsay, Tottenham".
Barratt issued several more sets of Famous Footballers, right up until "A.15", which was circulated in 1967 and 1968. However, our updated British Trade Index keeps Liam Devlin`s "Famous Footballers" pegged as a group of four, and describes them as :
FAMOUS FOOTBALLERS. 62 x 45. Black. Nd. ... DEV-060
- "New Series of 50". 1952-53. See HX-102
- "Series A.1". 1953-54 (50). See HX-57
- "Series A.2". 1954-55 (50). See HX-58
- "Series A.3". 1955-56 (50). Officially cut to about 36 m/m wide. See HX-59