This man is a footballer, of course, but he is also a goalkeeper, and they are renowned for springing in the air to deflect the ball from the target behind them.
There is no truth in the rumour that goalies are any more athletic than the rest of the team - only that their senses need to be even more acute.
Our man today is George Jacob Tweedy, and he was born in January 1913.
He started his football career with his local team, Willington F.C., then moved to Grimsby Town in 1932. He never played for anyone else, though he did appear, just once, for England, in 1936.
I have not been able to find out anything about his war service, only that he was able to play with Grimsby Town until 1942, but was then sent off to war. This seems to suggest that he was a coal miner, or in some other reserved occupation, which deferred his service in the regular forces.
This set seems to have been a co-production between the newspaper and the football club, but they were not issued with the newspaper, they were given away with the match day programmes. I suppose what the paper got out of it was the advertising.
There is also a bit of a conspiracy theory with these cards, as they are numbered up to no.25, but most collectors say it not possible to make a complete set, two of the cards never having been issued. Some collectors say that they were not printed, but twenty three is not an easy number to print in a sheet. Others swear that they were printed but destroyed, so that everyone was after them.
The truth seems to be that the club played twenty three games in that season, and in each programme for those matches, a card was given away. However they also played two cup games, at which, or so collectors believe, the other two were also supposed to be given away in a similar style, but, for whatever reason, they were not. Maybe this is what gave rise to the thought that they were printed but destroyed, with that happening some time later when the un-issued cards were discovered.
They first appear at the back of our original British Trade Index part II, as :
SET ZJ9-18. TOWN STARS. Md. 80 x 53. Grimsby Town Footballers. Black, inscribed "By Courtesy of Gy. Evening Telegraph". Nd. (19?) ... ZJ9-18
The Grimsby link only arrives in our updated British Trade Index, where the set is plucked from its oblivion and listed under them in the main body, as :
GRIMSBY EVENING TELEGRAPH
Newspaper. Issued in the 1952-53 season
TOWN STARS. 80 x 53. Grimsby Town Footballers. B & W. Anonymous. Given with programmes during the season ... GRI-050