... this was chosen because these items were issued with the magazine "Victor", though it does not say so anywhere on them, only on the sheets from which they were pressed or cut out, and in most cases those have long since been discarded.
Here we have one of the more active cards from this set, some are simply footballers standing still.
Our man is Colin Addison, and he was born on the eighteenth of May, 1940, in Taunton, Somerset. However the fact that he signed for York City makes me think that his family had relocated to Taunton temporarily at the start of the Second World War, thinking York was a bigger target, or his father had been stationed down there and the family had got lodgings nearby. I will try to find out.
Anyway he was with York City for four years, from 1957, when he was seventeen, to 1961. He then moved about a bit, and in the next twelve years he had stints at Nottingham Forest, Arsenal. Sheffield United and Hereford United, who he also managed at the same time as playing. After he left them he went into managing solely, all around the globe.
Now it was not until I was sent the missing link that I found the cards in our British Trade Index part two, because the line at the feet of Mr. Addison is not very thick. But now i have the missing link I can see that you insert the semi circle up the small line and you get a cross shape on which your footballer stands up on your desk etc (albeit very briefly, if you have a dog, or small child, or even a gust of wind).
Once I saw this I found the set quickly, and it is catalogued as :
- FOOTBALLERS - TO STAND UP (A). Issued in sheets, models about 90 x 100 m/m/ high when cut from sheet. Unnd. ... THO-208
1. Issued January, 1965. Inscribed "The Victor". 3 sheets :-
1. John Sjoberg, Cliff jones, Bobby Moore, Len Allchurch, Jim Baxter, Brian Miller, Fred Pickering, Colin Addison
2. Denis Law, Johnny Haynes, Charlie Aitken, Alec Hamilton, Norbert Lawton, Mel Nurse, Ronnie Clayton, Terry Paine
3. Gordon Milne, Jimmy McIlroy, Dave Holt, Jimmy Armfield.
2. Issued October, 1965. Inscribed "Hotspur". 2 sheets :-
1. Alan Suddick, Alan Sealey, Jacky McInally, Billy McNeil, Joe Kiernan
2. Chris Lawler, Barry Bridges, Jackie Charlton, George Best, John Greig
3. Issued February, 1968. Inscribed "The Victor". 2 sheets :-
1. Clive Clark, George Mulhall, Mike England, Tony Hately, Nobby Stiles, John Giles, John Clark, Martin Peters, Peter Osgood
2. George Eastham, Alan Ball, Joe Baker, Pat Stanton, George Cohen, David Ford, Willie Henderson, Terry Neill, Dave Gibson
This is unaltered until our British Trade Index part three, and that is only to adjust the size, simply reading :
- THO-208 (Footballers - To Stand Up). Correct size of models to 100 x 30 m/m
However in our updated British Trade Index the ones by "The Victor" and the ones by "Hotspur" are suddenly split, so this listing reads :
- FOOTBALLERS - TO STAND UP (A) (H)(V). Shaped, about 100 x 30. Issued in cardboard sheets. Unnd. See HT-44 ... THO-360
1. (V) 1965, January. Unnd (3). 2. (H). 1965, October. Unnd (2). 3. (V) 1968. Unnd. (2)
- FOOTBALLERS - TO STAND UP (A) (VC). About 75-80 x 20-35. Unnd. (12) Press-outs to stand up. Issued as one sheet. See HT-45 ... THO-365
The problem with this is that the abbreviations are quoted in the header as (V) for "Vanguard", and (VC) being for "The Victor"
The HT codes are in the updated British Trade Index Handbook and that is not with me. I am at the bottom of the garden.