Our man today, Alexander McCluckie McSpadyen, was born on the nineteenth of December, 1914, at Holytown, near Motherwell.
He started playing football as a child, but his first team came late, and that was Chapelhall Juveniles, slightly odd, as by the time he played for them he was nineteen, hardly a juvenile. He did not stay long, as he was scouted for Newarthill Hearts, and then for his proper home team, of Holytown United. He stayed there until 1935, when he was scouted by Partick Thistle.
He much enjoyed it there, though his career was broken by the Second World War, when he was just getting into his prime. I have not been able to find out whether he was called up, and what he did, but I do know that he played for Aberdeen, as a visiting guest, in those curious wartime matches which pitted local men against regimental teams, often with assistance from a known footballer who was billeted in the area, or just passing through. And he also played in the "Army Internationals", which were regular events between Scotland and England, but, rather strangely, did not count bloodlines, only whether the men were serving in Scottish regiments or English ones - and since there were more English regiments, they invariably won. However this means he must have served in the Army, which ruins my thought that he was in a reserved occupation, though it is still odd that a fit footballer would not have been sent to serve his country overseas. .
After the war he went back to Partick Thistle, until 1948, when he suddenly signed for Portadown, in County Armagh. I have not been able to trace any league match he played in whilst he was at Portadown, and he only stayed there until 1949. Then he went back to Holytown, as a trainer, until the club closed in 1950.
As for this card, it is first catalogued in our original reference book RB.16, which covered "The Cigarette Card Issues of W.D. & H.O. Wills Parts I, II, and III (revised) and Part IV". The editor was Edward Wharton-Tigar, and it was published in 1950 as a limited edition of five hundred copies. I have no idea why it waited until then to be listed, the first Wills book being published in 1942 (albeit devoted to thirty-one early issues)
The entry reads ;
- 135. 50. ASSOCIATION FOOTBALLERS -"No Framelines" back. (1939). Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Special album and I.T.C. Clauses. Issued 1939.
A. Home issue, adhesive. Back headed "This surface is adhesive". Four brands, ["Gold Flake", "Capstan", "Woodbine" and "Star") at base
B. Irish issue, non-adhesive. Backs headed "Albums for Wills` Picture cards...." No brands at base.
From the printing dates listed in the Wills "Works" magazine, we know that the Home issue was the final set to be issued, in 1939, before cards were stopped by the Second World War. However, and sadly, there is no date included in those lists for the Irish issue, which probably means it was printed over there.
As for the last set on the "overseas" list of printing dates, that is Wills` "Speed", the Channel Islands version, which was printed in September 1938. Since that was circulated one month prior to the home issue, we imagine that the Irish version of our set may have first emerged from a packet in October 1939.
Curiously, by the time of our World Tobacco Issues Index, both the 1935 "framelined" set and our set have been combined, and entered under section 2.C, which deals with the adhesive backed cards :
- ASSOCIATION FOOTBALLERS. Sm. Nd. ...W62-192
1. Back with framelines (50), See W/123.A
2. Back without framelines (50), See W/135.A
The irish issue is removed, and actually moved before our sets - to section 2.B, which deals with the non-adhesive backed cards. The text for that is ; "ASSOCIATION FOOTBALLERS. Sm. Nd.. (50). Irish issue. See W/135.B...W62-116".
This placement continues in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, in which the text is identical, save new card codes, namely W675-235 for the Home issue, and W675-152 for the Irish version.