The first, easy, clue was the fact that this man played for the French team of Marseille, and that club is mentioned on the reverse of the card. However there was a reason not mentioned, nor shown, and that is that he was renowned for wearing a mullet - hairstyle - whereas a mullet - fish - is very popular in France, especially around the area of Marseille.
Christopher Roland Waddle was born on the fourteenth of December 1960, in Felling. At the time of his birth, Felling was part of County Durham. but when he was fourteen, it was transferred to become part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, in the County of Tyne and Wear.
His first team was Pelaw Juniors, made up of young players who lived on his council estate, a variety of ages and abilities, which must have been a great way to hone his skills against all comers. In 1978, he moved on to Tow Law Town, which you may never have heard of, but which were founded in 1890, and joined the Northern League in 1920.
Though he went to work in a factory, he never gave up his dream of football, and had several trials with leading teams, all of whom knocked him back. He was especially sad that Sunderland turned him down, as that was the team he had always been a fan of. Then, in July 1980, the Second Division team, Newcastle United, offered him a place, for a transfer fee of a thousand pounds. On the set of Panini "Football 88" it is revealed that he "Made his League debut for Newcastle against Shrewsbury in October 1980." It was there that he had his first cartophilic appearance, card 180 of Panini`s "Football 85" stickers. That, oddly, tells us a different birthplace, of Hepworth. Now I cannot even find Hepworth, but I can find Heworth, which is in the Gateshead area, and is actually part of a ward called Pelaw and Heworth.
He was at Newcastle only until July 1985, when he was sold to Tottenham Hotspur, for a slightly different amount, of £590,000. His first match for his new side saw him score two goals, half of the tally which beat Watford 4-0. That means his second card is also a sticker, Panin`s "Football 86", and curiously this quotes a slightly lower transfer fee of £500,000. The same year he also appears in an England strip, as the two of spades in Dandy Gum`s "World Cup Mexico 86" playing cards, issued with "Football Bubble Gum" - and also as card 416 of Panini`s "Mexico 86". Neither of these have any descriptive text.
Once more we can thank Boss Leisure`s "Emlyn Hughes` Team Tactix", issued in 1997, for adding some levity to the proceedings. They tell us that his nickname is "Wiggley", but not why, and that before he joined Newcastle he "worked in a sausage factory". This might be a card, but it is borderline cartophilic, as it is actually part of a board game.
In fact his first actual trade card appearance has to wait right until 1988, when he is shown in action on card 38 of Barratt`s un-named set, which has come to be known after the fact that the set was issued with Football Candy Sticks.
In July 1989, he was sold, to Marseille, and that is the second link in our clue chain, for red mullet is one of the chief fish in the Marseille area, being either cooked as a whole fish, or cut up and added to bouillabaisse, especially if there are not that many shrimp in the catch of the day, for red mullet has rather a shrimp-y taste. It looks like his only appearance in a Marseilles strip comes as part of the oddly named "Foot 92 en images", issued by Panini in France for the season. There is an added bonus if you find the album because he is one of only three players who appear as cards on the front cover. The transfer fee to Marseille was up once more, by a long way, to £4.5 million. During his time there, the team won the French Championship three times on the trot, in 1990, 1991, and 1992. The fans loved him too, and in 1998, a while after he had left the team, he was voted its second best player ever, only beaten by Jean-Pierre Roger Guillaume Papin.
He left Marseille in July 1992, and returned to England, being bought by Sheffield Wednesday, for just a million pounds. His first appearance in their strip comes as part of Panini`s "Football 93", where he is card 228. However there is no descriptive text there, only wording about the fact that you can get the album at all good newsagents.
In 1996 he moved to Scotland, being signed by Falkirk, though, almost immediately, was loaned out to Bradford City. The following year, he was actually signed, all those years later, by Sunderland, for £75,000, but it was again only a short-term stay, from March until May 1997, when he was given the chance of becoming player-manager at Burnley. However he moved on again in the autumn, turning up at Torquay United in September 1998. That was also short-lived, because Sheffield Wednesday approached him, asking if he would like to become their coach. That took him through to June 2000, after which he played for several non-league and local sides, and started a second career as a commentator.