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461: Gerry Francis, Tottenham Hotspur, Merlin’s Premier League 97 Official Sticker Collection

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With nine games done in the Premier League it seems only right that all punditry should be focused on the managerial sack race. The fact we’ve made it to November is impressive in itself although that’s more down to the fact that Manchester United’s hierarchy are too busy forgetting they run a football club or trying to find a way to blame their insipid performances on immigrants rather that Michael Carrick. Elsewhere Crystal Palace ’s new man in the dugout, Pierre Sage, has somehow managed to avoid the Frank de Boer treatment while his predecessor, Oliver Glasner, is just about clinging on at Nottingham Forest despite owner Evangelos Marinakis’ penchant for asking his employees to chuck their bits in a cardboard box. Considering how often football managers find themselves down the job centre it’s impressive how many of them stick rigidly to their formations, touchline attire or press conference mannerisms. Ruben Amorim refused to move away from his 3-4-3 set up during his time at Manc...
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DR3: Jesse Derry, Chelsea, Topps Official Premier League Trading Cards 2026/27, Flagship Edition

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The combination of interesting supermarket promotions , indulgent grandparents and me being his Dad meant it was only a matter of time until my son started his own football sticker and card collections. The false dawn of completing his first two books , aided entirely by his Nana’s patronage of M&S, has encouraged him to dive into this season’s first selection of Premier League cards and I’ve had to wait until after his bedtime to sneak this post’s card out of its binder. Thankfully the excitement of getting some Crystal Palace shinies and the fact we’re not remortgaging to buy regular packets means he is yet to have become disillusioned with doubles or the fact that half the players depicted have moved clubs since going to print. As well as the 300 ‘base cards’ in the collection there are a plethora of questionable additional cards to search for with such toe-curling themes as “Beast Mode” and “Nitro Boost” as well as “8 Bit Ballers”. I have no idea what any of these words mean ...
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531: Kazuyoshi Miura, Japan, Panini World Cup France 98

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Mat Jolin-Beech rounds off the longest international break in living history with a look at a man who makes the likes of Roger Milla look like an exciting youth prospect. It’s probably the kind of feel good story that should act as a tonic to anyone falling out of love with the game or wondering if their kids will still want the shiny new Manchester City kits when they’re playing King’s Lynn Town instead of Paris Saint-Germain. Over to Mat. During one tedious afternoon at work, and thinking about not only the weekend’s disappointing results, terrible VAR calls, and the fact xG remains a thing we all ‘love’, it crossed my mind – am I falling out of love with the beautiful game? First of all, is it actually beautiful anymore? When was the last game you watched that, regardless of any bias, you came away from thinking that was an amazing game? I genuinely can’t remember. The World Cup was dross, only made exciting by the world’s growing hatred for Argentina . I’ll leave that, and any p...
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285: Morten Olsen, Denmark, Topps Match Attax Trading Card Game, England Collector Binder

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After the excitement of an expanded World Cup , several rounds of the League Cup and a transfer window that plumbed new depths of stupidity it’s almost a relief to be in the season’s first international break. That it’s taking place with a backdrop of a war of words between FIFA and UEFA, some actual wars and Gianni Infantino’s failed attempt to flog the World Cup to highest bidder vaguely related to his beau, Donald Trump, confirms that 2026 is very much still rumbling on. Such periods in football’s bloated calendar usually leave fans longing for their weekly dose of domestic misery and ineptitude but perhaps Andorra’s defeat to Malta in the opening fixture of the UEFA Nations League won over the remaining sceptics. For a whopping 27% of the countries at the recent World Cup there will be a new face in the dugout for this round of fixtures. Steve Clarke took Scotland to their first major tournaments in nearly thirty years but fell into the Del Amitri trap and the terrifyingly youthful...
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137: Paul Heald, Wimbledon, 1996 Pro Match Soccer

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Selhurst Park first opened its doors as the home of Crystal Palace in August 1924. Anyone who has had the pleasure of attending South London’s premier sporting venue will be aware that it is far from the modern Euro Bowl 3 template and, fittingly, only had one completed stand due to industrial action from the builders when 25,000 people witnessed the Glaziers lose 1-0 to The Wednesday in Division Two. Just two years later it hosted the national team in a 3-1 defeat to Wales, fittingly on St David’s Day, and, while the Three Lions have yet to return, international football was hosted there during the 1948 Summer Olympics. In more recent times it also served as the home of South London rivals Charlton Athletic between 1985 and 1991 as part of the Football League’s first ground sharing agreement. With The Addicks finally able to return to The Valley, via Upton Park, a similar agreement was struck with Wimbledon after Plough Lane was closed in line with the post-Hillsborough Taylor Repor...
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278: Nicolás Otamendi, Argentina, FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, Panini Official Licensed Sticker Album

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Rich Allinson explores some interesting inking among some of South America’s footballing talent while also allowing all England fans a bit of schadenfreude at the expense of a recent World Cup finalist. I am in no position to question anyone’s tattoo choices but have no shame in sticking the boot in on today’s subject who, had he not won an impressive 139 international caps, would be on the receiving end of a “let it go Nick, you’re never going to meet him” based on his tribute to his tax evading team mate. Over to Rich. I feel obliged to write this post after recently seeing a photo Nicolás Otamendi with tattoos of Lionel Messi all over his torso. This isn’t a post World Cup loss ‘bitter Englishman’ sentiment, more just a reflection of the fact that Otamendi’s ink is a rather strange thing to do. Let’s just imagine this move playing out in an office environment on a Monday morning… Leo: “Morning Nick, get up to much at the weekend?” Nick: “Yeah, I got a new tattoo as it happens.” Leo...
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18: Pat Jennings, Northern Ireland, Match 2000 Millennium Collection

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A new domestic season is upon us following the traditional curtain raiser of a Friday evening kick off in the Championship. With four weeks having passed since the end of the World Cup it’s probably a good thing that things are back up and running as Harry Kane and Declan Rice definitely looked a bit bored towards the end of proceedings and have no doubt really enjoyed their respective pre-season trips to China and Italy. The latter may get to get a few more miles on the clock in the more traditional season opener, the Community Shield, where Premier League champions Arsenal will take on FA Cup winners Manchester City. The game will take place at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to really hammer home the early-2000s nostalgia of the Gunners winning the league and will provide a first opportunity for Enzo Maresca to prove he didn’t just get the City job because he looks a bit like Pep Guardiola.  The first major trophy ( as of 2025 ) up for grabs in the English season has been ...
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