A Sticker's Worth 500 Words

Merry Christmas one and all and here’s hoping you’re not too stuffed from yesterday ahead of the annual Boxing Day feast of football. Sadly such traditions seem to have been forgotten in the Premier League where only five games take place but no doubt the thrills of Bournemouth v Fulham and Burnley v Liverpool will be preceded by a reminder of the Division One results on Boxing Day 1963 where an average of 6.6 goals per game were scored across ten fixtures. Ipswich Town came in for particular punishment going down 10-1 at Craven Cottage while West Ham United shipped eight goals at home to Blackburn Rovers . Needless to say cynical modern eyes have been quick to suggest a few too many festive hangovers in the defensive departments. Some players have disproved such suggestions over the years. Legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin swore by a strong drink to “tone the muscles” while at the other end of the pitch Jamie Vardy famously prepared for big games in Leicester City’s miracle run to Pr...

This week we are taking on a request post from Mark of Football Art Online fame. If you haven’t already familiarised yourself with his excellent range of prints, posters and clothing then maybe it’s time you did. Apparently it’s Christmas soon. Mark first put one of today’s subjects forward ages ago and it’s about time we repay him for all of the likes and reposts he has afforded us over the years. Hope this does the trick mate! Either to avoid sticker collections running into the thousands or to cut down on printing costs the dual player sticker has always been one of Panini’s great gifts to the football collectible world. In some cases there are legitimate reasons for the pairings. Alexi Lalas and Marcelo Balboa made perfect sense alongside each other as they had been as the heart of the US National Men’s Soccer Team’s defence and, quite possibly, the twin guitarists in a Bay Area thrash metal band. In other cases the link has seemed to be more tenuous like New Zealand’s Brian Tur...