1939/40
It's a Goal.

A pack of 44 cards plus set of rules in a box. The teams are divided into First Division (red) and Second Division (blue) teams.

Rex Pitts has produced a super booklet called 'Castell Brothers Ltd. of London, Pepys - the story of the company and it's games'. Rex kindly contacted me and confirmed that the game was registered with Stationers Hall in July 1939 by Castell Brothers so was almost certainly issued in that year. This can be confirmed by the fact that the 22 cards with red backs correspond to the 22 teams in the First Division in the 1939/40 season, and the blue backs with the Second Division. Many thanks to Rex for providing this information.

Number in set: 44
Gallery: Set gallery


1947/48
International Football Whist.

A classy set of 44 playing cards, with 11 each from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The complete game includes the cards, set of rules, bronze football disc and playing pitch in a box. The date of this game is based on the playing dates for the featured players e.g. Witcomb of Wales only played in 1947.

Number in set: 44
Gallery: Set gallery
1950s
Penalty.

Advertised as the World Famous Football Game. The cards are not of particular players or teams, so they are not very collectable. The complete game comprises 52 cards, a playing pitch and a ball marker in a box.

At least two editions of the game were produced in England by arrangement with Ernesto Scola, Milan.

1959/60
Goal - The Soccer Card Game - 1st Edition.

A super set of high quality cards. The complete set should comprise the 44 cards in a box, plus rules booklet and card formation sheets.

I've dated this set as 1959 since all of the English teams in the set were in the First or Second Divisions at the end of the 1958/59 season, and never after that (Grimsby and Barnsley being relegated from the Second Division in that year).The 1st edition cards can be easily confused with the 2nd edition (see below).

Number in set: 44
Gallery: Set gallery
Gallery: Rules (2nd Edition)
1964/65
Goal - The Soccer Card Game - 2nd Edition.

An almost identical edition, except that the cover has changed, the backs have been rearranged (see photo), and these cards have been updated:- Ipswich Town shirt sleeves have changed from white to blue.- Celtic shirt strip has changed from full green to green hoops.- Liverpool socks and trim have changed from white to all red.- Leeds United's strip (pictured) has been changed from blue shirts to white. This change occurred in 1963.- Leicester City's strip has been changed from blue shirt with white trim to white shirt with blue trim; and- Bristol Rovers' strip has been changed from blue and white quarter shirts to blue. This change also occurred in 1963.The teams are all the same as in the previous edition.

Number in set: 44
Gallery: Set gallery
Gallery: Rules