A&BC Chewing Gum (English)
Footballer - Red backs

The last ever A&BC Footballers production before the takeover by Topps. A small set, only 132 cards, and no special giveaways. Checklist card is number 13.

Number in set: 132
Gallery: Arsenal, Birmingham City, Burnley, Chelsea, Coventry City, Derby County, Everton, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Queen's Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Southampton, Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Checklist. Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
Special: A&BC counter boxes gallery
Special: Red-back wrappers gallery
Cup Winner, Bag of Fun

Over the years there has been much speculation amongst collectors about whether or not A&BC ever issued 'Lucky bags', which were, allegedly, paper bags containing an assortment of football cards leftover from previous issues.

The images shown at right, kindly sent in by a couple of website visitors, are of a paper bag from a previously unknown company called 'A&BC Novelties' albeit from the same address as A&BC Chewing Gum Limited. What these bags contained is not clear, but at least one visitor has confirmed that they included 1974 World Cup souvenir posters (each measuring 6" x 4½"), forming a set of 12. Frustratingly these posters do not include the A&BC name.

What is going on here? Well, by this time A&BC had been in dispute with Topps for some time and were heading towards their unfortunate demise late in 1974. The World Cup was held in June/July 1974 so it is not clear what A&BC Novelties were trying to do, or who was running the 'new' company. Douglas Coakley does not remember issuing these Cup Winner, Bag of Fun bags, though he does recall 'Lucky Bags' (date unknown).

Click for an image gallery of the set of 12 1974 World Cup souvenir poster cards.

A&BC Chewing Gum (Scottish)
Footballers - Green backs

The last ever A&BC Footballers production before the takeover by Topps. A small set, only 132 cards, and no special giveaways. Checklist card is number 69.

Number in set: 132
Gallery: Set gallery
Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
Bassett's
Football Stars

A selection of 50 player photo cards, issued by the Barratt Division of Geo. Bassett & Co. Ltd. This is the first series where the Geo. Bassett name has had more prominence than the Barratt name, though the cards are still attributed to the 'Barratt Division'. The cards, printed in England, have no date or year to indicate that they were the 1974/75 series.

Number in set: 50
Gallery: Set gallery
Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
World Cup Stars

Produced by Geo. Bassett & Co. Ltd. under the heading Barratt. A commemoration of Scotland's involvement in the 1974 Munich World Cup. An attractive set of cards with a variety of players and teams (mainly Scotland) destined for the Cup.

Number in set: 50
Gallery: Set gallery
Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist

Cadbury
World Cup 1974 - Scotland team

A set of stickers slowly coming to light. There were originally thought to be five in the set, but now perhaps up to 30? They are similar in style to the five featured above. These are very rare, so perhaps they were only issued by Cadbury in Scotland?

Number in set: 30?
Gallery: Set gallery
Checklist: N/A
FKS Publishers
The Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974

A World Cup where England didn't make the last 16, but FKS produced an album anyway. The album contains 17 teams, since it was not certain at the time of going to press whether Spain or Yugoslavia would qualify, subject to a play-off, so both teams were included. Album: Price 15p.

Number in set: 270
Packet: 8 stamps for 3p
Gallery: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, East Germany, West Germany, Haiti, Holland, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, Zaire
Checklists: Set checklist
Special: FKS album gallery
The Wonderful World of Soccer Stars 1974/75

A new smaller size for the stickers, and a new card material (which didn't last for long). FKS continue to tinker with the size and layout. The price has gone up significantly since last year, with the previous 10 for 3p being replaced by 6 for 4p. Album: Price 20p.

Number in set: 320
Packet: 6 cards for 4p
Gallery: Arsenal, Birmingham City, Burnley, Carlisle United, Chelsea, Coventry City, Derby County, Everton, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Luton Town, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Queen's Park Rangers, Sheffield United, Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Checklists: Set checklist, Team checklist
Special: FKS album gallery
IPC / Fleetway
The Captains - a Shoot/Goal booklet

Another in the series, though this time the Shoot magazine also included the old Goal magazine. The Number in set increased to 135, meaning that it took 17 weeks instead of 14 to complete. The autographs have been dropped from now onwards.The booklet was part of the Shoot/Goal magazine dated 14 September 1974.

Number in set: 135
Top Sellers
Football '75

A large set of cards featuring the First Division teams, plus some puzzle cards.

6 cards per pack.

The back of these cards states 'Printed in Italy by Panini 1975'.

Number in set: 420
Gallery: N/A
Checklists: N/A
Special: Puzzle cards master index