Recently-Acquired Panini Sticker Album of the Day #8: French 'Football 78'

Following on from its predecessor, Panini’s French edition ‘Football 78’ also seemed an essential acquisition when research revealed the opportunity existed to add such a publication to the collection, & so it came to pass.

This time, the stickers return to the head-and-shoulders portrait format for the images of the Ligue 1 clubs’ trainers and players, where one is better able to appreciate the varieties of personal grooming on display – of the former, it’s impossible not to admire the look of Strasbourg’s Gilbert Gress, whilst Paris SG’s newly-appointed Jean-Michel Larque (last year still a member of the Saint-Etienne playing staff – that’s one of the good things about owning consecutive albums, such an opportunity to see the subtle changes) & his ‘medallion man’ style might be considered a bit risqué, were he not French.

The album’s centrespread is, on this occasion, comprised of stickers of the badges of the national associations of the countries against whom France had played football matches up to the time, & to conclude matters, any coverage of the Second Division is overlooked in order to make way for a gallery of monochrome portraits of the ‘stars of the past’ of French soccer.

As ever, words cannot do such a delightful archive justice, so please take the time to enjoy this selection of sample pages…

Recently-Acquired Panini Sticker Album of the Day #7: French 'Football 77'

Of course, as a confirmed football Europhile almost from the outset of developing an interest in the game, a Panini sticker album from elsewhere on the continent other than the recent acquisitions from Belgium would be a welcome addition to the collection, & so it has come to pass that we’ve managed to track down & procure a pair of later-Seventies editions from France, another of our ‘spiritual homes’ (of which there are a fair few), & here we (re)present the first of these, the ‘Football 77’ publication.

Using the same basic format as the Belgian edition from the previous year (please see yesterday’s post), suitably road-tested one might say, the French ‘77’ album features full-length portraits of the trainers & playing squads of the season’s Ligue 1 clubs, delightful as ever in the details of strips & personal appearance, especially in this case the trainers, many of whom chose to be pictured in their ‘civvies’, with flared trousers & denim much in evidence (included is a supplementary image of some more of the trainers removed from the context of their club pages), a centrepiece of that curiously manic cartoon as appeared in the Belgian ‘76’ edition, with the two groups of the ‘Deuxieme Division’ represented by just their crests, & concluding with the rules of the game again, mono-lingually this time.

Enough blather – here’s a sample selection of images (note the advertisement, in a football publication of all places, for Panini's 'Barbie' album, the like of which, coincidentally read this very morning, is humorously described in the wonderful & poignant 'Got, Not Got' as being amongst 'minority sports'!)...

Recently-Acquired Panini Sticker Album of the Day #6: Belgian 'Football 76'

Now, given its magnificence, as represented yesterday, what could be as good as the Belgian ‘Football 75’ Panini sticker album? Why, the ‘Football 76’ edition, a suitably fine companion to its predecessor, this time featuring full-length images of the fabulous assortment of players, resplendent not only in their personal grooming styles but also in their complete playing togs (or tracksuits), a delightfully different detail. Note the inclusion of the team managers this time & admire especially the casual ‘civvy’ style of the day sported by those of Beringen, (the tragically defunct name of) La Louviere (whose featured goalkeeper is the magnificently-named Jean-Paul Crucifix, something of a cross to bear, ho-ho) & Racing Mechelen: nice.

Other details occur: the filled-in nameplate featuring the handwritten evidence of the album’s original ownership (which person chose to favour the French legend beneath the players’ stickers over the Flemish alternative, as might be detected); the curious (in fact, rather bonkers) cartoon centrespread, with wibbly-edged shaped stickers; & the concluding section featuring, bilingually again, of course, the laws of the game.

All in all, the album constitutes another essential addition to the collection, &, rather than merely take my word for it, please enjoy this selection of sample pages…

Recently-Acquired Panini Sticker Album of the Day #5: Belgian 'Football 75'

OK, so the recent thrill of encountering & then acquiring the aforementioned Belgian ‘Football 88’ Panini album collection was pretty special, but imagine, if you will, the stratospheric excitement generated by the discovery of the existence & availability of, initially on ebay but subsequently tracked down, more affordably, from a seller on the new-to-us Catawiki online auction site, a 1970s Belgian sticker album, but, not only that, the ‘Football 75’ edition, complete, depicting the teams/players from the very season, 1974 – 75, that the mighty & our favourite (from an early ‘Shoot!’ encounter with their ineffably romantic name, as originally recounted here) RWD Molenbeek won their one & only league championship: an opportunity to take ownership of an essential artefact simply too enticing to pass up, you might well agree, & so the purchase, inevitably, giddily, was made, & the arrival eagerly anticipated.

The album, of course, has proved to be filled with the most delightful delights, with each of the First & Second Division clubs represented by their crest, a team group photograph (a large-scale four-sticker composite image in the case of the former), & a squad of twelve players (half-sized stickers in the case of the Division II clubs), a veritable treasure trove of the characters & styles (kits, hair & facial accessories) & such exotic (then, at least) details as sponsors’ names emblazoned across shirts (this was what separated some European clubs/leagues of the time from the plain-fronted domestic & UEFA competitions norm, & made them more attractively special, although all sport them nowadays, of course, with various other logos peppering the shirts too, & such ubiquity renders them humdrum. Anyway, admire, for instance, Club Bruges’ ‘49R Jeans’ logo that we didn’t get to see during their UEFA & European Cup Final appearances against Liverpool in, respectively, 1976 & 1978, & those orange shirts are another never-seen-before look).

The players too look like ordinary blokes, mostly, some a bit more gnarly than others, more so at least than the apparent homogeneity of gym-buffed, airbrushed players of today, &, as such, a visual archive of this sort, in all its continental glory, is something to be treasured. Please enjoy this generous sample of the contents, including, of course, the RWD Molenbeek spread…