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Try your hand at football!

Gordhandas

These pack of playing cards are sure to score with not only football enthusiasts but collectors as well, says Kishor N

To spice up televiewing of the football World Cup this June, try your hand at some poker, bridge or rummy! Crying foul? Hold on to those whistles. For these pack of playing cards are sure to score with any connosieur of the game. With the football World Cup as the theme, these playing cards were manufactured by several countries spanning various world cups.

In its meeting in 1929, the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) decided to give Uruguay, two times Olympic champions, the first chance to hold the World Cup. Since then till 2006, 18 World Cups have been held, once every four years. The only two exceptions were for the year 1942 and 1946 when the World War II stopped the play.

There have been hundreds of interesting and colourful playing cards manufactured from time to time by several countries on sporting themes, including golf, cricket, volleyball, baseball, bull fighting, tennis, hunting, Grand Prix, Olympic Games and of course, football.

I have some great playing cards on football and the World Cups produced by Denmark, Hungary, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, US, UK, China, Japan and more. Many of these cards have been specially made for the occasion.

On the occasion of the 1982 World Cup in Mundial, Spain, many playing cards were made in Spain, France and Italy. A Spanish pack, slightly longish in size, was brought out in the year 1981, called Mundiales ’82. Each card has a caricature holding a logo of the Games in one hand and a football near his feet. At the bottom it says M-82 (short for Mundial 1982). On the top are names of different Spanish cities such as Sevilia, Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, alongwith each place’s logo or symbol card.

At the same time, Editions Dusserre of France produced a pack of bridge-size cards called BEL, Mundial ’82, showing players of various participating countries in caricatures on 12 court cards alongwith the names and flags of their countries.

During 1985-1986 and later, four series of slightly larger than patience-size playing cards, each with 52 cards and three jokers, were published by Vejie, Denmark, advertising for a chewing gum. Each card of the above four different packs showed a well-known football player in action with his name, the name of the country to which he belonged and its flag.

China had also brought out some nice full-size packs of cards in colour with a football player in action along with his name and his country’s name in Chinese during the 1986 World Cup.

Recently, there have been a few playing cards made by China, including one on the occasion of France winning the Cup in 1998.

There is one non-standard pack with historical figures on the court cards issued by a Polish firm publicising the World Cup which was to be held in Mexico in 1986.

Yet another very nice pack from Italy, Mundiali 1990, was issued in broad size for the World Cup played in Italy in 1990. Each of the court cards has a monument in a named city where an elimination round was played and with flags of the four nations which took part there. The back design of Mexico 1986 pack shows a football and the golden trophy weighing 4.97 kg. Many companies in the US have also printed a number of cards. There are two packs called Trivia decks, produced around late the 80s. On every card, there is a question and its answer is mentioned in reverse.

And another informative, oversize deck of cards with 52 plus three jokers is football windows deck and is named, ‘An Illustrated Guide to the Game of Professional Football’ printed in Belgium, for US Games Systems Inc., US.

These cards serve as a beautiful guide to playing football along with several different drawings, figure charts and notes on each card. Much more than a book on football!

Some colourful packs have been brought out by various countries after France won the 1998 World Cup. A useful Poker-size pack is of World Cup greats made by Piatnik of Austria, where the 55 playing cards feature the greatest footballers to have played in the World Cup, a personal choice by international soccer expert Brian Gianville - a pack to delight and provoke fans, historians and collectors.

Pele of Brazil on the No 1 (argueable) and Maradonna (Argentina) on No 2, while on the Jokers are Alfreds Di Stefano and George Best, two great players never to have graced the World Cup!

Hoping there will be some printed on the occasion of this year’s World Cup.

Truely a handy history of football on your hands.