VILLA CARDS
1950-1954
Could Villa get back to where they had been before the War? The signing of Danny Blanchflower in 1951 suggested they might, but the record books show that no sustained improvement was made in the league or cup. It was starting to look like a long time since Villa had won any silverware! By now, cigarrette cards were practically obsolete, leaving other product manufacturers to continue the idea, with collector cards now mainly included with products aimed at youngsters - boys' comics, bubble gum, packs of sweets and so on.
c1950: Sunday Empire News (newspaper) - Famous Footballers of Today
Drawings by Mickey Durling. Cards were issued in stapled booklets.
[17] Joe Rutherford
1950: Phillips BDV ('Sports' cigarettes) - Famous Footballers
Printed in different variants onto cigarette packets, sometimes without the blue frame. No clubs are stated, but we know the card below represented a Villa first-teamer at the time. Others may yet come to light.
Printed in different variants onto cigarette packets, sometimes without the blue frame. No clubs are stated, but we know the card below represented a Villa first-teamer at the time. Others may yet come to light.
Ivor Powell
1950-53: Barratt (sweets) - Famous Footballers
The one Villa card exists in three variants
The one Villa card exists in three variants
[34] Dave Walsh
1953: Barratt (sweets) - Famous Footballers
These cards were also issued in the Republic of Ireland, branded Liam Devlin & Sons.
These cards were also issued in the Republic of Ireland, branded Liam Devlin & Sons.
[13] Tommy Thompson
1954: P A Adolph (Subbuteo table football) - Famous Footballers
Issued twice, once inscribed "a series of 24" and again, inscribed "a series of 50". The sole Villa card exists in both versions.
Issued twice, once inscribed "a series of 24" and again, inscribed "a series of 50". The sole Villa card exists in both versions.
[12] Danny Blanchflower