Football cards were among the earliest, and remain one of the most popular forms of collectables today. They typically consist of a picture of a player on one side, with statistics or other information on the reverse.

The first stage in the development of football cards came during the second half of the 19th century. Cards from this period are commonly known as cigarette cards or tobacco cards, because many were produced by tobacco companies and sold as inserts in packets of cigarettes as a gimmick.

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