Football Philately

Africa Cup of Nations - Football Philately Special

2012-01-23T23:08:00.000Z

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations is now underway so to mark the start of the competition we'll have a look at the first football stamps issued by each of this years participants. To do so is to take a look back at African sporting history and see how sport including football helped forge independent nations free from the yoke of colonialism.

Fittingly it was one of this years co-hosts, Equatorial Guinea (as Spanish Guinea), who were the first nation of the sixteen participants to issue a football themed stamp. Commemorating the game of football a 5-value set all of the same design but in different colours was issued in 1955. The green 10 Peseta value is shown below on a first day cover postmarked in the capital Santa Isabel with a rather striking cachet.

First Day Cover - Spanish Guinea 1955

Next up were Ghana who in 1959 produced a fabulous 5-value set to commemorate a wonderfully obscure West African football tournament called the Kwame Nkrumah Gold Cup,

First Day Cover - Ghana 1959

Sudan issued this colourful set, shown below with a first day Khartoum cancel, to mark the 1960 Olympiad in Rome.

Rome Olympics - Sudan 1960

Both the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso (as Upper Volta) issued stamp sets in 1961 that featured football alongside other sports, to mark the first African Friendship Games that were held in the former Ivory Coast capital of Abidjan. Niger also issued a sports set to commemorate the Friendship Games, but in 1962. The Games were a multi-sport tournament for the French-speaking African countries and was one of the forerunner tournaments of the current Pan African games.

African Friendship games - Ivory Coast 1961

African Friendship Games - Upper Volta 1961

African Friendship Games - Niger 1962

Co-hosts Gabon issued their first football stamp in 1962 as one of a 3-value general sports set.

Game of Football - Gabon 1962

Mali in 1963 became the first African nation to issue a football stamp that was unconnected to either a sporting tournament or part of a general sports set. Their 4-value Youth Week set included this football stamp.

Youth Week - Football - Mali 1963

The African Friendship Games of 1963 were hosted by Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Again a general sports set was issued that included the rather fine football stamp shown below. Only a day into the Games the organisers met with other African nations and founded the Pan African or All Africa Games and awarded the first games in 1965 to Brazzaville, Congo.

African Friendship Games - Senegal 1963

Libya produced this rather uninspiring 6-value multicoloured sporting set to mark the 1964 Tokyo Olympiad.

Tokyo Olympics - Libya 1964

In 1966 Guinea commemorated the 20th anniversary of UNICEF by issuing a 7-value set of childrens drawings. The 25f value featured a footballer.

20th anniversary of UNICEF - Football - Guinea 1966

The Mediterranean Games were first held in 1951 hosted by Alexandria, Egypt. In 1967 the games came to Tunisia who issued this stamp depicting the then newly built Stade El Menzah. The stadium was to later host the Africa Cup of Nations Final in 1994.

Mediterranean Games Tunis - Tunisia 1967

Morocco issued an Olympic set in 1968 to commemorate the Mexico City Olympiad. Again as was common with general sports sets one of the stamps featured football. It is shown below on a first day cover cancelled in the capital Rabat.

Mexico Olympics - Morocco 1968

This one surprised me. Zambia were relative latecomers when it came to issuing a football stamp. One featured in this 1980 Olympic set issued to mark the Moscow Olympiad.

Add caption

In 1981 Luanda, capital of Angola was chosen to host the second edition of the Central African Games. The hosts finished fourth in the football tournament that was won by Zaire.

Central Africa Games - Angola 1981

Finally but not least we come to Botswana who first issued a football stamp in 1990. Bizarrely it was part of a Road safety set and featured children having a kickabout running out in front of a car.

Road safety - Botswana 1990

Phew so there we have it, that took some doing. The sixteen participants of this years Africa Cup of Nations and the first football stamps they issued. If you've enjoyed this post then please do take a few seconds to click the facebook like or Google +1 buttons or share on you favourite social network. Cheers.

2012 Africa Cup of Nations - Draw and Fixture List

British Locals - Bernera Football Stamps

2012-01-03T20:08:00.001Z

The Bernera Islands consisting of Great Bernera and Little Bernera are Scottish islands that lie off the north-west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The Laird of the Islands maintains a local postal service and on occasion various issues are made available for tourists to purchase. The stamps which usually cost double that of normal United Kingdom postage rates have no postal validity within the UK. Mailed items from Bernera are required to have normal UK stamps affixed to enable transit within the UK.

In 1994 Bernera, along with other local postal services in the UK issued a set of stamps commemorating great moments in the history of the FA Cup. Six stamps were produced along with two souvenir sheets.

Blackburn Rovers 1928 and Arsenal 1993

Portsmouth 1939 and FA Cup Final 1923

Ryan Giggs 1994 and Lawrie Sanchez 1988

Spurs v Burnley 1962: Danny Blanchflower

Blackpool FA Cup Winners 1953

British Pathe Presents the FA Cup Finals

Red, White and Khaki: The Story of the Only Wartime Cup Final

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Stade Louis II Monaco - A Philatelic History

2012-01-02T21:52:00.000Z

There have been two stadiums in Monaco with the name Stade Louis II. The first one, built in 1939, had surely one of the most visually appealing aspects in all of football, sat alongside the Mediterranean and underneath the looming hulk of the Rock of Monaco, it was officially inaugurated on 24 April 1939 and a stamp was issued to commemorate the event. The example below is postmarked Monaco-Ville, one of Monaco's traditional quarters and is the district that sits atop the Rock overlooking the stadium.

The Stade Louis II became the home of football's AS Monaco but also hosted other sporting events. It featured on more stamps issued in 1939 when the same shot was used on the 5-value University games set. Here they all on one cover again with a Monaco-Ville postmark.

The Stade Louis was to appear on more Monegasque stamps. It featured on one of the 1952 Helsinki Olympic games set and in 1963 one stamp depicting the stadium was part of a wonderful set issued to commemorate the Centenary of the Football Association. The stamps from this set were adeptly marketed and many philatelic items were produced. For example there are lots of different first day covers available all with different cachets and arrangements of the stamps. One example of the Stade Louis stamp on FDC can be seen at the link above whilst two more are shown below. The Stade Louis stamp from this set featured the club crest of AS Monaco and was overprinted with Championnat 1962-1963 Coupe de France to honour Monaco's league and cup double of that season.

In the early 1980s it was decided to build a new Stade Louis II. The site chosen for the new stadium was on land reclaimed from the sea in the Fontvielle district not far from the old ground. Two stamps were issued during the construction, one in 1982 and another in 1983 and when, in 1985 the ground was officially opened two more were issued.

A two part modern architecture set was issued in 1987 with one of the stamps featuring an aerial shot of the stadium. The FDC below has a striking cachet showing the stadium's arches albeit only four of the nine it actually has are used in the illustration.

Next up are a couple of stamps celebrating the success of AS Monaco. The club became French Champions for the sixth time in 1997 and this was commemorated with a stamp showing the club crest, the Stade Louis and a football with a map of Western Europe.

The red and white diamond background (fusily argent and gules) represents the heraldic colours of the House of Grimaldi which rules Monaco. This explains the date range shown in the right hand tab. 1297 is when the House of Grimaldi first took possession of Monaco making the AS Monaco title triumph of 1997 a rather nice 700th birthday present for the Principality.

AS Monaco were honoured with another stamp in 2000 when they again won the French title. This time only the iconoc nine arches of the stadium were present on the stamp. Finally to conclude our short philatelic history of the Stade Louis II we finish with the stamp that was issued in 2005 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the new stadium.

Further reading on Monaco ...

Grand Prix Automobile De Monaco Posters - The Complete Collection: The Art, the Artists and the Competition

Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City

The Football Stamps of Germany Part 2 - Fußball-Briefmarken aus Deutschland

2011-12-30T22:20:00.002Z

Here's the second of our three part series on the football stamps of Germany. Our first look at German football stamps featured issues prior to German unity of 1990. In this article we're going to have a look at stamps issued since 1990 that commemorate achievements and milestones in German football history.

We'll start with current German champions Borussia Dortmund who won their first Bundesliga title in 1995 and then retained in 1996. Each title was commemorated with a stamp issue. Incidentally it was a Dortmund player, Friedhelm Konietzka, who scored the Bundesliga's first goal in the first minute of the game against Werder Bremen on 24 August 1963.

Sepp Herberger helped give Germany her pride back in the post-war years. He was the national team coach who led his players into the 1954 World Cup Final. Their opponents Hungary, as invincible as any national football team has been then or since, were odds-on favourites to win but Herberger pulled off a tactical master stroke to engineer a 3-2 victory. The match became famous as the Miracle of Bern and Sepp Herberger, 'The Chief' a national hero. He was immortalised on a stamp in 1997 to commemorate 100 years since his birth. Here it is with the special 100 years postmark and below it a cover produced to celebrate his 80th birthday in 1977 with one of the 1974 World Cup stamps and postmarked with his Mannheim birthplace.

The German football champions of 1997, 1998 and 1999 were each rewarded with a stamp. Bayern Munich for 1997 and 1999, and 1. FC Kaiserslautern for their 1998 title triumph which was unique in Bundesliga history. FCK were relegated to 2. Bundesliga in 1996, won promotion back to the Bundesliga in 1997 and immediately went on to win the national championship in 1998.

In 2000 a special stamp was issued to celebrate the centenary of the German Football Association. The Deutscher Fußball-Bund or DFB was founded in 1900 and is the largest single sports federation in the World. Eight years later another milestone in German football history was commemorated with a stamp. 100 years of German football international games, the first being in 1908 against the Swiss.

That concludes our second look at the football stamps of Germany. I hope you enjoyed that if you did then please show your appreciation by using the share buttons below. Stay tuned for Part 3 which will be with you in the next week or so.

Tor! The Story of German Football

Italian Football Federation and Il Grande Torino

2011-12-21T20:26:00.004Z

Some recent additions to my collection have a very Italian theme. First up is an FDC of the 1973 Italian issue that commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Italian Football Federation which was founded in Turin on 15th March 1898. The L.25 value is beautiful in it's simplicity whilst the L.90 value with it's cartoon characters was I think the result of a children's competition.

Given that the FIGC was founded in Turin it is perhaps fitting that the next two items should commemorate Il Grande Torino. The AC Torino team of the 1940's is one of the greatest teams in Italian football history. A devastating air crash wiped them out in 1949 and 50 years on in 1999 Poste italiane issued two stamps to remember Turin's and Italy's tragic loss. Here they are as first day issues on maxicards.

The Football Stamps of Germany Part 1 - Fußball-Briefmarken aus Deutschland

2011-12-20T20:22:00.000Z

As you would expect from a football-crazy country like Germany there have been many issues commemorating the great game. Surprisingly though most of these have been issued since German unity in 1990. The first part of our look at German football stamps focuses on stamps issued prior to reunification. There is one issue by the German Reich, three by the German Democratic Republic and three by the Federal Republic of Germany.

The first German football stamp to feature a football theme was issued as one of a four-part set to commemorate the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936.

Twenty years later the second German stamp to show a footballing scene was issued by the East German postal authorities. It was one of a set of four issued to commemorate the second German Gymnastic and Sports Festival (Turn- und Sportfest der DDR) held in Leipzig 1956.

In 1963 another East German football stamp was issued. This featured the German communist and anti-fascist resistance fighter Heinz Steyer. This was one of a set of five issued to remember sportsmen who had been victims of the Nazis and was in aid of the Concentration Camps Memorial Fund. Steyer played football for Rotsport and dedicated his life to fighting the Nazis. He served time in both prisons and concentration camps. In 1943 he was forcibly conscripted into the Criminal Division 999 (Strafdivision 999) of the Wehrmacht and sent to Greece. Here he worked from within the German Army aiding the Greek partisans supplying them with information and weapons to facilitate their resistance. He was arrested by the Nazis in 1944 and executed. The Heinz-Steyer Stadion in Dresden bears his name.

Five years later the East Germans issued another stamp featured a footballer. This was part of the 1968 Mexico Olympics set and was the last football stamp to be issued by the GDR.

The West German Bundespost issued a couple of stamps for the 1974 World Cup. A football design was included in the 1980 three-value sport set and in 1988 an awful three-part set was issued to jointly commemorate the Seoul Olympics and the UEFA 1988 Euro tournament. Maybe the designers of these three stamps were trying to imitate what watching sport was like after overdoing it at the Oktoberfest. Whatever the reason this was the last German football stamp issued prior to the events of die Wende in 1990.

So that concludes our first look at the football stamps of Germany. Parts 2 and 3 will be up in the next couple of weeks and will feature football stamps issued by a re-united Germany.

The Football Stamps of Germany Part 2

Tor! The Story of German Football

FLN Algeria - 50 year anniversary 2008

2011-12-14T19:49:00.000Z

In 2008 the Algerian postal authorities issued a souvenir sheet to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of a national football team to represent the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN). The FLN was the Algerian pro-independence movement that was set up to fight and end French colonial rule in Algeria. Many Algerian footballers playing in France left their clubs to return home and represent their country. You can read more about the FLN and the impact the team had in the Algerian battle against the French in this wonderful article by writer Juliet Jacques.

France, The Front Liberation Nationale and Football

Algeria on Amazon: Books, Film & Travel

First footballer on a stamp - Hungary 1925

2011-12-14T03:34:00.000Z

In a previous post about the football stamps of the Netherlands I wrote about the Dutch Olympiad set of 1928 which includes a stamp showing an image of a footballer. At the time I believed this was the first stamp in the World to be issued that featured an image of someone playing football. This was a view shared by writer Hunter Davies who wrote an article about football stamps for the June 2010 edition of the British Philatelic Bulletin. Incidentally this blog gets a name check as part of that feature on football stamps of the World. Oh yeah baby.

Anyway I digress. A couple of months later in September 2010 the British Philatelic Bulletin published a letter from Bryan Horsnell of the Football Postcard Collectors Club. He points out that there was an earlier stamp featuring a footballer and that it was issued by Hungary in 1925. It was one of eight issued to raise funds for sports clubs in Hungary, a so-called semi-postal or charity stamp.

An additional fee or surcharge was raised against the face value of each stamp in the set and the proceeds donated to various Hungarian sports groups. In this case the surcharge was 100% of the face value making the stamps, at the time the most expensive set ever sold in Hungary. Let's hope they raised plenty of money.

It's worth mentioning that Hungary won nine medals including four golds at the 1928 Summer Olympics. The first time they'd won any Olympic medals since the games of 1912. Whether this has any connection to the sale of these stamps and the money flowing into Hungarian sport courtesy of the surcharge I do not know, but it would be nice to think it did.

The stamp oh yes, here it is along with the other seven in the set. Ladies and gentlemen I present for your philatelic pleasure the World's first stamp to feature a footballer. There it is on the right - a goalkeeper leaping to catch a high ball. Thank you Hungary.

Please note this is not the World's first football stamp. That honour goes to Uruguay. Thanks for reading.

Hungary on Amazon: Books, Film & Travel

Football Philately - Football Stamp Blog Par Excellence

2011-12-13T21:34:00.001Z

Hello stamp geeks. This blog is back in action and fingers crossed there won't be no more lengthy absences. You've probably noticed - or maybe not - that the name's been changed. The new name is Football Philately and there's a posh dot com domain name too. It's simply stamptastic folks.

We're gonna celebrate the relaunch of the blog with some nice bright colours. The 1958 World Cup in Sweden has previously been covered here on Football Philately so to add to that we've got a couple of lovely philatelic items issued to commemorate the tournament. First up is the official 1958 World Cup FDC with a gorgeous cachet showing a footballer in the Sweden national team colours. Followed by a stamped postcard showing a scene from a football game in Malmo, one of the host cities. Enjoy.

If you like your philately and fancy picking up a bargain or finding that scare item you've been after for ages then be sure to check out Delcampe: a true collectors paradise. I've got myself a Delcampe store. Check it out. Cheers.

Czechoslovakian Registered Cover from 1962

2010-11-26T21:46:00.001Z

My first blog post for sometime here on Footyphila and I've got a beautiful cover to share with you all. It satisfies my inner stamp collecting nerd like you've never known. Why? Well it's registered for starters and I do like examples of my main thematic interests on a nice registered cover. It's Czechoslovakian and I have love of this countries stamps from the fifties and sixties because the designs are fabulous and so intricate. There also very cheap, which is good because there's loads of 'em knocking about but this one particular cover caught my eye and when I saw it I just had to have it. I needed it, I craved and coveted it and for the princely sum of two English pounds it was mine.

What I here you ask is so special about this cover. Well, it's the stamps that are on it. All five of them fall into my main three areas of thematic interest which are football, the Eastern Bloc Spartakiad events & Vostok or space-themed stamps issued by Eastern Bloc countries during the fifties & sixties.

Here it is, a beauty I'm sure you will all agree ..

The stamps from left to right: The 1Kcs stamp from the 1962 5-value Space Research set that shows a robotic lunar lander, the green & yellow single that was issued in June 1962 to commemorate the World Cup in Chile and the 3 stamps that make up the Spartacist Games set issued in July 1962.

I'm very happy to have this in my collection ... but .. where do I put it? Do I keep it within my Vostok & Space-themed collection, put it with other Spartakiad items, include it amongst all my other football stuff or give it pride of place within my collection of Czechoslovakian covers? Decisions, decisions.

Antwerp Summer Olympics of 1920

2010-07-28T17:51:00.005+01:00

The Summer Olympics of 1920 were the first following the end of World War 1. The games had originally been awarded to Budapest but in the aftermath of the war the defeated central powers which included Hungary were banned from competing and the games were transferred to Antwerp.

These Olympics were the first in which the Olympic Oath was voiced, the first in which doves were released and the first at which the Olympic flag was flown. These games also saw the oldest Olympic medallist as Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn at the ripe old age of 72 won silver in one of the shooting events.

Three stamps were issued by the Belgian postal authorites to commemorate the games. They were confident the stamps, which are of a fabulous design, would be so succesful and popular that they doubled the initial order of 5 million of each value to 10 million. Unfortunately the stamps didn't prove as popular as they thought and the originals issued in May 1920 only sold between 134000 and 472000 depending on face value. The remaining stamps were surcharged and re-issued in March 1921.

Below you will find each of the original stamps together with it's surcharged cousin. All with lovely socked on the nose cancels. Click an image to enlarge.

Images and stamp information used with the kind permission of Stampboards member joelk. You can see more of his images and those of other board members in this thread - Show us your 'Bullseye' - or 'socked on the nose cancels'

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London 2012 Olympics - First Day Covers

2010-07-27T18:20:00.001+01:00

Following on from the previous post about todays London Olympic and Paralympic stamp issue here's a selection of covers I've made up for my own collection. I've used some Soviet postal stationery items themed to each of the stamps and have got lovely first day of issue socked on the nose cancels on eight of the nine. The only one missing is the taekwondo stamp because I've used that to send a letter.

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Great Britain - The Olympic and Paralympic Games 2010 Stamp Issue

2010-07-27T14:28:00.004+01:00

Today 27th July 2010 a new set of stamps commemorating the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games have been issued by Royal Mail. There are ten stamps in the set each one featuring a different sport. Rowing, Shooting, Modern Pentathlon, Taekwondo, Cycling, Table Tennis, Hockey, Football, Goalball and Boxing.

Here's the presentation pack. You can buy it from the Royal Mail Online Shop

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The Football Stamps of Spain - Los sellos de fútbol de España

2010-07-10T20:56:00.004+01:00

Following on from yesterdays post featuring the football soccer stamps of the Netherlands today it's the turn of fellow 2010 World Cup finalists Spain. The first Spanish stamps to feature a football theme were released in 1960 as part of a 12-value set commemorating various sports.

Espana 1960 Futbol

It was to be another 19 years before another Spanish stamp featured football. A 3-value sport for all set was issued in 1979 and one of the stamps showed a child playing football.

Espana 1979 Deporte Para Todos

The Spanish had been chosen as hosts of the 1982 World Cup way back in 1966 and a number of World Cup sets were issued between 1980 and 1982. It wasn't a particularly successful tournament for the hosts. They qualified for the second group stage but only as runners-up to Northern Ireland in their first round group. There tournament ended at the second round stage as they finished bottom of their second round group behind West Germany and England.

Espana 1980 Copa Mundial de Futbol

Espana 1981 Copa Mundia de Futbol - First Day Cover

Espana 1982 Copa Mundial de Futbol - First Day Cover

Espana 1982 Copa Mundial de Futbol - Souvenir Sheet

Spain was to host another global sporting event in 1992. The Summer Olympics roadshow came to town as Barcelona was chosen as the host city. In 1989 a pre-Olympics set of 3-values was issued and it included one with a football theme.

Espana 1989 Barcelona '92 Futbol

Another Olympics issue in 1994 commemorated the 100th anniversary of the International Olympic Committee. It was a souvenir sheet that featured the Spanish gold medal winners from the Barcelona games. One of which was the Spanish football team who had won the football gold medal by beating Poland 3-2 in the final.

Espana 1994 Centenario del COI - Souvenir Sheet

From 1999 a number of stamps were issued to celebrate the centenaries of various Spanish clubs. These included Barcelona in 1999, Espanyol in 2000, Real Madrid in 2002 and Atletico Madrid in 2003, Deportivo in 2006, Real Betis in 2007 and Real Sociedad in 2009. Here's the Barcelona and Espanyol stamps.

Spain won the European Championships in 2008 and a special souvenir sheet was issued featuring the winning squad. A fitting victory perhaps given that the Royal Spanish Football Federation celebrated it's centenary in 2009.

Espana 2008 European Champions - Souvenir Sheet

Espana 2009 Real Federacion Espanola de Futbol - First Day Cover

Who knows maybe the Spanish Postal authorities have got another issue up their sleeves waiting just in case the national team win this years World Cup. We will have to wait and see. Good luck Spain.

Recommended reading - Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football

Football Stamps of the Netherlands - Voetbal postzegels van Nederland

2010-07-09T22:20:00.008+01:00

It's the World Cup Final this coming Sunday between Holland and Spain and to celebrate this Footyphila will take a look at a selection of the football-related stamp issues of both countries. First up is Holland or more correctly the Netherlands.

Uruguay in 1924 had been the first country in the World to issue football-related stamps. However they featured an image of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, an ancient Greek sculpture. An actual footballing image didn't appear on any postage stamp until the Dutch Postal Authorities issued a set to commemorate the 1928 Summer Olympics. Hosted in Amsterdam The Olympic Flame was reintroduced to the modern Olympic movement at the 1928 games so along with this honour the Netherlands can also lay claim to issuing the World's first 'proper' football stamp. Here it is along with the other seven values that made up the set.

Nederland 1928 IX Summer Olympiade

Amazingly it would be another forty-six years before the Netherlands issued another football stamp and it must be said the 1974 commemorative World Cup issue was a pretty uninspiring effort. However the Total Football the Dutch played during the tournament was far from uninspiring and in this their first finals tournament since 1938 they played some magnificent football to reach the final. It all went a bit pear-shaped for them though for despite taking a first minute lead against the hosts they lost 2-1.

Nederland 1974 World Cup

A couple of years later in 1976 another football stamp was issued. This one was part of a 3 value semi-postal set featuring childrens drawings.

Nederland 1976 Football Childrens Drawing

Holland were again World Cup finalists in 1978 and again they lost to the host nation. This time 3-1 after extra-time to Argentina. Suprisingly no Dutch stamps were issued for the 1978 World Cup though a year later in 1979 a stamp was issued to commemorate 100 years of football in Holland. The first Dutch football club, Royal Haarlemsche Football Club had been founded in 1879. Much like the 1974 World Cup stamp it was a pretty poor design.

Nederland 1979 100 Years of Dutch Football

The Dutch national football team became European Champions in 1988 but no stamp was issued. Though a year later another Dutch football centenary was commemorated with the issue of a special stamp. The Royal Netherlands Football Association or KNVB (Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond) founded in 1889 celebrated 100 years governing football in Holland.

Nederland 1989 KNVB centenary

In 1994 a garish orange and purple stamp was issued for the World Cup. Held in the United States the stamp proclaims Oranje goes USA! It came with a tab on the right hand side that lists Holland's group fixtures. They topped their group and eventually got knocked out in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Brazil.

Nederland 1994 World Cup

1996 saw the Dutch qualify for Euro 96 and the stamp issued for this event is for me , with the exception of the 1928 stamp the nicest Dutch football stamp issued. It features a nice aerial shot of Wembley Stadium and the Twin Towers. Of course this was where the Netherlands lost to England 4-1 in their group fixture. Despite this heavy defeat they still qualified for the knock out stages and lost in the quarter-finals on penalties to the French.

Nederland 1996 European Championships

I don't know what the Dutch postal authorities were thinking when they issued this stamp to commemorate the 1998 World Cup finals. It does however have a certain charm to it. As for the team they reached the semi-final and lost on penalties to Brazil.

Nederland 1998 World Cup

Euro 2000 was jointly hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium. The Dutch national team reached the semi-finals and again lost out on penalties, this time to Italy. The tournament prompted a joint issue by the postal authorities of both countries. Here's the Dutch version.

Nederland 2000 European Championships

That concludes our philatelic journey through the football issues of the Netherlands. Depending on the result of Sunday's game there may well be another Dutch football stamp to add to the list. Good luck Holland.

The Football Stamps of Spain

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Unusual Austrian Football Stamps

2010-07-02T23:58:00.003+01:00

Austria went football scrazy when they were picked to co-host the 2008 UEFA European Football Championships. The Austrian Post Office was one of the national sponsors of what was the largest sporting event ever held in Austria. They pulled out all the stops to produce a series of both unusual and memorable stamps to commememorate Euro 2008 that delighted philatelists and football fans the world over. The first stroke of design brilliance was to produce a stamp that looked like a football, not only that it was a football! Each self adhesive stamp was made from the same synthetic material as the tournament's offical EUROPASS match ball. The makers Adidas said that the sophisticated design of the ball's outer skin guaranteed optimum grip between ball and boot. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the stamp. Upon it's release in March 2008 many wouldn't stick to envelopes or fell off in transit. But still a lovely stamp, here it is in all it's glory.

The Austrian Post Office weren't finished with their unusual stamps. But how could they top a football stamp made from a football? Well they did, they put a clip of a football match on a stamp. Using lenticular technology a stamp was produced featuring a 3-second clip of Andi Herzog scoring an important goal for the Austrian national team. Shown below is the stamp on a first day cover, a mock up of the stamp with footage of the goal and a video of the actual goal itself. Read more about this amazing stamp here.

Austrian Post released one more unusual football-themed item. This was a minisheet featuring an image of the Henri Delaunay Cup flanked by four Swarovski crystal. Here it is on a first day cover.

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World Cup 2010 Stamps

2010-06-25T20:10:00.002+01:00

As you would expect there have been a number of countries who have issued special stamps to commemorate the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Though the number of stamps issued has not been as prolific as for previous World Cup tournaments. Unfortunately I don't think there are all that many designs that stand out. I've been totally underwhelmed and have only gone out & bought two issues. A lot look like they've been knocked up on Zazzle and are in essence posh stickers! The stand out issue for me is this Japanese sheet that features the poster designs from previous World Cups.

I've also added this item to my collection recently. Issued by Bulgaria I do believe it is to date the only item of postal stationery issued to commemorate the 2010 World Cup. Here it is with a themed first day of issue cancel.

This isn't the only Bulgarian 2010 World Cup issue. The Bulgarian postal authorities issued a minisheet featuring images of Jules Rimet, the Jules Rimet Trophy and the current World Cup. Issued on the same day as the postal stationery above on the 10th June 2010 here it is used on a registered cover addressed to my good self. Very nice.

If you want to check out more 2010 World Cup stamp issues and discussion then visit the two links below.

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Costa Rica - CCCF Football Championship 1941

2010-06-04T01:16:00.006+01:00

The Campeonato de Football Centroamericano y del Caribe (Football Championship of Central America and the Caribbean) was a tournament organised by the CCCF - Confederacion Centroamericana y del Caribe de Futbol (Football Confederation of Central America and the Caribbean). It was held between 1941 and 1961.

Costa Rica won the first competition, as hosts, in 1941 with a 100% playing record. They went on to win seven of the ten tournaments that were held. The Costa Rican postal authorities issued 18 stamps to commemorate the event. Two designs were used, the first eight stamps all featured the Costa Rican national flag flying in front of an empty football stand. The green 5 centimos value is shown below. The other ten stamps had a scene from a football match being played in a stadium. The red 15 centimos value, with a rather nice socked on the nose cancel, is shown.

The final CCCF Championship was played in 1961 and Costa Rica again as hosts won the tournament for the seventh and final time. The CCCF then merged with the NAFC (North American Football Confederation) in 1961 to form CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football). The first CONCACAF Championship or Campeonato de Naciones as it was called was held in 1963 and Costa Rica continued their fine run of wins by winning the tournament. They won it again in 1969 as hosts and then for a third time in 1989.

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The King of Football - Pele on Postage Stamps

2010-05-31T16:31:00.005+01:00

FIFA player of the century Pele is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all-time. He is the all-time leading scorer of the Brazilian national football team and the only footballer to be a part of three World Cup winning squads. In 1957 just 3 months short of his 17th birthday he made his international debut and scored. That goal making him the youngest player to score in a full international match. A year later he took the world by storm.

His first appearance for Brazil during the 1958 World Cup held in Sweden made him at the time the youngest player to appear in a World Cup Finals tournament. His first World Cup goal, scored in the quarter-finals made him the youngest ever World Cup goalscorer. More was to come for in the semi-finals he scored a hattrick making him the youngest player in World Cup history to do so. He bagged two goals in the final to become the youngest goalscorer in a World Cup Final.

He continued to score goals, lots and lots of them and his goalscoring record of 1280 goals in 1363 games is a world record. His 1000th goal or O Milésimo (The Thousandth) as it is popularly known came with a penalty strike for Santos in a game against Vasco da Gama at the legendary Maracana Stadium. A stamp was struck to commemorate this great goalscoring feat and for sure it has become one of the most iconic football stamps ever produced.

Pele again featured on one of his countries stamps after the Brazilian World Cup triumph of 1970. Flanked by two of his teammates he celebrates a goal in trademark fashion.

It wasn't just Brazilian stamps he appeared on though. Many countries used images of Pele on their stamps and below you will a find just a small selection of those produced to honour not only the great man himself but what Pele called o jogo bonito - the beautiful game.

Yemen Arab Republic - Minisheet 1970

Nicaragua & Cameroon 1970

Upper Volta 1973

Chad & Congo 1978

Liberia minisheet 1986

Grenada minisheet 1990

Finally an item of postal stationery produced by the Russian Republic of Komi that shows Pele in his later years. Following his retirement from football Pele has performed ambassadorial roles for various bodies. These include the Brazilian government, the United Nations and UNESCO.

Pele on Amazon: Books & Film

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The World's First Football Stamps - Uruguay 1924

2010-05-27T22:45:00.004+01:00

These stamps were issued by Uruguay to commemorate their gold medal in the Paris Olympic Football Tournament of 1924. They were the first stamps issued anywhere in the World to celebrate the game of football. The image depicts the Winged Victory of Samothrace which is an ancient sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike. Six years later this sculpture of Nike formed the basis of the design for 'Victory' more commonly known as the World Cup. It was renamed the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1946.

With 22 participants the 1924 Olympics would be the biggest international football tournament until the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. It was the first time a football team from South America had taken part in the Olympics and after winning the final 3-0 against Switzerland the Uruguayans did something that no other gold medallists had done before. They did a lap of honour in order to salute the crowd and so started what has become customary for all Olympic champions to do regardless of their sporting discipline.

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Rotherham United - Don Valley Stadium

2010-05-20T20:55:00.006+01:00

English Football League Two side Rotherham United are currently playing their 'home' games at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield. The Millers as they are known will move back to Rotherham once a state-of-the-art community stadium has been built. Last night 19/05/10 the Millers played Aldershot in the 2nd leg of the League Two play off semi-final. Leading 1-0 from the 1st leg they won 2-0 to secure a place in the Play Off Final at Wembley at the end of May. The attendance of just over 7000 was their highest attendance at Don Valley since they moved there in 2008.

Rotherham United's manager is Ronnie Moore. This is his second spell as the RUFC manager. He was first appointed in 1997 and the two successive promotions in 2000 and 2001 he helped secure took the club into what is now The Championship. Against all the odds, given the limited resources at his disposal he kept the club in the 2nd tier of English football for four seasons. He was sacked by the club in 2005 but then returned in 2009 and now with the play off semi final victory has an opportunity to further cement his reputation as a Rotherham legend.

He also played for the club and is considered one of their best players of all-time. The commemorative cover below was produced to celebrate the Millers first game back in Division Two following their Division 3 title success of 1980-81. The Millers turned it on that day beating Norwich City 4-1 and Ronnie Moore got on the scoresheet.

Rotherham's current home, the Don Valley Stadium, was built to host the 1991 World Student Games, and with a seated capacity of 25000 is the largest athletics stadium in the UK. Completed in 1990 it was the first new outdoor national sporting venue to be built since Wembley in the 1920's. As well as athletics and football the stadium has also hosted Rugby League, Rugby Union, American Football and a number concerts by the likes of Michael Jackson, Def Leppard, U2 and the Rolling Stones. It was also the venue for Channel 4's celebrity sport show The Games.

Royal Mail issued a set of stamps in 1991 to commemorate the World Student Games as well as the Rugby World Cup. The first cover shown below is the Royal Mail First Day Cover of 11th June 1991. The stamps feature the sports of fencing, athletics, diving and rugby. The second cover has just the three Universiade stamps and was issued to commemorate the opening of the games by HRH The Princess Royal on the 14th July 1991.

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Leather Ball - All-Union Soviet Football Tournament

2010-05-19T21:40:00.002+01:00

In 1964 the famous Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin in a conversation with journalists suggested that a national football tournament for boys, from all republics of the Soviet Union, should be arranged. With the support and patronage of other great Soviet footballers such as Alexei Khomich, Alexei Paramonov, Victor Monday, Valery Voronin and Valentin Ivanov the idea was well received by the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) Central Committee who took steps to organise what would be a massive tournament.

The first rules of 'Leather Ball' (кожаный мяч) were published in May 1964 and teams were invited to apply to take part, and take part they did. 170,000 teams, made up of nearly three million boys entered the competition. A series of regional qualifying competitions were held and the first finals were played on the 16th August 1965 at the Dynamo Stadium in Moscow. The first champions were a team from Minsk, with a team from Lugansk of the Ukrainian SSR in second place. The huge geographical spread of the tournament was demonstrated as the third-placed team were from Vladivostok on the Soviet Pacific coast, around 6500km distant from Moscow!

The tournament continues to this day and except for brief period during the mid-1990s due to the break up of the Soviet Union, has taken place every year since that first tournament back in 1964.

Like most national sporting competitions in the Soviet Union the Leather Ball events were commemorated with a series of pre-printed postal stationery items. Below are two such items. The first one is from 1970 and the second from 1982.

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World Cup 1966 - Socked on the Nose

2010-05-08T00:43:00.002+01:00

A socked on the nose or bullseye cancel is a postmark that has been centrally applied to a stamp. Ideally the whole of the postmark should be within the margins of the stamp though this sometimes isn't possible either because the stamp is too small or the postmark too large. Below is the 1966 Ghana World Cup set issued 14/11/66. Each stamp has a beautiful Accra first day of issue bullseye cancel.

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Progressive Colour Proofs: Union Island - Grenadines of St Vincent

2010-05-07T06:50:00.002+01:00

St Vincent and the Grenadines is an independent Caribbean nation that is geographically part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. Formerly a British colony it gained indepence in 1979. Here we have a set of seven imperforate, ungummed progressive colour proofs of a Union Island, Grenadines of St Vincent 1986 World Cup issue. These are not stamps rather impressions taken during the stamp production process as a form of quality control to check on the progress of the work before actual printing of the stamps can begin. They are pretty good example of how colour is layed down during printing to produce the final image.

Here's the finished product.

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Scotland World Cup Winners 1978

2010-05-05T19:48:00.003+01:00

In 1978 Scotland were the only home nation to qualify for the World Cup finals to be held in Argentina. They had finished top of their qualifying group, knocking out the reigning European champions Czechoslovakia. Wales finished bottom of the same group. England missed out by finishing second to Italy on goal difference in their group whilst Northern Ireland finished second bottom of their group.

There was an air of expectancy amongst Scottish fans and a feeling that the team could go far in the tournament. Scottish manager Ally MacLeod declared that the team would be back with “at least a medal” and when asked what he would do after the World Cup replied “retain it”.

The team was given a great send off by the fans. Thousands packed Hampden Park and lined the route to Prestwick Airport to see their heroes depart and Andy Cameron's World Cup song, Ally's Tartan Army, joyfully proclaimed “we'll really shake them up when we win the World Cup”.

This mood of optimism didn't bypass Royal Mail. They made plans for a special issue to commemorate a Scotland World Cup win, and here it is. Quite possibly the greatest stamp never to be issued.

Proposed stamp issue for Scotland winning the World Cup, 1978.

Scotland were beat 3-1 by Peru in their opening game and could only draw 1-1 with Iran in their second game. Going into their final game against the Netherlands they could still qualify but needed to beat the Dutch, probably the best team in the World at that time, by three clear goals. Despite Holland going one up Scotland fought back to take lead. When Archie Gemmill, scoring one of the World Cup's all-time greatest goals, dancing round the entire Dutch defence to make it 3-1, it seemed that the improbable was possible.

Unfortunately Holland got one back to make the final score 3-2 and despite the win the Scots were eliminated on goal difference for the second successive World Cup tournament.

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