Cigarette Cards Football Vintage Trade Cards D.C. Thomson DC Thomson Dixie Dean Frank Barson

D.C. Thomson “Adventure & Vanguard Football Photos” 1925

Issued across the DC Thomson “Adventure” & “Vanguard” comics in the latter half of 1925, each comic had a single card included each week – but there were 5 different cards issued every week so even if you bought both comics every week, you would still at best get 2 of the 5 cards, and if you were really unlucky (or lucky maybe), you would have gotten the same card in each comic.

Dixie Dean is the prime card in the set as it is his “Rookie” card, though there are a number of great players in set, and a number of other Rookies buried in amongst them.

A collectors case for the cards was also issued, as shown below.

The cards are real photos so do have a tendency to curl vertically, especially if they are stored in warm conditions. Flattening them out is possible with care, but there is a tendency for them to crack vertically if not done correctly.

Producer: D.C. Thomson

Date: 26 Sept 1925 – 14 Nov 2025

Set Size: 40

Card Size: 67mm x 34mm

Format: Real Photographs

#1. F. Tunstall (Sheffield United)

#2. A. Jackson (Huddersfield Town)

#3. R.F. John (Arsenal)

#4. S.R. Bennion (Manchester United)

#5. Dixie Dean (Everton)

#6. J.T. Williams (Middlesbrough)

#7. Robert M. Rock (Kilmarnock)

#8. J. Townrow (Clapton Orient)

#9. J.J. Williams (Huddersfield Town)

#10. H. Adcock (Leicester City)

#11. W. Bradshaw (Bury)

This card actually shows Tom Bradshaw of Bury – information courtesy of Alan Jenkins’ fantastic cartophilic exchange website. Link here.

#12. William Devlin (Cowdenbeath)

#13. H.S. Miller (Chelsea)

#14. H. Hardy (Stockport County)

#15. L. Barry (Notts County)

#16. J. Fleming (St. Johnstone)

#17. R. Forshaw (Liverpool)

#18. T. Cook (Brighton & Hove Albion)

#19. Robert Bennie (Airdrieonians)

#20. J. Hulme (Blackburn Rovers)

#21. F. Barson (Manchester United)

#22. George James (West Bromwich Albion)

#23. Harry Skitt (Tottenham Hotspur)

#24. Robert Gillespie (Queen’s Park)

#25. R.M. M’Kenzie (Newcastle United)

#26. Alfred McInroy (Sunderland)

#27. J. M’Intyre (Derby County)

#28. D. Brown (Darlington)

#29. J. Kennedy (Everton)

This card actually shows F. Kennedy of Everton – information courtesy of Alan Jenkins’ fantastic cartophilic exchange website. Link here.

#30. W. McGrory (Celtic)

#31. J. Meredith (Blackpool)

#32. Wm. Gillespie (Sheffield United)

#33. W.D. Williams (West Ham)

#34. J. Ramage (Heart of Midlothian)

#35. Robert Kelly (Burnley)

#36. W. Davies (Cardiff City)

#37. D. Halliday (Sunderland)

#38. D. Meiklejohn (Rangers)

#39. C.H. Green (Sheffield United)

#40. S. Cowan (Manchester City)

The Vanguard Photo Card Case.

I assume there owuld have been a similar case issued by “Adventure” Comic and “Vanguard” Comic, so if anyone has an “Adventure” version and are willing to share a picture please send over and I will credit you with the image.

If you have any snippets of info or images related to the above producer of cards, or any cards/ephemera you wish to sell, please do get in touch and we will publish and credit anything of interest.