Leaf/Sport Billy Mexico 86 Pique World Cup promotional stickers

Football and Sticker Collectors -  Rare Leaf/Sport Billy Mexico 86 World Cup promotional stickers!

Got these in either crisp packets or sweets/gum packets. I honestly can't remember. There's not a great deal I can say about them, other than suggest you take a look at the stickers below.

Fun fact about, the Mexico '86 World Cup mascot, Pique; He's a a jalapeño pepper wearing a sombrero. His name is a based on a mixture of "picante" (the Spanish for "spicy") and "PK", which is short penalty kicks. There you go. That was a fun fact. 

I don't know how many different stickers were available. There were 24 teams at the tournament, and as you can see from the stickers above there was a Fifa sticker too. That means at least 25, though it probably a round number like 28, If I ever find out I'll update this page. 

The 15 I have are FIFA logo, then Pique wearing the kits of Algeria, Brazil, Denmark, England, France, Hungary, Iraq, Mexico, Portugal, Paraguay, Scotland, South Korea, Uruguay, and West Germany. 

Who is Sport Billy?

Well, Sport Billy doesn't appear on the stickers, but these stickers are made by the company that produced Sport Billy, so, you know, a nice tenuous link.

Sport Billy is a 1980 animated television cartoon made initially broadcast in Germany and other parts of Europe from 1980 to 1981. In 1982 it made its way over to the United States for syndication.

Sport Billy was adopted by FIFA as the Fair Play Mascot for FIFA World Cups, and a trophy of the character was presented to the most sporting team at each World Cup, and the character was  used as a mascot in some sporting youth programs internationally too.

I also remember Sport Billy appearing in the Mexico '86 sticker album (I think it was advertisement for Sport Billy products.) I'm convinced I have some other Sport Billy stuff, or at least, I think I had some. I don't recall seeing any the last time I went through my stuff. Don't make me go searching for this stuff because I may be gone a long time!

How much are these Leaf Mexico 86 stickers by Sport Billy Productions?

These are quite collectable, and, based on my searches, quite rare. After a fair bit of searching, I've not found many examples out there, though I do recall seeing a set sell on eBay once. I wish I'd taken note of what it sold for because getting a value is not straight-forward; If you search on eBay you'll normally come across Panini stickers (I have some of those too). These small perforated Leaf stickers are rare and don't come on the market often. So, if you're in to collecting football stickers you may want to keep your eyes peeled for these. 

Bobby Charlton Sports School - TSB Sports Holidays 1988

I find some unusual things amongst my boxed-up childhood. Some things I think, yeah I remember that, other things not so. This comes in to the latter category.

The leaflet refers to the a Sports School and a Soccer (football) School, so I guess Bobby was offering to teach more than just football. Now, for the record, I'm pretty sure I never attended the Bobby Charlton Soccer School, or indeed any other sport on offer. A certain Mr Beckham had done so a couple year earlier - of course with hindsight I would've nagged my parents to let me jump on the bus (probably would've had to get one in Stoke) to live the dream but, hey, hindsight is a wonderfully cruel thing isn't it?

I recall my brother and I going to a Bryan Robson footy school a few years earlier, but I have no proof of this (at least I've not found it yet) so that could just be fantasy.

Getting back to the leaflet/pamphlet/booklet/whatever, I guess it must've been sent out to all kids with a TSB Bank account. I think I had an account with pretty much every UK bank in the 1980s because of all the free stuff they gave on joining! Of course it's possible we got handed them at school. Not sure. It's even possible my Dad picked it up whilst working in the area and thought it would be something we fancied doing. I have no clue, and I guess ultimately it's not important. The important thing is my hoarding turned up something interesting. 😁⚽

So, here's a couple more photos of the leaflet. As you can see, I kept it in pretty good condition. 😊

 The photo of the booking form below is a bit blurry.

Did you attend a Bobby Charlton Soccer Camp, or perhaps a camp hosted by another footy legend?

As a footnote to this article,  this month it's 40 years since England's finest ever players died tragically in a car accident in Madrid, aged just 33.. Laurie Cunningham was fantastic and of course a pioneer too. Seriously, go on on Youtube and watch. Remember this was back in the 70s/80s when England wasn't exactly known for producing skilful footballers. Different Class.

Football 78 Sticker Album

Not much to say about this really other than it's a complete football sticker album that's over 40 years old. It's the only complete football sticker album I own. 

Shinpads

Seriously, the stuff I kept from my childhood amazes me. Perhaps I was keeping these shinpads from my youth for my kids, posssibly because they weren't in too bad a condition and maybe I would use them again, or perhaps..... no, I dunno.

They were probably kept for the same reason why I kept all my own football kits too; Posterity. Sure, I enjoy on occasion going through a hag of old kits and thinking "kits were better in my days" and "I wish new kits were still released only every 3 or 4 seasons."

Anyway, here's my first pair of shinpads from the late 1970s, early 1980s. Sadly I don't seem to have kept my next pair of childhood shinpads - Sondico ankle protecting shinpads endorsed by Bryan "Robbo" Robson.

   

Royal Wedding Commemorative... Football!

Charles and Diana Royal Wedding Commemorative Memorabilia

Oh yes indeedy! No ceramic plates or mugs or anything of the sort for me.

This bad boy (the ball, not Charlie), sat on the desk in my bedroom for many years. I didn't want to play with it (though I suspect it probably got booted around my room once or twice) to keep it nice. Now, I'm not a big royal family fan, but even back then I probably had a eye for a collectors item! 😎

I haven't pumped it up since the day I got it, hence it's a bit misshapen. The photo is a bit blurrier than I thought it was so I might post a revised picture in the future.

Football History Map of England and Wales

This cost one whole pound when purchased in the late 1970s - the sticker is still on, whowing I bought it at Warwick Castle of all places. I have to say it is one of my favourite things ever.

Bartholomew's Historical Football Map of England and Wales showed the founding info of the 161 teams that had been in the Football League (at the time of publishing), and the location of all 92 league teams marked on the map by their kit.

Me and my brother both had one and they adorned our bedrooms wall for many years. It was the first thing I would put up in my room every time we moved house (quite a few times). The blue tack is still on the back - maybe I was worried about removing it or perhaps I had plans to put it back up. Who knows.