FOOTBALL 93 The start of a new era of domination for Manchester United is mixed with the end of Panini’s long reign as uncontested sticker kings of the UK. Panini’s Football 93 was the only sticker album to mark the inaugural season of the FA Premier League, but there was no tie-in with the new governing body of England’s top flight, who had other priorities. A Football 93 album and a sheet of eight stickers was given away with the 31 October 1992 issue of Match Weekly, while spinoff poster magazine Big Shots
This first Premier League season felt like the dawning of a new age for the English game and Panini was keen to tap into this. also gave away the album and a packet of stickers with the ‘2nd Hot Issue’, dated December 1992. Panini’s existing relationship with the PFA meant the front cover was branded ‘The Official Players Collection’. Also highlighted were the ‘Giant Size Stickers’, not much different in
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size to the previous season but with more impact due to the return of the traditional headand-shoulder player mug shots. Arsenal’s David Hillier was seen on the cover, hotly contesting a stray ball with Leeds United’s David Batty and Gary McAllister during the Yorkshire club’s titlewinning season of 1991–92. The introduction mentioned the reduction in the cost of packets of stickers from 25p to 20p: ‘Now you get five mystery stars in a pack for just 20p so it’s five packs instead of four for the price of £1!’ In general, this first Premier League season felt like the dawning of a new age for the English game and Panini’s album was keen to tap into this. Twelve players were featured for each Premier League team but there were no club badges, team groups or managers. Each player was given a ‘Transfer Rating’ with the strikers generally commanding the highest fees. Ian Wright was valued at £3.5m while Alan Shearer was listed at £3.2m – he had, in fact, moved
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