PANINI LEGENDS Where there’s stickers there’s gold – the collectability of Panini’s brilliant output has changed dramatically in recent times. For many football fans – young and old – the word ‘legend’ is frequently bandied about for the likes of Pelé, Diego Maradona, Bobby Moore, George Best, Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and a handful of others. But in Panini’s own list of royalty there are three players whose place in the company’s esteemed history remains assured. Nils Liedholm, the Sweden captain in 1958 when they reached the World Cup Final and AC Milan star throughout their golden 1950s era, was the cover star of the first Panini Calciatori album, for the 1961–62 season. Inter Milan midfielder Bruno Bolchi – who was the team’s captain and had just broken into the national side – was the first card (they were cards rather than stickers in the early days) to be printed for that debut Panini collection.
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But most famous of the trio in football sticker terms is Carlo Parola, whose signature bicycle kick move inspired Panini for the cover of the 1965–66 Calciatori album. From that point onwards the illustrated image – known fondly as ‘La Rovesciata di Panini’ – has been used in one form or other in numerous albums and packet designs, including from Football 78 to Football 88 in the UK. While stickers for some of the game’s more celebrated players have always been a little more sought after, nothing prepared the Panini community for a gamechanging year in 2020. While a global pandemic was wreaking havoc, the extra time spent indoors meant lots of people started sifting through their own possessions. A lot of football stickers and sports trading cards were unearthed in various lofts and attics, kickstarting an urge
to either return to collecting or expand their portfolio. That included a sudden surge in interest from North Americans for football (‘soccer’) collectables (‘collectibles’). The phenomenon of the ‘rookie’ card or sticker has actually been of longstanding interest to those in many markets such as the USA, Canada and China and usually refers to the first, or at least an early card or sticker, for a particular player, usually produced in the player’s first year or major league season. Fast forward to April 2021 and and one of Diego Maradona’s first ever Panini stickers – from the Calciatori 1979–80 album – was
sold for $555,960 (£393,466) at a US auction. Although published far more recently, early Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo Panini cards and stickers now command many thousands of pounds, as does the first-ever sticker release for Kylian Mbappé from the 2016–17 Panini Foot release in France. Pele’s Mexico 70 World Cup card is also a huge favourite with collectors while his earliest Panini issue – from the 1964–65 Calciatori album – is another certain to rise significantly in value as the years go on. Football sticker collecting just got serious!
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