1973-74
(AAB-400/ABF-51-1) Footballers - 1st/2nd Series - 1973-74 Blue backs
A&BC Chewing Gum
264 cards
I picked these negatives up many years ago. The label includes the A&BC address in Romford, a reference number and the date OCT.73. I presumed the were used in the production of the 1973-74 but I was wrong. Birmingham City wore this kit between 1971-72 and 1974-75.
Alan Campbell (Birmingham City)
Bob Hatton (Birmingham City)
There is some similarity between these two negatives and the images used for the 1972-73 Americana Munchen Soccer Parade stickers. Admittedly the time frames don't quite align but I thought I would compare them more closely. Four of those Birmingham stickers, including Campbell and Hatton, appear to have images taken at dusk which strikes me as an unusual time for photographs to be taken. They are wearing the same shirts. On close reflection both players appear to have slightly different fringes, so it seems to confirm that they were taken at different times. The most similar of the two negatives is Hatton who sports a distinct furrow on his forehead directly above his nose. Its angle is reversed in your image compared to the Americana sticker. The BCFC letters crest is obviously also reversed in your negatives. The colours appear to be correct albeit dulled without proper light behind them. Without trying to be pedantic, I therefore think they are effectively technically colour transparancies but are shown back to front in your images and perhaps inserted the wrong way round in the storage slips.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, Campbell, who had a pretty full head of hair so typical of the era, had a fringe that flopped down in the Americana sticker (you have an image of it on your Americana page ) revealing some gaps of forehead flesh. Nothing wrong with that, but when comparing the image to the image of Campbell above in the A&BC issue I notice a distinct difference. We are all familiar with paint jobs on cards and stickers from this era but Campbell appears to have suffered the indignity of having some hair painted on to his fringe! I hadn't noticed that before.
Hi David,
DeleteI must admit I've never looked that closely, they're just very interesting items for my collection. I didn't realise about Alan Campbell's hair being photoshopped, long before anyone had ever heard of Photoshop. When you study it, it's obviously be touched up with black paint.