J. Baines - Football Cards (99) - Schofield's Fleece Hotel, Blackpool (1889-90)

1880s/1890s

Football Cards

J. Baines

20,000+ cards

J. Baines was not the first to sell football and cricket cards in the North of England in the late 1880's but he was the most prolific and the business survived into the 1920's. I've always been interested in the various issuers and the businesses that took advantage of craze of collecting football and cricket cards. I thought I would delve into my database and shows some of these interesting cards from a bygone age.

The fixture list on the reverse shows Blackpool's fixtures for the inaugural Lancashire League competition in 1889-90. I believe this was only the third organised League in existence after the Football League and The Combination had been formed the previous year. The Football Alliance also commenced in the 1889-90 season but only lasted two more years. The final league table features 13 clubs so I presume Earlestown failed to complete their fixtures. The earliest reference I can find for this club is in the re-formed Lancashire Combination in the 1950's. The league table shows games played and points gained, then goals for and against (in brackets), followed by wins, draws and defeats.

1889-1890 - Lancashire League

1. Higher Walton  ..  ..  24-32  (68-43)  14-4 -6

2. Bury  ..  ..  24-31  (65-35)  14-3-7

3. Heywood Central  ..  ..  24-30  (64-38)  14-2-8

4. FC Nelson  ..  ..  24-28  (55-44)  12-4-8

5. Blackpool  ..  ..  24-26  (61-46)  10-6-8

6. Southport Central  ..  ..  24-25  (40-32)   9-7-8

7. Heywood FC  ..  ..  24-25  (54-49)  10-5-9

8. Blackburn Park Road  ..  ..  24-22  (44-47)   8-6-10

9. West Manchester  ..  ..  24-22  (44-70)   9-4-11

10. Hyde  ..  ..  24-21  (46-56)   8-5-11

11. Oswaldtwistle Rovers  ..  ..  24-20  (39-62)   8-4-12

12. Fleetwood Rangers  ..  ..  24-19  (35-51)   7-5-12

13. Rossendale  ..  ..  24-11  (37-79)   4-3-17

14.  Earlestown  ..  ..  withdrew

These images have been taken from Carl Wilkes' amazing websites - https://www.rarecards.co.uk and https://www.footballsoccercards.com.

The card is printed by Maxwell, which, I presume, is Henry Maxwell & Co., Printers and Stationers of Church Street, Blackpool. making this card the first one know to be printed by this company.

J. Baines - Football Cards - Schofield's Fleece Hotel, Market Street, Blackpool

Corry (Capt.) (Blackpool)

Walsh (Capt.) (South Shore)