Got, got, need, got - Football stickers

1986. A memorable year for many. It was the first year I started collecting Panini football stickers. Being six, I didn't do too well, too lazy to do the things around the house that would earn me more pocket money for the 12p needed for six stickers. In the days before Google, it was a catalogue of the players who graced the Canon First Division. Exotic teams for this London boy, Newcastle, Birmingham, Southampton.

A young man's encyclopedia

Before panini meant posh toasted sandwich, Panini were the makers of foil stickers (shinies), team photos shrunk down, and information. The football league was the raison d'etre, but for even-numbered summers, it was the guide to the players we've never heard of. The colourful, photographic catalogue of Costa Rican reserves, the hot new Brazil talents, the England regular who would be dropped before the naming of the squad.

It seems that the cult of collecting left us long ago. Football seemed to be the beacon, with the Esso coins and so on. Pokemon took over, and then came the Internet, where everything is free. Can we hope Euro 2012 brings it back?

Clough's green jumper didn't work in sticker form

Surely the next step is an online sticker album? We use our Facebook or Twitter for everything else, but there is very little online value for a football fan. Would fans spend 50p for a random set of stickers? Perhaps, linked to Facebook, we can swap doubles, team up with mates, and show off the completed pages! I for one would love to be the only one with a foil Van Persie, or a completed Croatian team photo.

 Oooh, it's so shiny

With the Football 86 album available online from Retro Football Stickers for a bargain £40, maybe the antique sticker market is alive, and it may not work for the online album idea... But I didn't need food did I...