1902 | W J Foulkes | W.D. & H.O. WILLS | FOOTBALLERS | #18 | PSA 6

Step back into the dawn of football history with this 1902 W.D. & H.O. Wills “Footballers” tobacco card, featuring W.J. Foulkes in a classic head‑and‑shoulders portrait.

• Issuer: W.D. & H.O. Wills (UK tobacco giant, pioneer of cigarette cards)
• Set: Footballers (1902) – one of the earliest football card issues
• Player: W.J. Foulkes (#18 in the checklist) also known as Fatty Foulkes for his amazing size, a legend of the early game. 
• Grade: PSA 6 (EX‑MT) – exceptional preservation for a 120+ year‑old card
• Design: Crisp lithographic portrait, clean borders, strong centering

This card is a rare survivor from football’s formative era, offering both historical resonance and collector prestige. PSA census numbers for this set remain extremely low, making mid‑grade examples like this highly sought after.

Key Features

• 120+ years old – issued in 1902
• PSA 6 (EX‑MT) – strong grade for this fragile tobacco stock
• Early football tobacco card – foundational to the hobby
• Collector‑grade provenance – authenticated and encapsulated by PSA
• Investment appeal – scarce in condition, historically significant

Collector Significance

This card sits in the upper rarity pyramid for early football issues:

• Top Tier: Pre‑WWI tobacco cards (Wills, Ogden’s, Cohen Weenen)
• Mid Tier: 1920s–30s mass issues (Carreras, Godfrey Phillips)
• Accessible Tier: Post‑war sets (A&BC, Panini)

Owning a PSA‑graded Wills Footballer is akin to holding a T206‑era baseball card — a cornerstone piece in the evolution of sports collectibles.