The 1921-22 season herald the start of the free comic give-aways, up until this period most football related memorabilia items were produced for the cigarette smoker. The publishing giants D.C. Thomson & Co Ltd are best known for their ‘Dandy’ and ‘Beano’ comics which hit the newsagents shelves in 1937 and 1938 respectively and are still going strong today.

The publishers first boys’ story paper was with ‘Adventure’ in 1921. The success of this paper led to five further publications, The Rover and The Wizard in 1922, The Vanguard in 1924, The Skipper in 1930 and The Hotspur in 1933.

In February 1922 Syd Puddefoot was the subject of West Ham’s first comic give-away hero, however it didn’t quite go according to plan. The centre-forward was depicted on a unique series of signed real photos as a West Ham United player at the time his card was issued with their English edition dated 25 February 1922. Within days he was transferred to Falkirk for a world record £5,000 fee and the boys paper hastily included him in the Scottish release, though the same picture showing him in Hammers’ attire was used for both cards.