Starting in the late 1860s, our great American game of Football grew out of the sports Rugby and Association Football. At a rules convention in 1880, football pioneer Walter Camp introduced the notion of downs, and also established the line of scrimmage as a replacement for Rugby scrums, laying the groundwork for the modern gridiron game. Here we have a fairly scarce c.1880 Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd. “Gigantic Relief” No. 1020 Scraps near set (10/12). This Victorian Era set of die cuts was issued right around the time Camp’s rules went into effect. The set was titled “The Game of Football”, and is reported as commemorating the first ever Rugby match played under artificial light in Wales. Contested at Rodney Parade field in 1879, this match pitted Newport against Cardiff. 

These antique Scraps are mounted on white backers, by means of stamp hinges only, and could easily be removed if desired, as no adhesive was used. Considering their ancient age, they are remarkably well-preserved, showing minimal to moderate wear. The featured card numbers are: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12. Just one of the original tab extensions remains in place, being the factory identifier, which is connected to card #10. Among the removed and not included tabs, are two that announced the name of the set, “The Game of Football,” one of which also cited the Newport vs. Cardiff match. 

Card #6 is partial, with only one of two players present and accounted for, and the absent player had the card number below him. Other small sections of loss are the fingers of one player on card #12, the hand of the referee on card #2, a bit of the base on card #7, and a hole on the base of card #5. Most of the green grass playing field bases show moderate wear, however the condition of the player figures is very favorable, generally showing EX to NM details, including clean surfaces, vibrant colors and excellent gloss.