Field day for card fans

Football fans had a great time - away from the field, this time - 'kicking' around soccer lore and 'trading' souvenirs at a special weekend event at Queensway.

Youngsters who turned up for 'The English Soccer Show' - which was an occasion for collectors to exchange game cards and stickers - were happy to pick up rare stickers for $20 a piece, although the original price was only $5 for a five-sticker pack.

Fourteen-year-old Ngo Fung - who has been collecting soccer star pictures, game cards and stickers for the past two years - had an enjoyable day spending $200 buying stickers from other collectors.

'I once spent as much as $100 on a single sticker, so I think this was worth it,' the Rosaryhill School student told Young Post.

The second-former said he did not regret the money spent, although it meant less pocket money for other things.

'The stickers are beautiful,' he said. 'And it's very satisfying to have a booklet with all the stickers in place and be watching the game at the same time.' It was believed that some of the 'traders' at the show were acting as 'agents' for other collectors, buying and selling stickers for 'commissions'.

Jay Chan, 20, and his two friends were eagerly looking for seven stickers to complete their UEFA Euro 96 collection, which has over 300 items.

'We were looking for someone with duplicates so we could swap,' Jay said. 'We were offering $10 a sticker. Someone said he could get them for us. Perhaps he'll be getting something for it.' Although Jay and his friends paid extra for the stickers, they were selling their duplicates at the original cost.

'The duplicates are useless to us. We want to swap, and just sell the rest and get back what we paid for them,' he added.

They bumped into two brothers, Chan Yee-hing, 16 and Chan Chung-hang, nine, who were delighted to swap, and who also bought more than 100 stickers from Jay at $1 each.

The brothers hope to complete their sticker collection before they sit back to enjoy the big game on TV.

The English Soccer Show was presented by Panimex International Ltd.