Football on Great Britain Postage Stamps 1966-2022

My Football Facts ⇒ England Football

The Royal Mail issued Great Britain’s first football related postage stamps in honour of the 1966 World Cup.
Here are all the football themed stamps and material that they have issued since 1966 to date.

Almost every country in the world has issued postage stamps featuring football at some time or another. Indeed, a quite substantial thematic collection could be built-up simply concentrating on stamps dedicated to football, as they are one of the most popular and sought-after collecting topics.
This section concentrates on the stamps and other Philatelic material issued by Great Britain’s Royal Mail since their first set of football related stamps were issued to commemorate the 1966 World Cup in England and the subsequent victory by (Sir) Alf Ramsey’s wingless wonders.

World Cup Football Championship

Issued 1st June 1966 set of three stamps

Football Stamps 1966

England’s World Cup Victory

Issued 18th August 1966 single stamp

England World Cup Victory

Sporting Commemoratives

Issued 22nd March 1988 single football stamp in a set of four

Sporting Commemoratives

Football Legends

Issued 14th May 1996 set of five stamps

Football Legends

Entertainer’s Tale

Issued 1st June 1999 single football stamp in a set of four

Entertainer's Tale

Body and Bone

Issued 3rd October 2000 single football stamp in a set of four

Body and Bone

World Cup 2002

Issued 21st May 2002 Miniature Sheet containing five stamps

World Cup 2002 Stamps

World Cup Winners 2006

Issued 6th June 2006 set of six stamps

World Cup Winners 2006

The New Wembley Stadium

Issued 17th May 2007 Miniature Sheet and ‘Smilers’ Sheet

The New Wembley Stadium

Eminent Britons

Issued 8th October 2009 single football stamp in a set of ten stamps

Football on Great Britain Postage Stamps 1966-2022, My Football Facts

Olympic Games, London 2012

Issued 27th July 2010 single football stamp in a set of ten Olympic sports – Second in a set of three

Olympic Games London 2012

House of Windsor 2012

Issued 2nd February 2012 single football stamp in a miniature sheet featuring four stamps

Football on Great Britain Postage Stamps 1966-2022, My Football Facts

The World of Comics

Issued 20th March 2012 single football stamp in a set of ten stamps

The Tiger with Roy of the Rovers (1st class 46p)

150th Anniversary of Notts County Football Club

Issued 8th November 2012 commemorative sheet with 10 1st class fireworks Smilers definitives

150th Anniversary of Notts County Football Club

Eminent Britons

Issued 16th April 2013 single football stamp in a set of ten stamps

Eminent Britons In Football

Footba11 Heroes

Issued 16th April 2013 single football stamp in a set of ten stamps

150th Anniversary of the Football Association 1863-2013

Remarkable Lives

Issued 25th March 2014 single football stamp in a set of ten stamps

Remarkable Lives Issued 25th March 2014 single football stamp in a set of ten stamps

Great British Films

Issued 13th May 2014 single football stamp in a set of six stamps

Great British Films in Football

World War One 1915

Issued 14th May 2015 single football stamp in a set of six stamps

World War One 1915 Stamps

West Ham United Farewell Boleyn 1904-2016

Issued 18th May 2016 commemorative sheet & folder with 10 1st class Union flag Smilers definitives

West Ham United Farewell Boleyn 1904-2016

Lisbon Lions Commemorative Sheet – Celtic 2-1 Inter Milan, 25th May 1967

Issued 25th May 2017 commemorative sheet & folder with 10 1st class Scottish flag Smilers definitives

Lisbon Lions

World War One 1918

Issued 13th September 2018 single football stamp in a set of six stamps (1st Class, 67p)

World War One 2018 Walter Tull

Computer Games

Issued 21st January 2020 single football stamp in a set of eight stamps (1st Class, 70p)

Football on Great Britain Postage Stamps 1966-2022, My Football Facts

United Kingdom – A Celebration

Issued 26th January 2021 single football stamp – Great Sport – (1st Class, 85p) in a Miniature Sheet of four stamps

Great Sport (Football) stamp

150th Anniversary of the First F.A. Cup Final

Issued 8th March 2022 set of six stamps with a Miniature Sheet of four stamps

FA Cup 150th Anniversary stamps & miniature sheet

150th Anniversary of the Football Association 1863-2013: Footba11 Heroes

Royal Mail issued its Footba11 Heroes set on 9th May 2013 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Football Association and the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Scottish Football Association.

The 1st class (60p) stamps in the set featured eleven legendary British players:

Gordon Banks (England): Made possibly the greatest save of all time from Pele during the 1970 World Cup Finals.

Bobby Moore (England): Captained England to its historic 1966 World Cup win and won 108 full international caps.

Dave Mackay (Scotland): Described by George Best as his hardest and bravest opponent, Won the League & Cup Double with Heart of Midlothian & Tottenham Hotspur.

John Charles (Wales): Dubbed ‘Il Gigante Buono’, which means Gentle Giant, during his hugely successful spell in Italy with Juventus.

Bryan Robson (England): Voted Manchester United’s greatest ever player in a 2011 poll of former Manchester United stars throughout the eras.

Denis Law (Scotland): Voted the outstanding Scottish player of the previous 50 years by the Scottish Football Association in 2003, Law is still the joint highest Scottish goalscorer with Kenny Dalglish.

Bobby Charlton (England): A survivor of the 1958 Munich disaster in which eight of his teammates lost their lives, he went on to lift the European Cup for Manchester United ten years later, in 1968.

John Barnes (England): Scored a goal against Brazil in the Maracana Stadium, Rio, that is often described as the finest English goal of all time.

George Best (Northern Ireland): Recognised as the most naturally gifted footballer Northern Ireland has ever produced.

Jimmy Greaves (England): Played 57 times for England scoring an incredible 44 goals. The First Division Leading Goalscorer in six different seasons with Chelsea & Tottenham Hotspur.

Kevin Keegan (England): Part of a Liverpool team that won a hatful of trophies including the club’s first European Cup, he was twice named European Footballer of the Year.

These Royal Mail Football Heroes stamps are available in three ways: Individual mint stamps, also available as a set of 11 in a Presentation Pack (£7.10), as a composite Miniature Sheet (£6.60) and in a Prestige Stamp Book which features self-adhesive Footba11 Heroes stamps, rather than the gummed versions (£11.11). In addition, a retail booklet of six 1st class stamps featuring George Best and Bobby Moore was issued on 9th May (£3.60). A further booklet of six stamps featuring John Charles (Wales) and Dave Mackay (Scotland) were issued on 20th February 2014.

The Prestige Stamp Book comes supplied in a sealed foil wrapper which will bring back fond memories of collecting football stickers for those of a certain age.

This set is bound to have a wide appeal with many football fans who don’t normally collect postage stamps. Every football fan will have their own opinions as to who are the 11 greatest British footballers – we feel that the set is perhaps too biased towards English players and also excludes the pre-WW2 footballing greats. We would have included Kenny Dalglish (Scotland), Mike England (Wales) and Pat Jennings (Northern Ireland) in place of Barnes, Robson & Banks (all England) to give a more balanced mix for the four countries.