Nostelgia

At last week's game against Pattaya United, Panini were giving away free  (to ticket buyers) WC 2010 sticker albums. As they were free, I picked one up. Only for the nipper, you understand.....

This was the first sticker album I had picked up since the World Cup of Mexico 1986 and what a flashback I got. I can still remember the excitement of collecting those stickers as a kid; the ruthless trade on the playground between all of us who had "doubles" or "swaps", the fear of my parents that I would be mugged for my large collection of "swaps", my joy at completing my first team and my disappointment at the team in question being Poland.

Most of all I remember being so close to completing the album that my parents ordered the last set of stickers. However, orders were limited to thirty stickers per house, so I had to order extra deliveries to my grandparents, my neighbours and my non-football following friends, too.

I'm pretty sure that back then, stickers came in a pack of eight. Now there's only five in a pack. Apart from that, little has changed.

If you're after a bit of nostalgia or looking for your kids to follow in your footsteps, the album can still be picked up from the MTU club shop. Stickers can be purchased from the same place or from Seven Eleven stores, though many say they have sold out.