Football League Ladders

As a teenager back in the 70s, one of the highlights of my year was the free Football League Ladders that were given away by Shoot Magazine at the beginning of the season.

They consisted of a thin card sheet, where the divisions of both the Football League and the Scottish League were printed, and a slit was made for each position in the League.

Then in subsequent weeks T-shaped tabs for each club, printed in their appropriate colours, were given away. These tabs would fit into the slits and throughout the season the League tables could be changed after each set of results, giving an instant reading of the current state of the League positions.

After a while I used to get bored with changing the tables every week and I would make them up as I thought fit. It was amazing how often West Brom would sit at the top of Division One and Wolves and Aston Villa would be in the depths of a battle to avoid re-election (well I can dream can’t I?).

Amazingly, some of these ladders remain and there are actually examples for sale on eBay (but then again, pretty well anything is available there if you look hard enough).

Apart from whenever the ladders were given away, I never bothered getting the magazine as I was only allowed one mag a week and I would generally go for a comic such as the Beano, Buster or Whizzer and Chips (remember any of them?).

Did you collect and use the League ladders?

What was your favourite comic?

If it was Whizzer and Chips, were you a “Whizz-Kid” like me, or one of those nasty “Chip-ites?”

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