THE FIRST CHAPTERS
Football rookie cards
Every story has a first card. Discover each player’s first year in our catalogue.
Every card from their first recorded year, across all collections. Filters narrow the results without recalculating that year.
Ethan Nwaneri
Arsenal · 2024-25Wonderkids Autograph (1:1, 478 Hobby, 1:438 Jumbo, 1:87 Breaker, 1:10,301 Value, 1:4,473 Hanger)Ali Olwan
Jordan · 2026Panini Prizm Fifa World Cup 2026Hjavier Saviola
SL Benfica · 2010-11BaseLewis Miley
Newcastle United · 2023-242023-24 Topps Merlin Chrome Uefa Autographs (Hobby 1:47 Boxes; Value Box 1:278 Boxes)Dane Scarlett
Tottenham Hotspur · 2021-222021-22 Topps Merlin Chrome UefaAlexis Saelemaekers
AC Milan · 2020-212020-21 Topps Merlin Chrome UefaCharles Itandje
Cameroon · 2014Base SetOlcay Şahan
Beşiktaş JK · 2016-17Uefa Champions League Match Attax 2016/17 - Beşiktaş JkSolomon
Villarreal CF · 2025-26Últimos FichajesVitor Roque
FC Barcelona · 2023-242023-24 Topps Merlin Chrome UefaAssan Ouédraogo
2024-25Rising StarJulio Llorente
Real Sociedad · 2011-12BaseMoreau
Rayo Vallecano · 1996-97BaseFashion Sakala
Rangers F.C. · 2022-232022-23 Topps Finest Uefa Club Competitions334. GUDELJ
RC Celta · 1997-98Fernandes
Valencia CF · 2007-08BaseJude Bellingham
Borussia Dortmund · 2020-21Topps Finest Uefa Champions LeagueOdin Thiago Holm
Celtic FC · 2023-24Chrome Autograph (1:62 Packets)Edouard Mendy
Chelsea · 2020-21Topps Finest Uefa Champions LeagueToby Collyer
Manchester United · 2024-252024-25 Topps Chrome Uefa Club CompetitionsLuke O'Nien
Sunderland · 2025-26BaseYoung-Woo Seol
South Korea · 2026Select SwatchesGjoko Zajkov
North Macedonia · 2020BaseHow to find a footballer’s first cards
Find a player and compare their first cards across collections. Filter by publisher, season, team, category and language, view photographs and save the cards you like to your wishlist.
Which cards appear here?
We show individual player cards with a known year. If a player’s first recorded year is 2010, all their 2010 cards and stickers appear, including variants and languages, across the available collections.
Is this the same as an RC logo?
No. Rookie here means the first year recorded in Trading Cards Tracker. We do not certify that this is their first published card or that it carries an official RC logo. Check the edition and its sources for each card.
Can the first year change?
Yes. Adding or correcting an earlier card updates the results. We use the card’s year, not the date it was added to the website or the end of a season. Cards without a year and multi-player cards are excluded from this calculation.
How is each player identified?
We group by the recorded name, normalising accents, spaces and letter case. We do not merge nicknames or different names based on similarity. Aliases and namesakes may need review: check the player, team and collection.