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.
Daizen Maeda
Celtic FC · 2022-232022-23 Topps Chrome Uefa Club Competitions Sapphire EditionKaio Jorge
2021-22Emerging Stars AutographStewart Downing
Middlesbrough · 2002-03BaseJonathan Pereira
Racing de Santander · 2008-09BaseCarlos Forbs
AFC Ajax · 2023-242023-24 Topps Merlin Chrome UefaCole Palmer
Manchester City · 2021-22Rookie Variations (1:3,425 Packets)Fredrik Midtsjo
Norway · 2021-22Donruss Road To Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022Nico González
2021-22HighlightsNeymar Jr.
Brazil · 2014World Cup StarsKarim Zaini
Algeria · 2010Fan'S FavouriteRyan Flamingo
PSV Eindhoven · 2024-25Breakthrough Baller - Holographic FoilMatt Le Tissier
Southampton · 2000-01BaseJewison Bennette
Costa Rica · 2022Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 PrizmRocco Vata
Ireland · 2025-26Rated RookiesSerge Gnabry
FC Bayern München · 2018-19Future Star (1:6 Packets)Billy Gilmour
Chelsea · 2020-21Topps Finest Uefa Champions LeagueMateo Kovačić
GNK Dinamo Zagreb · 2011-12BaseBen Doak
2023-24Short Print AutographA. Nuñez
CD Numancia · 2004-05Ficha MagicSergio Álvarez
Sporting de Gijón · 2010-11BaseSir Alex Ferguson
Manchester United · 2024-25Chrome Autograph (1:126 Hobby, 1:38 Jumbo, 1:8 Breaker, 1:875 Value, 1:386 Hanger)Ibrahim Maza
Hertha BSC · 2022-23BaseBilal Nadir
Olympique de Marseille · 2023-242023-24 Topps Chrome Uefa Club CompetitionsHow 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.