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.
Nico Melamed
RCD Espanyol · 2021-22DiamanteIvan Prtajin
1. FC Kaiserslautern · 2025-26BaseTurgay Bahadir
Bursaspor · 2010-11BaseAndy Diouf
RC Lens · 2023-242023-24 Topps Merlin Chrome UefaJesper Uneken
PSV Eindhoven · 2024-252024-25 Topps Chrome Uefa Club CompetitionsNoah Sarenren Bazee
FC Augsburg · 2021-22BaseKarim Coulibaly
SV Werder Bremen · 2025-26BaseBailey Rice
Rangers F.C. · 2023-242023-24 Topps Chrome Uefa Club CompetitionsFrechaut
Boavista FC · 2001-02BaseLassina Traoré
AFC Ajax · 2020-212020-21 Topps Merlin Chrome UefaHee Chan Hwang
FC Salzburg · 2019-20Base SetEldor Shomurodov
Uzbekistan · 2026Panini Prizm Fifa World Cup 2026F. Baiano
Real Murcia · 2007-08BaseMohamed El Shenawy
Egypt · 2026Panini Prizm Fifa World Cup 2026Kevin Zeroli
AC Milan · 2024-252024-25 Topps Chrome Uefa Club CompetitionsEdmilson Junior
Qatar · 2026Panini Prizm Fifa World Cup 2026Nicola Zalewski
AS Roma · 2022-231959 ToppsKelava
Granada CF · 2015-16BaseMarcus Edwards
Sporting CP · 2022-232022-23 Topps Finest Uefa Club CompetitionsIsmail Aissati
PSV Eindhoven · 2006-07BaseBenjamin Sesko
2021-22SuccessionIbrahim Bayesh
Iraq · 2026Panini Prizm Fifa World Cup 2026Lamine Yamal
FC Barcelona · 2023-24Chrome Autograph (1:62 Packets)How 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.