International Football Whist
International Football Whist published by Pepys Games, 1947.
International Football Whist published by Pepys Games, 1947. The cards depict well-known players of the day from the teams of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales along with their national football badges (Lion for Scotland, Leopards for England, Dragon for Wales and Shamrocks for Ireland). As well as the cards the game has a paper pitch and a little metal football. The object of the game is to score goals by playing the ball into the opponents’ goal squares. Not as popular perhaps as one might have expected; maybe people had little money to spend in 1947. See the Rules►






Above: International Football Whist published by Pepys Games, 1947. 44 cards + rules in box.


By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
Member since January 30, 2009
View ArticlesRex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.
His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.
Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.
Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.
His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.