WHEN I was younger, opening a packet of football cards to reveal a shiny Didier Drogba was about as high as the highs got.
Football card collecting, though, has changed significantly over the years, and for some has become an extremely lucrative hobby.
In 2025, there is an array of different collections, sets, and variables that can make some cards worth an absolute fortune.
When a friend of mine, Tom Smith, 24, sent me a picture of a receipt, proving that he had spent almost £2,000 on boxes of football cards, I genuinely took a moment to reassess the kind of people I keep close.
However, when he showed me that he was fortunate enough to pack a 1 of 1 autographed card of Lamine Yamal, I was asking him for lunch.
That’s because I knew something like this had value; I just didn’t know it was worth over £40,000.
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Tom told SunSport of his reaction to the cash-making moment: “I didn’t really know how good it was at the time.
“I was on a call with my friend who is really into football cards, and he said, ‘I can feel it, you’re going to get a 1 of 1 Lamine Yamal.’
“I said yeah, alright mate, whatever that means. About five packs into the box, I was slowly revealing the cards to my mate, and he just started going mental, that was when we realised it was worth a s*** tonne!”
Getting into the hobby with an almost £2,000 spend is not for everyone, and Tom realises he is one of the lucky ones.
Plenty of his mates, me included, had their interest piqued by his fortune, and were curious as to what he’d do with the money…
He laughed, adding: “A lot of my mates have been interested in getting into football cards now, while some of them have just been asking if I can lend them a tenner.
“I spent £999.99 on the box, and sold the Yamal card to a buyer in the USA for $55,000.
“I’m planning on getting some more cards, investing in a house and saving the rest – a Cartier Santos watch might be on the cards too!”
Tom is a Chelsea fan who is building a collection of cards from his favourite club, and also has signed cards from the likes of Olivier Giroud, Jamie Gittens, Sam Kerr, Didier Drogba, and Thiago Silva in his collection.
The Lamine Yamal card is worth so much money due to it being the only one of its kind in the world, and the fact it is from his first season as a professional with Barcelona.
SunSport earlier in the year spoke exclusively to Aaron Morgan, who got an even MORE valuable version of Yamal, worth around £80,000.
The buyer of this one, from the USA, will have bought it as an investment, hoping that it’s value will rise as Yamal goes on to become one of the best players of his generation.
Card collecting as an industry has experienced a huge boom in recent years, and is huge, particularly in the USA, with other cards of other sports being worth enormous values, such as MLB and NBA cards.
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The football card industry, specifically, is therefore expected to reach new heights when the United States hold the World Cup next summer, alongside Canada and Mexico.
The 24-year-old got extremely lucky from his 23/24 season Topps Chrome UEFA Club Competitions Jumbo Box, and the money will help him get on the property ladder – a tricky enough task for any young person out there without a stroke of luck.
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