HISTORY OF HNL ALBUMS AND STICKERS

Dear sticker collectors, dear audience! We are reading again after more than two and a half years, and the reason for this is very simple and spectacular - the release of a new album dedicated to the First Croatian Football League. It's not just any album, it's Panini's release. You all know that this is what we've all been waiting for, because it's about the most famous publishing company that started working in the 1960s, when they released the first album dedicated to the Italian Serie A. Later, they continued with albums of World and European football championships and also spread to many other countries, some with football albums, some with albums of various other topics. You can read about the expansion of Panini outside Italy exclusively on my blog. Namely, I had the opportunity to talk with the grandson of Bert Grunenfelder, the person who first brought the Italian company to Switzerland, and later to other European countries.

I believe that you all welcomed the news about the new HNL (Croatian football league) album with great joy! For some it's just another collection, for some it will be the first encounter with stickers, but whatever - Panini is coming to Croatia with the album of the Croatian football championship. Wow. We finally got that. That's a really big deal! Now you will have the opportunity to collect icons of your clubs, of course if they compete in the highest level, as well as clubs idols and legends. Livaja, Petković, Pjaca, Banić, Mierez, Leovac, Brodić, Mioč, Erceg and Tomečak are just some of the stars that you will be able to find in packets and stick in your albums. Great credit for that goes to Promax Pictures, the distributor of Panini Supersport HNL stickers and one of the main initiators of this whole story, which was mentioned back in 2021 in the podcast Imam Imam Nemam (Got Got Need) =)

In the introductory part of this story, we will return to the past and mention football-themed albums from the territory of the former state Yugoslavia. The first such albums were released in the early 1930s, so almost a hundred years ago. Albums were released, with interruptions, until the breakup of Yugoslavia, in the early 90s. The most famous of them are certainly "Fudbaleri i Timovi (Footballers and teams)", as well as several editions of the "Fudbal (Football)" album that came out in the last seasons of the complete Yugoslav league.

It should be noted that this is the first Panini league edition in the area of former Yugoslavia. This is interesting because of the league of the former Yugoslavia, although Dečje Novine had the right to print Panini licensed collections, but Panini never worked for the championship of the former country. If that had happened, it would not have been strange because at that time Panini albums from various other football leagues such as Belgian, French, Dutch, German and Swiss were released. Also Panini had, for some still has, a license to release individual clubs from this area within FIFA 365 albums. These are two Slovenian and two Serbian clubs: Olimpija and Maribor and Partizan and Crvena Zvezda. Obviously, the idea or realization of publishing an album of the entire championships of those countries never came to realization.

Before I go to the albums of the previous HNL albums, I should also mention the special collections issued for certain Croatian clubs. These are of course: Hajduk, Dinamo, Rijeka and Osijek. Local publishers are in question. Hajduk and Rijeka each have four separate albums, Dinamo two, while Osijek has only one, which is also the last album that came out. The content of those albums is mostly historical, i.e. the stickers show historical moments of those clubs like legendary players and coaches, the greatest successes... Part of the album also refers to stickers of current football players at the time of the release of those same albums. For example, Rijeka also released an album about the historic and so far only championship title from 2017. They all date from 1999 until 2022, when a collection dedicated to NK Osijek was released.

NOGOMET ‘97 (FOOTBALL ‘97)

So let's start in order. In total, five albums were released dedicated to the highest level of Croatian football. The first of them was published in May 1997 and refers to the 1996/97 first HNL season. It is the publisher of GSG izdanja za mlade (GSG editions for young people). The prices on the cover seem unrealistic today. For the album, you only had to spend HRK 6, while each package cost HRK 2. Before the stickers, we have the word of the publisher. In the introductory part, the publisher tells us how they wanted to contribute to the popularization of football in Croatia with the album. We can conclude that they didn't succeed, at least not to the extent that they probably wanted. However, it is HNL's first album and today it has a special place in the collection of sticker collectors.

Although it is appreciated today, it was not at that time and the consequence is that we waited for the next album for three seasons.

The publisher also wrote us something about the concept of the album itself. "Each club of the 1st A league is represented as follows. In addition to the common picture of the team, 16 players selected by the publisher are also presented, and emblems and the picture of the fan group are published with each team. For each club, we provided some basic information about its foundation, stadium, shirt color..." Finally, they concluded: "We hope that the publication of albums with self-adhesive stickers of Croatian football players will become a tradition and that future generations will also enjoy collecting pictures of Croatian football stars .“

From the desire for tradition, we came to only five released albums. But let's return to the album itself. The introductory stickers are dedicated to the Croatian national football team. In addition to the emblem and national team players, we also have a nice team picture of the national team under the Kantrida stadium rocks, which consists of six stickers in total. After that comes the clubs. Then 1. A league had a total of 16 participants. Clubs are presented in the already mentioned way. A total of 20 stickers for each club. Today, some of them are in the lower leagues, have disbanded or continued the work of their predecessors by reshaping and changing their name. So in the album we can see: Cibalia, Croatia Zagreb, Hrvatski Dragovoljac, Inker, Marsonia, Mladost 127., Orijent, Segesta, Šibenik, Varteks, Zadarkomerc and Zagreb. Some of the future legends of Croatian football also found a place in these clubs. There are, for example, Ivica Olić in the jersey of Marsonia, then Davor Vugrinec in the jersey of Varteks, Krpan in the jersey of Osijek, Boris Živković in the jersey of Dragovoljac, the defending duo Tudor and Šimić, the first one in the jersey of Split’s Bili (The Split Whites) and Šimić, respectively, in the jersey of the former Croatia... 340 images in total . Finally, we can see a big prize award where you could win a Fiat Uno for sending 50 empty packets.

In my humble opinion, a very nicely designed album considering that it was the first.

NOGOMET 1999/2000

The next album dedicated to Croatian football is in the 1999/00 season, called Nogomet klubovi 1. HNL 1999/2000 (Football- clubs from the 1. HNL 99/00). The publisher is Kiosk distribution.

On the cover we can see a duel between two players; Igor, Musa in the jersey of Hajduk and Bišćan in the jersey of Croatia. The price of the album jumped by two kuna (HRK) compared to the previous edition, while the price of the package increased by half kuna (HRK). On the home page we have a prize game where for sending fifty coupons you could win a Fiat Seicento, a Kymco scooter, a Playstation... The introductory stickers refer to the HNS and HNL emblems and trophies. 

This is followed by a team picture made up of four stickers and emblems for each team in the first league. In this album, this section is separated from the rest of the club stickers, more precisely the players. The next part of the album is player stickers "in play" format. There is a short comment next to each one, so next to Damir Milinović there is a description: "one of the most responsible for last year's success of NK Rijeka".

Next is the most important part of the album, namely the pages dedicated to the clubs. Along with brief information about each of them, we can also see a list of players, then, registered for the first team. They are divided by position. A novelty in this album are the trainer's stickers. The capacity of the first league was reduced to 12 clubs. Croatia's Zagreb coach at the time was legendary Argentinian and world champion from 1978, Osvaldo Ardilles. Certainly an interesting part of this album is the various quizzes, so we have a question for Cibalia: "When did she win a promotion to the 1st league?" The answer is, of course, in the 1981/82 season. during the Former State as Dinamo Vinkovci. The player stickers are different from the first edition. The original background images were used there, while here we have different background colors depending on the club. Among the new competitors we can see Slaven Belupo and Vukovar. At the end of the album, we have fan groups of all the first league teams. It is nice to see Veseli Podravci as fans of the club from Koprivnica. On the back of the album there is an advertisement for Pepsi with the legendary Rivaldo. Ask for more. You needed exactly 400 stickers to fill this album.

NOGOMET 2000/2001

We have reached the third edition, which continues the previous one. Same publisher, Kiosk Distribucija from Rijeka. Prices remain unchanged. On the cover we can also see the inscription No1 collection of stickers. This time, the Renault Twingo was awarded as the first prize. In addition to the emblems of HNS and HNL, the starting images also refer to last year's championship and cup winners. These are Croatia Zagreb and Hajduk. New in this album, and certainly interesting sections, are: "best scorers 1992-2000" and "Top Cro 1990-2000" (players who marked the past ten years of HNL). So we can see the likenesses of Ladić, Gabrić, Bilić, Mlinarić, Mladenović, Soldo, Mumlek... Next comes the "farewells''. The images refer to the two giants of Croatian football and to the bronze medalists from France, Ladić and Bilić. Then follow the details from the first league matches. More than 20 stickers belong to this section. First league clubs come next, which, like the previous two editions, start with Cibalia, with 22 stickers per club. Two stickers form the team photo, then emblem, the coach and the players.

It is interesting to see NK Čakovec, then a participant in the highest level of Croatian football. It is also their only season in the first league, but with this album, so to speak, they are written into eternity. Today it is very difficult to find photos of some of the smaller clubs so this represents a very valuable part of their history.

At the end of the album, one more novelty. Building on past thoughts, also a very valuable part of the history of Croatian football. These are the images of the second division clubs, so we can see: Belišće, Croatia Sesvete, Hrvatski Vitez, Jadran from Poreč, Pik Vrbovec, Pomorac, TŠK, Žminj and others. A total of 18 clubs, each of which is represented by three stickers: emblem and the other two that make up the team photo. Like the previous album, this one also consists of 400 stickers. On the back of the album we have an advertisement for, at the time, very popular sports magazines Košarka and Nogomet (Basketball and Football).

NOGOMET 2005/2006

We had to wait five years for the next album. The publisher is Murano d.o.o. from Strmec Samoborski. The price of the album was HRK 10. It consists of only 252 thumbnails. What makes it possible to conclude that this is the most modest album of the Croatian league. In my opinion, the worst. There are no introductory thumbnails, last season flashbacks or some other sections that we are used to in past editions, some of the player images on the thumbnails are of poor quality.

In the past three editions, we have had nice profile pictures of each player. But it is interesting in a different way. There we can see the first likeness of the best football player in Croatian history, Luka Modrić. Many local and foreign collectors are looking for this sticker. Of course, there are many other, now former, Croatian national team players such as: Ćorluka, Dudu Da Silva, Vukojević, Pletikosa, Kranjčar, Jelavić, Mandžukić and others who marked our football in various ways, and grew in football way along with the collectors born in the 90s and marked our childhood and growing up in some way.

There are a total of 12 clubs in the album. Each club has 21 stickers; emblem, two for the team picture while the rest are players. Among some of the new clubs, we can mention Kamen Ingrad, Međimurje and Pula Staročeško, i.e. Istra, which has changed its name several times throughout history. Let's not forget to mention the big mistake that sneaked up to the publisher.

It is Inter from Zaprešić. Namely, the same picture was used for two stickers. These are the likenesses of Marko Janjetović and Veldin Karić. The picture of Janjetović was used for both, and thus we were deprived of a likeness, an icon, of Karić in the jersey of the first winner of the Croatian Football Cup. This time the main prize was something different. For sending fifty empty packages, you could win a trip to Disneyland. The lucky winners (along with other prizes) were drawn by the legendary captain of Vatreni, Zvonimir Boban.

NOGOMET 2006/2007

The fifth consecutive collection of the first HNL was released next season. Kiosk distribution is back as an album publisher. As we are used to from this publisher, at the beginning we are greeted with stickers of trophies and last season's winners. Dinamo and Rijeka are in question. The team stickers (two form a picture) and the club flag are separated from the players. Cibalia, which at that time was a regular participant in the first league, still holds the first place in the ranking of clubs in the album. In addition to the mentioned three stickers, we have an emblem and twenty players for each club. The background behind the players are, so to speak, illusionary images made of club crests. You should have stick 300 different stickers to fill the album.

For the first time, cards of those same football players could be obtained in packets. They were used for a game called Tekma. As written in the album, there are a total of 128 different cards. We have some basic informations on each card. Of course, the name and surname of the player and the club, but also the position on which he plays, his value and specialty (he shoots penalties well or defends if it is a goalkeeper). You choose a total of 11 cards, arrange your team and compete against your friends. The team that wins in more lines (defense, midfield, attack) wins the match. The first prize was a Citroen C1.

 

NOGOMET 2006/2007 (CARICATURES)

For the end, let's mention another album of the first league. It also appeared in the 2006/07 season. but the stickers are in the form of caricatures. It consists of all 12 first league clubs. It starts with trophy stickers, followed by clubs. Each of them is presented with at least 12 stickers. Emblem plus eleven players. For better, stronger, more famous clubs, whatever you want to say, we have more stickers. Four form the emblem, two the mascot like shark for HNK Rijeka, three are linked with the fans and the reserve players. A total of 244 thumbnails. The publisher is the same as for the album in the 05/06 season. Murano d.o.o., Strmec Samoborski. Two HNL albums in one season, not even the world’s biggest leagues have that =) Joke!

Here we have come to the end. We believe that with Panini, a new era of HNL albums and stickers begins, with the hope that it will last for a long time. I personally have all these albums in my collection, except the caricatures. After a certain break with stickers due to growing up and the opinion that it is for children, and not a high school boy, I returned to the hobby in 2015, already struggling with university exams.

The only albums whose stickers passed through my hands in real time are those from 2005/06. And now some of them are stuck in my football notebooks. A break from college, studying, exams, drawing and other activities, apart from hanging out and going out, I also had in stickers. That's how the site started working, and I returned to collecting stickers. I found out about all these albums through various researches.

At the time, I didn't have any of them in my collection, but through various purchases, half-full albums or whatever, and various exchanges, I got all five. Student days are like that, there wasn't really any money, so parents were also wired for stickers, which of course they didn't know, with a note, I'll pay you back. It's nice to flip through those albums sometimes, to remember the legendary players, but also all the others who in one way or another are inscribed in the eternity of Croatian football, as well as the various small teams that appeared in them. However, that HNL represents a part of my growing up and my first encounters with football. Beginnings of monitoring both on television and through newspapers. Cutting various articles, pictures, details from matches, the match results... Creating some of my own albums and collections - it's all part of childhood, and HNL's albums just bring me back there.

Yes, my dear readers and followers of the site, we haven't heard for a long time, which can be seen from the work of the site. It's not like before. Because of work, and also because I found interest in some other things. When I heard that Panini is coming to Croatia with the album of Croatian championship, I knew it was time for a new story about the history of stickers. But, however, I couldn't find inspiration, I kept putting it off, something was always more important... Until, let's put it this way, a friend, a great collector, but also the main critic of my stories, sent me a message, in the referee added time, with the question: What are we going to do? You're a bit lost to me..." Apparently, the only missing thing was a spark or someone's encouragement to get going. He said "I'm just waking you up a little so you can feel alive again."

That passionate collector in me has revived, at least until i put the last stickers into the new HNL album, the feeling is back - and the result are these letters you just have read =) Thank you for that.

POVIJEST HNL ALBUMA I SLIČICA

 

Dragi sakupljači sličica, draga publiko! Ponovno se čitamo nakon više od dvije i pol godine, a razlog tome je vrlo jednostavan i spektakularan - izlazak novog albuma posvećenog Prvoj hrvatskoj nogometnoj ligi. Nije to bilo kakav album, riječ je o Paninijevom izdanju. Svi znate da je to ono što smo svi čekali jer je riječ o najpoznatijoj izdavačkoj tvrtki sličica koja je s radom krenula davnih 1960-ih, kada su izdali prvi album posvećen talijanskoj Serie A. Kasnije su nastavili s albumima svjetskih i europski nogometnih prvenstava te se također proširili i u mnoge druge države, što nogometnim albumima, što albumima raznih drugih tematika. O širenju Paninija van Italije možete pročitati ekskluzivno na mom blogu, Naime, imao sam prilike razgovarati sa unukom Berta Grunenfeldera, osobom koja je talijansku tvrtku Panini naprije dovela u Švicarsku, a kasnije i u ostale europske države.

Vjerujem da ste svi vijest o novom HNL albumu dočekali s velikim veseljem! Nekima je to još jedna kolekcija, nekima će to biti prvi susret sa sličicama, no kako god - Panini dolazi u Hrvatsku i to s albumom hrvatskog nogometnog prvenstva. Wow. Konačno smo i to dočekali. To je stvarno velika stvar! Sada ćete imati prilike skupljati sličice svojih klubova, naravno ako se natječu u najvećem rangu, kao i idole i legende istih. Livaja, Petković, Pjaca, Banić, Mierez, Leovac, Brodić, Mioč, Erceg i Tomečak, su samo neki od zvijezda koje ćete moći pronaći u paketićima i zalijepiti u Vaše albume. Velike zasluge za to idu i Promax Pictures, distributeru Panini Supersport HNL sličica i jednome od glavnih pokretača cijele ove priče, što se spomenulo i davne 2021.u podcastu Imam Imam Nemam.

U uvodnom dijelu ove priče ćemo se vratiti u prošlost te spomenuti albume nogometne tematike i sa područja Bivše države. Prvi takvi albumi su izašli početkom 1930-ih, dakle prije skoro sto godina. Albumi su, s prekidima, izlazili sve do raspada Jugoslavije, početkom 90-ih. Najpoznatiji od njih su svakako „Fudbaleri i timovi”, kao i nekoliko izdanja albuma “Fudbal” koji su izašli u zadnjim sezonama cjelokupne jugoslavenske lige.  

Treba napomenuti kako je ovo prvo Panini ligaško izdanje na našim prostorima. To je zanimljivo zbog lige bivše države Jugoslavije, iako su Dečje Novine imale pravo štampanja Panini licenciranih kolekcija, no prvenstvo bivše države im ipak Panini nije nikada radio. Da se to dogodilo, to ne bi bilo ništa čudno jer su u to vrijeme izlazili Panini albumi raznih drugih nogometnih liga poput belgijske, francuske, nizozemske, nemačke te švicarske. Također Panini je imao, za neke još uvijek i ima, licencu za izdavanje pojedinačnih klubova sa ovih prostora unutar FIFA 365 albuma. To su dva slovenska i dva srpska kluba: Olimpija i Maribor te Partizan i Crvena Zvezda. Očito nikada nije došlo do ideje odnosno realizacije izdavanja albuma cjelokupnih prvenstava tih država.

Prije no što krenem na albume prijašnjih HNL albuma, valja spomenuti i posebne kolekcije, izdane za određene hrvatske klubove. To su naravno: Hajduk, Dinamo, Rijeka i Osijek. Lokalni odnosno naši izdavači su u pitanju. Hajduk i Rijeka imaju po četiri zasebna albuma, Dinamo dva, dok Osijek ima samo jednog, što je ujedno i zadnji album koji je izašao. Sadržaj tih albuma je uglavnom povijesni tj. sličice prikazuju povijesne trenutke tih klubova od legendarnih igrača i trenera, najvećih uspjeha… Dio albuma se odnosi i na sličice aktualnih nogometaša u vrijeme izlaska tih istih albuma. Rijeka je primjerice izdala album o povijesnom i za sada jedinom naslovu prvaka iz 2017. Svi oni datiraju od 1999. pa do 2022. kada je izašla kolekcija posvećena NK Osijeku.

NOGOMET '97

Pa krenimo redom. Ukupno je izašlo pet albuma posvećenih najvećem rangu hrvatskog nogometa. Prvi od njih izlazi u svibnju 1997. godine te se odnosi na sezonu 1996/97. prve HNL. Izdavač je GSG izdanja za mlade. Cijene koje stoje na naslovnici se danas čine nerealnima. Za album ste trebali izdvojiti samo 6 kuna, dok je pojedini paketić koštao 2 kune. Prije samih sličica nam stoji riječ izdavača. U uvodnom nam dijelu izdavač govori kako su albumom željeli doprinijeti popularizaciji nogometa u Hrvatskoj. Možemo zaključiti da im to i nije pošlo za rukom, barem ne u onoj mjeri u kojoj su, vjerojatno, oni to željeli. Ipak, to je prvi album HNL i danas on ima posebno mjesto u kolekciji sakupljača sličica.

Iako je danas cijenjen, u to doba nije bio i posljedica je ta da smo na sljedeći album čekali čak tri sezone.

Izdavač nam je još i napisao nešto o samoj koncepciji albuma. „Svaki klub 1. A lige predstavljen je na sljedeći način. Osim zajedničke slike ekipe predstavljeno je i 16 igrača po odabiru izdavača te se uz svaku ekipu objavljuje i grb, te slika navijačke skupine. Za svaki klub smo naveli nekoliko osnovnih podataka o njegovom osnivanju, stadionu, boji majica…“ Za kraj su zaključili: „Nadamo se da će objavljivanje albuma sa samoljepljivim sličicama hrvatskih nogometaša postati tradicija te da će i buduće generacije uživati u sakupljanju sličica hrvatskih nogometnih asova.“

Od želje za tradicijom smo došli do svega pet izdanih albuma. No vratimo se samom albumu. Uvodne sličice se odnose na reprezentaciju. Osim grba i reprezentativaca imamo i lijepu timsku sliku reprezentacije podno stijena Kantride koju ukupno tvori šest sličica. Nakon toga dolaze klubovi. Tadašnja 1. A liga je ukupno brojila 16 sudionika. Klubovi su prezentirani na već spomenuti način. Ukupno 20 sličica za svaki klub. Danas su neki od njih niželigaši, raspali su se ili su preoblikovanjem i promjenom imena nastavili rad svojih prethodnika. Pa tako u albumu možemo vidjeti: Cibaliju, Croatiju Zagreb, Hrvatski Dragovoljac, Inker, Marsoniju, Mladost 127., Orijent, Segestu, Šibenik, Varteks, Zadarkomerc i Zagreb. Mjesto u tim klubovima su našle i neke od budućih legendi hrvatskog nogometa. Tu su na primjer Ivica Olić u dresu Marsonije, zatim Davor Vugrinec u dresu Varteksa, Krpan u dresu Osijeka, u dresu Dragovoljca Boris Živković, stoperski par Tudor i Šimić, prvi u dresu splitskih Bilih odnosno Šimić, u dresu ondašnje Croatije… Ukupno 340 sličica. Za kraj možemo vidjeti i veliku nagradnu igru gdje ste za poslanih 50 praznih paketića mogli osvojiti Fiat Uno.

Po mojem skromnom mišljenju vrlo lijepo dizajniran album s obzirom na to da je bio prvi.

NOGOMET 1999/2000

Sljedeći album posvećen hrvatskom nogometu je u sezoni 1999/00, pod nazivom Nogomet klubovi 1. HNL 1999/2000. Izdavač je Kiosk distribucija.

Na naslovnici možemo vidjeti duel dvojice igrača; Igora, Muse u dresu Hajduka te Bišćana u dresu Croatije. Cijena albuma je skočila za dvije kune u odnosu na prethodno izdanje, dok se cijena paketića povećala za pedeset lipa. Na početnim stranicama imamo nagradu igru gdje za poslanih pedeset kupona možete osvojiti Fiat Seicento, skuter Kymco, Playstation… Uvodne sličice se odnose na grbove HNS-a i HNL-a te trofeje.

Nakon toga slijede timska slika sastavljena od četiri sličice te grb za pojedinu momčad prve lige. Ova sekcija je u ovom albumu odvojena od ostatka klupskih sličica točnije igrača. Sljedeći dio albuma su igrači „u pokretu”. Uz svakog stoji i kratak komentar pa tako uz Damira Milinovića stoji opis: „jedan od najzaslužnijih za prošlogodišnji uspjeh Riječana”. 

Na red je došao i najbitniji dio albuma, a to su stranice posvećene klubovima. Uz kratke informacije o svakome od njih možemo vidjeti i popis igrača, tada, registriranih za prvu momčad. Podijeljeni su po pozicijama. Novitet u ovom albumu su i sličice trenera. Kapacitet prve lige je smanjen na 12 klubova. Trener Croatije je tada bio legendarni Argentinac i svjetski prvak iz 1978. Osvaldo Ardilles. Svakako zanimljiv dio ovog albuma su i razni kvizovi odnosno pitalice pa tako za Cibaliju imamo pitanje: „Kada je izborila mjesto u 1. ligi?“ Odgovor je, naravno, u sezoni 1981/82. za vrijeme Bivše Države kao Dinamo Vinkovci. Sličice igrača se razlikuju u odnosu na prvo izdanje. Tamo su korištene originalne slike sa pozadinom dok tu imamo razne pozadinske boje ovisno o klubu. Od novih natjecatelja možemo vidjeti Slaven Belupo i Vukovar. Za kraj albuma imamo navijačke skupine svih prvoligaša. Simpatično je vidjeti Vesele Podravce kao fanove kluba iz Koprivnice. Na poleđini albuma se nalazi reklama za Pepsi sa legendarnim Rivaldom. Ask for more ili u prijevodu traži više. Za popunu ovog albuma Vam je trebalo ravno 400 sličica.

NOGOMET 2000/2001

Došli smo i do trećeg izdanja koje se nastavlja na prethodno. Izdavač je isti, Kiosk Distribucija iz Rijeke. Cijene ostaju nepromijenjene. Na naslovnici možemo vidjeti i natpis No1 kolekcija sličica. Ovog puta za prvu nagradu se dijelio Renault Twingo. Početne sličice se, osim grbova HNS-a i HNL-a, odnose i na prošlogodišnje osvajače prvenstva i kupa. To su Croatia i Hajduk. Novitet u ovom album, a svakako i zanimljive sekcije, su: „najbolji strijelci 1992-2000” i „Top Cro 1990-2000” (igrači koji su obilježili proteklih deset godina HNL-a). Pa tako možemo vidjeti sličice Ladića, Gabrića, Bilića, Mlinarića, Mladenovića, Soldu, Mumleka… Na red dolaze „oproštaji”. Sličice se odnose na dva velikana hrvatskog nogometa i na brončane iz Francuske, Ladić i Bilić. Zatim slijede detalji sa prvoligaških utakmica. Više od 20 sličica pripadaju ovoj sekciji. Na red dolaze klubovi prve lige koji, kao i prethodna dva izdanja, počinju sa Cibalijom, sa 22 sličice po klubu. Dvije sličice tvore timsku fotografiju, zatim grb, trener i igrači.

Zanimljivo je vidjeti NK Čakovec, tada sudionik najvećeg ranga hrvatskog nogometa. To je ujedno i njihova jedina sezona u prvoj ligi, ali su ovime albumom, da tako kažemo, upisani u vječnost. Danas je jako teško pronaći fotografije nekih manjih klubova tako da ovo predstavlja vrlo vrijedan dio njihove povijesti.

Za kraj albuma još jedan novitet. Nadovezujući se na prošle misli također vrlo vrijedan dio povijesti hrvatskog nogometa. To su sličice drugoligaških klubova pa tako možemo vidjeti: Belišće, Croatiju Sesvete, Hrvatski Vitez, Jadran iz Poreča, Pik Vrbovec, Pomorac, TŠK, Žminj i ostale. Ukupno 18 klubova od kojih je svaki predstavljen s tri sličice: grb te ostale dvije koje sačinjavaju timsku fotografiju. Kao i prethodni album i ovaj se sastoji od 400 sličica. Na poleđini albuma imamo reklamu za, ono vrijeme, vrlo popularne sportske časopise Košarka i Nogomet.

NOGOMET 2005/2006

Na sljedeći album smo trebali čekati čak pet godina. Izdavač je Murano d.o.o. iz Strmeca Samoborskog. Cijena albuma je bila 10 kuna. Sastoji se samo od 252 sličice. Po čemu se da zaključiti da je ovo najskromniji album hrvatske lige. Po mom mišljenju i najlošiji. Nema uvodnih sličica, osvrta na prošlu sezonu ili nekih drugih sekcija na koje smo navikli u prošlim izdanjima, neke slike igrača na sličicama su loše kvalitete.

U dosadašnja tri izdanja smo imali lijepe profilne slike svakog igrača. No zanimljiv je na drugačiji način. Tu možemo vidjeti prvu sličicu najboljeg nogometaša u hrvatskoj povijesti, Luke Modrića. Tu sličicu traže mnogi naši, ali i strani sakupljači. Naravno ima i mnoge druge, sada već bivše, hrvatske reprezentativce poput: Ćorluke, Dudua Da Silve, Vukojevića, Pletikose, Kranjčara, Jelavića, Mandžukića i ostalih koji su na razne načine obilježili naš nogomet, te su nogometno rasli zajedno sa sakupljačima rođenima 90-ih i obilježili naše djetinjstvo i odrastanje na neki način.

U albumu je ukupno 12 klubova. Svaki klub ima 21 sličicu; grb, dvije za timsku sliku dok ostatak čine igrači. Od nekih novih klubova možemo spomenuti Kamen Ingrad, Međimurje te Pula Staročeško odnosno Istra koja je kroz povijest više puta mijenjala ime. Ne zaboravimo spomenuti veliku grešku koja se potkrala izdavaču.

U pitanju je Inter iz Zaprešića. Naime ista slika je iskorištena za dvije sličice. U pitanju su sličice Marka Janjetovića i Veldina Karića. Slika Janjetovića je korištena za obje te smo time ostali zakinuti za sličicu, ikone, Karića u dresu prvog osvajača hrvatskog nogometnog kupa. Ovog puta nešto drugačija je bila glavna nagrada. Za poslanih pedeset praznih paketića mogli ste osvojiti put u Disneyland. Sretne dobitnike (uz ostale nagrade) je izvlačio legendarni kapetan Vatrenih, Zvonimir Boban.

NOGOMET 2006/2007

Iduće sezone izlazi peta po redu kolekcija prve HNL. Ponovno se Kiosk distribucija vraća kao izdavač albuma. Kao što smo i navikli od ovog izdavača, na početku nas očekuju sličice trofeja te prošlosezonski osvajači istih. Dinamo i Rijeka su u pitanju. Timske sličice (dvije tvore sliku) te klupska zastava su odvojene od igrača. Cibalia, koja je u to vrijeme bila redoviti sudionik prve lige, i dalje drži prvo mjesto u poretku klubova u albumu. Osim spomenute tri sličice, za svaki klub imamo grb i dvadeset igrača. Pozadina iza igrača su, da tako kažem, iluzijske slike napravljene od klupskih grbova. Za popunu albuma ste trebali zalijepiti 300 različitih sličica.

Po prvi puta su se u paketićima mogle dobiti i kartice tih istih nogometaša. Služile su za igru pod nazivom Tekma. Kako piše u albumu ukupno 128 različitih kartica. Na svakoj kartici imamo neke osnovne oznake. Naravno, ime i prezime igrača te klub, ali i pozicija na kojoj igra, njegovu vrijednost te specijalnost (dobro puca penale odnosno brani ako je u pitanju golman). Ukupno birate 11 kartica, slažete svoju momčad i natječete se protiv svojih prijatelja. Čija momčad pobijedi u više linija (obrana, veza, napad) dobiva utakmicu. Prva nagrada je bila Citroen C1.

NOGOMET 2006/2007 (KARIKATURE)

Za kraj spomenimo još jedan album prve lige. Izašao je, također, u sezoni 2006./07. ali su sličice u obliku karikatura. Sastoji se od svih 12 prvoligaša. Započinje sličicama pehara nakon kojih na red dolaze klubovi. Svaki od njih je prezentiran je s najmanje 12 sličica. Grb plus jedanaest igrača. Za bolje, jače, poznatije, kako god se izrazili, klubove imamo više sličica. Četiri tvore grb, dvije maskotu poput morskog psa za Rijeku, tri koje se dotiču navijača te rezervne igrače. Ukupno 244 sličice. Izdavač je isti kao i za album u sezoni 05/06. Murano d.o.o., Strmec Samoborski. Dva HNL albuma u jednoj sezoni, toga nema ni u najvećim svjetskim ligama =) Šala!

Eto došli smo i do kraja. Vjerujemo da s Paninijem započinje neka nova era HNL albuma i sličica uz nadu da to potraje što duže. Osobno imam sve ove albume u kolekciji, izuzev karikatura. Nakon određene pauze sa sličicama zbog odrastanja i mišljenja da je to za djecu, a ne jednog srednjoškolca, hobiju sam se vratio 2015. godine tada već u teškoj borbi s ispitima na fakultetu.

Jedini album čije su mi sličice prolazile kroz ruke u realnom vremenu su one iz 2005/06. I sada neke od njih stoje zalijepljene u mojim nogometnim bilježnicama. Odmor od fakulteta, učenja, ispita, crtanja te ostalih aktivnosti, sam, osim u druženjima i izlascima, tražio i u sličicama. Tako je s radom krenula i stranica, a i vratio sam se kolekcionarstvu sličica. Kroz razna istraživanja sam saznao za sve ove albume.

Tada ni jedan od njih nisam imao u kolekciji, ali sam kroz razne kupovine, što polupunih albuma ili što već, te sam raznim zamjenama došao do svih pet. Studentski dani su takvi, nije baš bilo novaca, tako da se i roditelje žicalo za sličice, što naravno oni nisu znali, uz napomenu, vratit ću Vam. Lijepo je te albume ponekad prelistati, prisjetiti se legendarnih igrača, ali i svih ostalih koji su na ovaj ili onaj način upisani u vječnost hrvatskog nogometa, zatim razne male momčadi koje su se pojavljivale u istima. Ipak taj HNL predstavlja dio moje mladosti i prve susrete s nogometom. Počeci praćenja kako na televiziji, tako i preko novina. Rezanje raznih članaka, slika, detalja s utakmica, rezultate istih... Stvaranje nekih svojih albuma i kolekcija – sve je to dio djetinjstva, a albumi HNL-a me upravo vraćaju tamo.

Da, dragi moji čitatelji i pratitelji stranice nismo se dugo čuli, što se može vidjeti i po radu stranice. Nije više kao prije. Što zbog posla, a i zbog toga što sam zanimaciju pronašao u nekim drugim stvarima. Kada sam čuo da Panini dolazi u Hrvatsku s albumom našeg prvenstva, znao sam da je vrijeme za novu priču o povijesti sličica. No, međutim, nisam nalazio inspiraciju, stalno sam to odgađao, uvijek je nešto bilo bitnije.. Sve dok se, recimo to tako, u sudačkoj nadoknadi nije javio prijatelj, veliki kolekcionar, ali i glavni kritičar ovih mojih priča s pitanjem: Što ćemo? Izgubio se ti meni…“ Očito je samo falila iskra ili nečiji poticaj da se krene. Rekao bi on „samo te budim malo da se osjetiš živim.“

Onaj strastveni kolekcionar u meni je oživio, barem dok se ne zalijepi posljednja sličica u novi HNL album, osjećaj se vratio – a rezultat su ova slova koja ste upravo pročitali =) Hvala vam na tome!