The perils of collecting football stickers in late 80s West Germany

When I was growing up my father was in the military, therefore we moved around quite a lot. In the late 80s we lived in Germany and I went to a forces school alongside other British kids. As we lived in a long forgotten era before the internet we were starved of any sort of British culture (including football). Many of the kids supported the obvious teams that most children of the 80s did: Liverpool, Spurs, Everton, Manchester United etc. but there were a few who had followed their dads in support of  a lower league side from their father. One unfortunate lad picked a side from a Panini album he had brought home from a trip back to England at random; he chose Celtic (he wasn’t even Scottish and I sometimes wonder whether he’s continued supporting them to this day.

In 1988 West Germany hosted the European Championships, and as part of the promotion of the tournament Kinder (a German brand of chocolate) were giving away a free football sticker with every bar. Each sticker depicted a member of West Germany’s Euro 88 squad. In all honesty most of us weren’t really interested in German football, but the opportunity to collect something couldn’t be spurned so we began accumulating Jurgen Kohlers and Rudi Vollers in order to complete the “set”. One lunchtime one of my friends opened up a Kinder bar, and on finding a sticker his eyes lit up. “I’ve got Ian Botham!” he yelled with delight. Unfortunately for him his joy was short-lived, instead of experiencing a delightful slice of Britain, a beautiful memory of home: a sticker of England all-rounder Ian Botham, he had instead a sticker of West German midfielder Olaf Thon (written O.THON on the sticker).

Ian Botham? It's understandable I suppose.