A Q&A session in London with former England player Joe Cole heralded the launch of the new Topps collection.

Joe Cole and Jacqui Oatley chat all things football at the official Topps Q&A session and UEFA Euro 2024 Sticker Collection launch

Just before the Easter weekend, Toy World joined a select group of hand-picked sports journalists at the prestigious Ivy restaurant in London to witness a Q&A session with former England player Joe Cole, to promote the launch of the first ever Official UEFA Euro 2024 Sticker Collection from Topps. The collection comprises more than 700 stickers, including all the teams at the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, featuring players to watch, star players, captain and artist holofoil stickers, as well as famous legends from previous UEFA Euro competitions and rare stickers.

Interviewed by Sky Sports commentator Jacqui Oatley, Joe Cole admitted to being an avid football sticker collector in his youth, telling the audience: “You are not a football fan unless you collect stickers. There is a real nostalgia about them, it’s an essential part of growing up. It taps into our psyche as fans – we love football and we love collecting.”

Asked how he felt when he first saw himself on a football sticker, Joe described it as “an incredible moment”, and says he has been asked numerous times by fans to sign their stickers of him.

Fielding questions from Jacqui Oatley as well as gathered journalists including Toy World’s John Baulch, Joe defended Gareth Southgate and told attendees he believes England has what it takes to ‘go all the way’ in the Euros

Turning attention to the 2024 UEFA Euro tournament, Joe was bullish about England’s chances of success: “We have as good a chance as we have ever had to win the Euros…we just need a little bit of luck. We’ve had so much bad luck over the years, so many near misses – now we have the technicians, and an abundance of attacking talent, we could finally be in a position to go all the way.”

Pressed by Jacqui Oatley on whether the current manager has what it takes to take England to the final of a major tournament, Joe robustly defended Gareth Southgate and his record, but conceded that “we need to play on the front foot” (not, it has to be said, Gareth Southgate’s traditional modus operandum). Joe cited France and Germany as our main competition for the title, and also said he expects Jude Bellingham to be one of the players of the tournament. He closed by saying that he believes Gareth Southgate will move on after the Euros, regardless of whether England wins or loses (so there is hope yet…), and caused plenty of post-session debate when he suggested the next manager “has to be English.”

All in all, it was a fascinating session, and journalists left with lots of interesting quotes, as well as plenty of stickers to give to young relatives to start their own collections.