World Cup - Graeme Bandeira: Snapping up the stars for £130

At an approximate cost of £130 I completed my Panini World Cup sticker album, ignoring the scurrilious stories that it would cost £773.60 to fill the book.

Now I can recline, beer in hand, safe in the knowledge that every space has been filled and I can enjoy as much football as is mentally and physically possible!

It’s no mean feat filling an album but to do it in double-quick time – just over two months, despite an outrageous price hike – feels a bit like knocking out the Germans on penalties.

This year I covered all bases... I went halves on a box, totalling 50 packets, and quickly established a network of colleagues to swap with. This, combined with purchasing several packets when filling up the car and doing the weekly shop, meant things quickly started to take shape much like the great Brazil team at the Mexico World Cup in 1970.

Some adults are too ashamed to admit they collect stickers – “I’m buying them for my son” – not this fella, soon to be 44 on the day England thrash Panama six nil in Nizhny Novgorod.

I also share my birthday with Lionel Messi. Now there’s no valid reason for me to mention that but I like to and it’s strangely comforting.

Maybe he will read this and decide to send me a card and we can be best mates. I can tell you where I was when I got Messi for this year’s sticker book. I was in the queue in Sainsbury’s cafe and yelled out “get in there son” cue lots of strange looks.

You can’t beat that feeling of opening a packet – the anticipation that takes you right back to your childhood.

Even better when you get the whole family involved. I set up a production line of military-style precision... my kids open the packets, my girlfriend sorts the stickers into team order and I stick.

Everybody’s happy fulfilling their roles, much like a team destined for World Cup glory.

During World Cup year, there are two dates to bear in mind – the first game and the official release of the sticker album.

I have collected World Cup stickers since Espana 1982 and have filled every book since. I remember Naranjto, the little orange mascot, the roofless stadiums in the baking Spanish heat, the wonderful array of kits, haircuts and frightening facial hair. I was a wide-eyed eight-year-old sprinting home from school to witness England beating France and Bryan Robson scoring after 27 seconds. He was my first footballing idol and later came along Diego Maradona, Socrates, Zico and Paolo Rossi. What’s not to like? The rest is history.

Countless World Cups later, what’s changed? Nothing. The format is the same. Each team has a dedicated double-page spread featuring individual pen pics, a full team shot and aesthetically pleasing foil badges. The stadiums are still in there and a section featuring teams and legends from yesteryear. It’s as familiar as England going out on penalties yet we still come back for more.

I defy anyone to find me a sticker book that doesn’t feature a player that resembles a serial killer, one who sports a handlebar moustache, a Waddle-style mullet, a gaze that resembles someone who has left the gas on at home or one who looks like a ventriloquist’s dummy. The beautiful game indeed.