Calciatori 2021 celebrates 60 years of Panini with a wonderful collection revisiting the history of Calciatori albums since the first edition in 1961/62. On the cover, there is the symbolic Carlo Parola's bycicle kick that became the Panini's logo. In the background, there are the Italian flag colours and the "60" + "infinity" symbols intertwined. Also this year, the album was released in a marvelous hardcover version with slipcase. The collection has a similar layout of the recent albums, with additional sections and stickers about the Calciatori history.
The album starts with an introductory page including four shiny stickers: Serie A logo and the trophies (Serie A, Italian Cup, Super Cup). Then all the 60 covers of the Calciatori series are shown over four pages. Each album cover is half shiny sticker, with a total of 30 stickers in this section. The album continues with the 20 Serie A clubs shown in alphabetical order, with 27 stickers over four pages. On the first two pages there are the shiny club badge sticker and 22 player stickers. In the following two pages there are four more stickers: the home shirt (fabric sticker), the coach, the team photo, and "la più amata". The latter is a sticker of the most voted player of the past and it can be found in the update set released in the spring 2021.
After the Serie A clubs, the album continues with some special sections. "Most Valuable Players" includes the 9 best players of the month, from September 2020 to May 2020. These stickers can be found with three special releases in the newspaper "Gazzetta dello Sport" together with the stickers of the Film del Campionato. "Top Team Panini 60" includes 23 stickers of the most remarkable Calciatori stickers voted by the collectors. These stickers are included in the update set. In this section there is also the TIM sticker, which shows the Calciatori 2021 cover; this can be found in TIM stores or ordered from the Panini webshop. "Calciomercato" is the usual section with new player stickers from the winter market. These 48 stickers are released in the update set. "Il Film del Campionato" is another usual section with the story of the 2020/21 Serie A told by 20 stickers. The first five stickers can be found in regular packets, whereas the others in three special packets released during the season. "Nazionale Cantanti" is the most controversial section of this album. It includes 22 stickers of old and young Italian singers that are part of the Nazionale Cantanti, a football team that organizes events for charity.
The last part of the album shows three more Italian leagues: the Women's Serie A, the Serie B, and the Serie C. The women's league (Serie A femminile) includes the team photo stickers of the 12 competing clubs. The Serie B section shows the 20 clubs in alphabetical order with a total of 8 stickers per club: the shiny badge, the team photo and six stickers of players (three players on one sticker). The last section with stickers of this collection is the Serie C, which features the club badge stickers of the 60 competing clubs divided in three groups. Each sticker includes four badges.
Even though the tournament was played behind closed doors, it was an exciting season for Inter that became Serie A champions after totalizing 91 points in 38 games, with 41 goals of the strikers Lukaku and Lautaro.
The slipcase with the hardcover album Calciatori 2021
Inter fantastic duo: Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku. They scored 41 goals together
The legend and the rising star: C.Ronaldo scored 29 goals in the 2021/22 Serie A (top scorer), whereas the 21 years old Vlahovic scored 21 goals (4th place)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was elected best player of October 2020
Home shirt are special fabric stickers
The two Maradona's stickers from this collection are the Calciatori 1984/85 and 1986/87
Stickers celebrating the Serie A winners (Inter) and Serie B winners (Empoli)
Album details:
Full name: Calciatori 2021
Publisher: Panini
Release: December 2020
League: Italian (Serie A, Serie B, Serie C, Serie A Femminile)
Season: 2020/2021
Number of clubs and stickers per club:
- Serie A: 20 clubs, 27 stickers
- Serie B: 20 clubs: 8 stickers
- Serie C: 60 clubs, 0.25 stickers
- Serie A Femminile: 12 clubs, 1 sticker
Other sections:
- Introduction (4 stickers)
- Calciatori 60 (30 stickers)
- Nazionale Cantanti (22 stickers)
- Most Valuable Players (9 stickers: MVP1- MVP9)
- Top Team Panini (24 stickers: X1-X23 + TIM sticker)
- Calciomercato (48 stickers: M1 - M48)
- Il Film del Campionato (20 stickers, C1-C20)
Updates:
- Update set (M1-M48, X1-X23, P1-P20), one release in March 2021
- Film del Campionato (C6-C20), three packets
Extra: "Gommaglie" (pencil erasers G1-G20, not stickers)
Hardcover album: Yes
Total number of stickers: 864
