Cleveland Petrols
Cleveland Petrols (from www.petrolmaps.co.uk) were marketed by an independent company based in North East England. The name comes from the Cleveland Hills, not from Cleveland, Ohio. In the 1930s, this company was acquired by the Anglo-American Oil Co (Esso), but the Cleveland name was retained, largely as the subsidiary marketed a benzole blend and an alcohol mixture called Discol. In 1973, Esso chose to end the Cleveland brand and gave up selling benzole or alcohol blends. Cleveland’s 2,000 filling stations were soon switched to the Esso brand. They produced two different types of football memorabilia, both of which are well remembered.
1971/72
Joe Mercer’s Great Britain Soccer Squad 1971
Busts of 16 top players available from Cleveland Petrol outlets. As with most petrol giveaways you got these for buying petrol. The collection fitted into a black plastic display stand. The heads themselves are made of a very tough plastic but the stand is less durable. These ‘heads’ were very popular at the time, so you do find them still available in good condition, but excellent quality stands are hard to find.
Number in set: 16
Gallery: Set gallery
1972/73
Golden Goals
Cleveland produced this series of 20 sticker sheets which were obtained from petrol stations each time you bought 3 gallons or £1 worth of petrol. Some of the sticker sheets had a single image, while others had multiple. The stickers could be stuck into a hardback album which was obtainable for only 20p.
The checklist below lists the 20 sticker sheets, which include 41 different numbered stickers.
Number in set: 41 stickers on 20 sticker sheets
Gallery: N/A
Checklist: Set checklist