Watch “What APBA Football cards work with what results charts? The complete #apbafootball story 1957 to now,” a how-to-play guide on BoardGameVideo.
Description provided by APBA Football Club on YouTube:
Our take on "definitively" answering the question: Do such-and-such year APBA Football cards work with such-and-such year boards/books/charts?
The eras of APBA Football breakdown as follows (years refer primarily to the season of the set, not the copyright date, which is a year afterward but not officially listed on the player cards until the original 1984 season set):
1958 (9:08): Game introduced with 1957 season set and called 1959 edition). These boards work with the 1957 to 1964 season sets.
18:24: 1964 original game boards and cards
1965-1971 (23:39): Major revamp of game in mid-1960s. Correction sheets issued for all QBs in 1965 season sets (and some runners' cards apparently corrected as well).
29:54: Two sets of 1970 original game boards and cards
1972-1981 (35:37): These card sets and boards feature codes to allocate receptions and interceptions, refine special teams returns with better use of P and K columns, and remove the A-B-C index requirement for special teams results. They also expand the field goal range to 50-56 yards and give long-range kickers asterisks to attempt those (with the kicking rule change of 1974, APBA introduced a small sheet of paper to advise players how to calculate results for the extended field goal range with the goalposts at the back of the end zone).
35:54: World Champion 10-team set with last pre-master results revisions
50:00: 1979 vs. 1982 games illustrate transition to the master game
1982-1993: The "master" game is introduced with the 1982 season set (copyright 1983), greatly expanding available results; adding medium and screen passes and the draw play; adding an audible option (used by the offensive coach once per quarter) and the trick play (available once per half). Most play results broken down to occur in the first/third quarter and second/fourth quarter. Twenty rare play charts added. Scramble results 26 and 27 added to QB play columns. V ratings added to defender cards (V: pass/run ability). The K result is added to the R columns of players who had breakaway runs from scrimmage on offense starting with the 1992 season set.
1:09:39 Original 1993 master game and cards (last before the "basic" game introduction).
1994-1997 (1:22:23): "Basic" game introduced. The "master" game is stripped down, with the screen, draw, trick and audible removed and the two columns of results per play averaged down to one column. Expanded fumble, interception and blocked kick results charts removed, with player allocations for those results returning directly to the results charts as per the original game (1957 to 1981 seasons). All these cards still work with the "master" boards as well. Game boxes redesigned with photo of Steelers and Browns on cover.
1998: This season set was first created exclusively by fans and released in 1999 issues of the APBA Journal. The company has since released an official, recalculated set.
Buy the current 1998 NFL season set here: https://apba.stores.yahoo.net/19fose13.html)
1999 (1:35:22): The 1999 season set was issued as the 2000 edition in a redesigned green box with team names on front and stylized image of Brett Favre. Results are same as on 1994 to 1997 charts, now in a spiral bound book. APBA also releases a Pro Bowl set with single run and pass charts that only works with a special set of Pro Bowl player cards. A third "all stars" game is released for younger players.
2000-2011: V ratings added to offensive player cards. Cards originally sold in this period vary in that some might have blank backs and have square corners from being sold unperforated.
2006: Kicking results expanded with results 37 to 42; result 37 allows the 66-yard-field goal
2008 (1:41:12): Basic and master game books revamped/redesigned. The "basic" features the stripped down results from the 1994-97 season games, while the master game returns all elements of the original — with the exception that play results are now organized by first/fourth quarter and second/third quarter.
1:46:16 2013 copyright basic and 2020 copyright master results books: