Football Shirt

The growth in the market for vintage football tops connected to popular players continues apace

A Tennis Match at Manchester is a very rare print marking one of the first British tennis tournaments.

While the achievement of Manchester City players in winning three titles in consecutive seasons – with a treble – is certainly admirable, spare a thought for Tom Wilson, a footballer of a much earlier era.

In one way, Johnny Berry (1926-94) was luckier than many of Manchester United’s Busby Babes: he survived the Munich air disaster on February 6, 1958, that killed many of his teammates.

This jersey dates from between 1886 and 1890, making it not just the oldest Middlesbrough FC shirt but possibly the oldest Football League shirt extant.

The soaring demand for sport memorabilia is evident from the result for the shirt of a player who did not even make it on to the pitch for a famous game.

A hat-trick of six-figure prices was achieved for England 1966 World Cup hero Alan Ball’s (1945-2007) winner’s medal, cup final shirt and World Cup cap.

A happy football fan in Texas – quite possibly with Caledonian roots – is now the proud owner of the first jersey to come to auction from Rangers’ 1972 European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph over Dynamo Moscow.

In its catalogue notes for the July 22 Scottish Greats: Football, Golf, Fishing and more sale, McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium) was careful to say regarding a football shirt on offer that it could give no guarantee it was exactly as billed.

Long before Mirandinha, Faustino Asprilla and Nolberto Solano graced the hallowed turf of Newcastle United’s St James’ Park, two brothers paved the way for South American footballers to play professionally in England.

One of the earliest items of football memorabilia to appear at auction emerged at Bonhams in Knightsbridge: an England international goalkeeper shirt from 1879.

Arsenal FC’s familiar red jersey with white arms is instantly recognisable to football fans worldwide now. However, a pair of shirts sold at the Graham Budd (20.5% buyer’s premium) December 1-2 auction in London show an earlier look.

Derbyshire auction house Hansons (25% buyer’s premium) sold memorabilia this summer worn by two Manchester United favourites of different eras: George Best and David Beckham.

Maurice Setters (1936-2020) is perhaps best known to many football fans as the assistant to Jack Charlton as Republic of Ireland enjoyed success in the 1980s-90s.

The FA Cup proved a happy hunting ground for Norman Whiteside in his playing days and at auction many years later the competition was still proving to be a big winner for him.

With tripartite appeal to football fans of England, Wales and – most importantly as it turned out – of Millwall FC, a historic shirt was a winner at Hansons’ ( 20% buyer’s premium) sporting sale.