Sporting Collectables

I came across an interesting article in the Times today. It starts out by saying "He spends most of his professional life scouring antique shops for £20 curios to sell at auction and plays as a humble wicketkeeper in the seventh division of the Wiltshire County League."  For my American readers let me tell you that a wicketkeeper is the man that stands behind the batsman, a bit like the catcher in baseball. . .and that's as much as I'm going to say about cricket!. You can read the rest of the article HERE.

The football season is just kicking off – that's soccer to those of you in America – and there's a sale of football memorabilia at Sporting Memorys at the Coleshill Hotel in Coleshill, North Warwickshire.  Among the star lots is this FA Cup Semi-Final programme from the 1919/1920 season. The game was between Bristol City And Huddersfield Town, Played at Chelsea on 27/03/1920 the programme Is worn but has been professionally repaired. It is expected to go for between £2000 and £3000. Huddersfield beat Bristol City by 2 goals to one and went on to win and then lost in the final to Aston Villa. Every single player at that cup final was English, not a Scot, a Welshman or an Irishman in sight.

You may be wondering how I know all this. . .try living in a house with two men who love football! Oh yes, and a dog named Fred.

I’m not a football fan but I am fascinated by the prices that memorabilia associated with the beautiful game can reach. On July 13 there’s a sale at Stevenage Borough Football Club’s ground run by Football Sports Auctions Ltd that has some fascinating lots. Among them is this programme for a game between England and Wales from 1901 that is expected to reach between £6,000 and £8,000.

England won this match 6-0 and among the Welsh team was the great Billy Meredith who was playing for Manchester City at the time. The ‘Welsh Wizard’, is the only player to have crossed the great Manchester divide from City to United and back again. Having been born in Wales he started out as a pit pony driver, while playing local amateur football. He joined Manchester City in 1894, shortly afterwards he scored twice in the Manchester derby against Newton Heath, who would soon become Manchester United; it sealed his reputation with the City fans and he become a huge draw.

In 1904 Meredith was accused of bribing an Aston Villa player and he received an 18-month ban from football. Upon his return he switched to United and made his debut against Villa in January 1907. He stayed with United until 1921, when he returned to City and carried on until his last game against Newcastle, 120 days shy of his 50th birthday. In his latter days he continued to watch City rather than United where he was apparently made to pay for his tickets.

Anything directly associated with Billy Meredith would fetch a high price today. Age is a clear determinate in football collectables but so are players and events of great significance. Do have a look at their listings because there are many reasnably placed programmes of interest.

I'm told that the US Open Golf Championships start this weekend and I will admit that I will not be watching it on the TV. However, there is one area of golf related collectables that interests me – old railway posters advertising golf courses and resorts. The one to the left is obviously North Berwick which lies on the south side of the Firth of Forth in Scotland. Frank Newbould's painting, printed by Dobson Molle in Edinburgh, depicts three golfers taking a rest from their game to enjoy a thermos of tea, with their clubs by their sides. These prints are extremely valuable and this one is worth somewhere around £4,000

Other classic posters that depict golf in its 'home country' include