Soccer Memorabilia
 

Conscious that this is a “card” forum and, more so, that a large proportion of the active soccer participants are relatively new to the soccer hobby (and often to soccer as a sport more generally).

However, interested in understanding if some of us here are interested in soccer memorabilia more widely than cards and, if so, whether to share some items of our collections.

Cards are a very small part of my collection (and there are zero modern cards in my collection) whereas I’ve been a collector of other forms of memorabilia for just under 40 years.

I thought I would post some random items as follows 1) Internazionale 0.750 gold medal issued following 1991 UEFA Cup success; 2)
Internazionale beer can from early 1980s still unopened; 3) Internazionale vs Juventus program from 1933; 4) Giuseppe Meazza autographed postcard from 1941 (at which stage, he was playing for Milan); 5) selection of Real Madrid goalkeeper shirts from 1970s through to early 1990s.
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[IMG][url=https://ibb.co/wW3q2Xw][img]https://i.ibb.co/tsk61tx/IMG-5484.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/t4zGfqv][img]https://i.ibb.co/MsfvTct/IMG-5480.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/2PwTmrZ][img]https://i.ibb.co/QnZ4zVD/IMG-5322.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/DMfM1ZH][img]https://i.ibb.co/vd4dcS6/IMG-5323.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/zbXpZVB][img]https://i.ibb.co/Xp71txK/IMG-4971.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/dWwLXXq][img]https://i.ibb.co/Gx4tGGL/IMG-4980.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/hDMNGhp][img]https://i.ibb.co/wMLqn3D/IMG-4681.jpg[/img][/url][/IMG]

Belfast Celtic memorabilia. Belfast Celtic were a famous Belfast club that retired from “soccer” in 1949.

I placed my first adverts just before my 16th birthday in 1991 in Northern Irish newspapers for Belfast Celtic memorabilia. These were the pre-internet days when newspaper advertising was a norm.


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This vintage memorabilia is super cool!

Hansons Auctioneers (England-based) had an auction of memorabilia today, centring on a collection of match worn shirts. These generally had stronger provenance than those appearing at certain auctions.

Prices listed are hammer price only so don’t include commission etc:

[url]https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/hansons/catalogue-id-hanson10602[/url]


Generally, and with some notable exceptions, in my view, the prices were relatively low. Anecdotally, I understand a reasonable number of the active bidders were based on the European continent.

Soccer memorabilia hasn’t had the “run” that cards did in 2020 and 2021 but it may be that wider economic concerns are impacting sales prices.

I cant stand the Sale Room. Over 30% in premiums added on, terrible photos of the items being auctioned. There are 1,000 dollar cards with no back photos or blurry pictures.

Makes it hard to spend big dollars on the items.....

I would never bid directly via The-Saleroom.com although it does get a lot of eyes, at least it does in UK.

The auctions here in the UK that use The-Saleroom.com also typically accept direct bids with lower commission. From recollection, if bidding via The-Saleroom that adds a further 4% or thereabouts to the total cost.

I came across this thread while surfing. As an old Leeds United guy (late 60's early 70's) I thought I would post these. The England scarf I got in 1974 when I went to Wembley Stadium to see England v. Czech.
I also managed to go to the European Cup match in 1975.

MOT!!!

I have a cool FB Barcelona book from 1921, with a summary of all their games from 1917 till 1921.
All in Catalan.

I have about 15-20 matchworn shirts of USMNT players with their European club team from the 00's.....

[IMG]http://[url=https://ibb.co/xqfz8sq][img]https://i.ibb.co/9HVy3vH/20170711-175729.jpg[/img][/url][/IMG][QUOTE=cubman1941;19159025]I came across this thread while surfing. As an old Leeds United guy (late 60's early 70's) I thought I would post these. The England scarf I got in 1974 when I went to Wembley Stadium to see England v. Czech.
I also managed to go to the European Cup match in 1975.[/QUOTE]

I previously owned Norman Hunter’s European Cup runner’s up medal from the 1975 final. Hunter may not be particularly well known internationally but a legendary player in British football during the 1970s:

[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/HxM8DN0M/20170711-175729.jpg[/IMG]


[url]https://i.postimg.cc/HxM8DN0M/20170711-175729.jpg[/url]


This style of European Cup medal was used each year from circa 1972 through to the mid to late 1990s. Strangely, the runner up medal is continental silver (80% silver) whereas the winner medal is gold plated base metal. Not that silver is very valuable but I always found it strange that the precious metal value of the runner up medal comfortably exceeded that of the winner medal. The earlier winner medals were gold.

[QUOTE=HoustOM;19173697]I have a cool FB Barcelona book from 1921, with a summary of all their games from 1917 till 1921.
All in Catalan.[/QUOTE]

Historically significant as covers much of the early period of legends Zamora, Samitier and Alcantara.

One item from my collection is this later autograph of Ricardo Zamora. It was given to Giuseppe (“Bepe”) Moro, the Italian international goalkeeper, in Venezuela in 1953. At the time Zamora was manager of Caracas and Moro was part of the Roma squad that had travelled to Venezuela for a four team tournament.


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[QUOTE=mfw13;19173789]I have about 15-20 matchworn shirts of USMNT players with their European club team from the 00's.....[/QUOTE]

Match worn shirts from that period have increased in value in recent years - not the same spike and decline as some cards. Some shirts, dependent upon team and style (and brand) are particularly sought after.

Earlier US national team shirts are also in high demand. The grey / silver version from around the time of the 1994 World Cup attracts high prices.

A nice piece indeed. Stormin Norman was a favorite of ours. We were Americans living in Harrogate and a group of us had season tickets. I had all the programs from those years but gave them to a member of the Leeds United Americas person long ago. I only recently sent my super 8 film to the person. I had film of many matches plus the 75 European Cup final.

[QUOTE=CiaranGQ;19175149][IMG]http://[url=https://ibb.co/xqfz8sq][img]https://i.ibb.co/9HVy3vH/20170711-175729.jpg[/img][/url][/IMG]

I previously owned Norman Hunter’s European Cup runner’s up medal from the 1975 final. Hunter may not be particularly well known internationally but a legendary player in British football during the 1970s:

[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/HxM8DN0M/20170711-175729.jpg[/IMG]


[url]https://i.postimg.cc/HxM8DN0M/20170711-175729.jpg[/url]


This style of European Cup medal was used each year from circa 1972 through to the mid to late 1990s. Strangely, the runner up medal is continental silver (80% silver) whereas the winner medal is gold plated base metal. Not that silver is very valuable but I always found it strange that the precious metal value of the runner up medal comfortably exceeded that of the winner medal. The earlier winner medals were gold.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=CiaranGQ;19175160]Match worn shirts from that period have increased in value in recent years - not the same spike and decline as some cards. Some shirts, dependent upon team and style (and brand) are particularly sought after.

Earlier US national team shirts are also in high demand. The grey / silver version from around the time of the 1994 World Cup attracts high prices.[/QUOTE]

The pride and joy of my collection is my Pablo Mastroeni match-worn shirt from the US 3-2 Portugal match at WC2002, which I caught when he threw it into the stands after the match.

A couple of my other faves are my Landon Donovan matchworn Bayer Leverkusen shirt and my matchworn Batistuta shirt from the 95-96 Coppa Italia final.

Last week saw the final Graham Budd Auctions auction of soccer memorabilia for 2023.

For those not aware, Graham Budd was Head of Sports Memorabilia at Sothebys in UK in late 1990s and early 2000s. At the time, sports memorabilia attracted the attention of the leading UK traditional auction houses (Christie’s, Sothebys, Bonhams etc) that each established sports memorabilia teams. Today, those auction houses no longer have their standard sports memorabilia sales of old - though will, occasionally, sell one-off, high profile items. For example, it was Sothebys that sold the 1986 Maradona “Hand of God” shirt in London.

Either way, Graham Budd Auctions is the UK’s leading auction house for quality soccer memorabilia and has been for somewhere in region of 20 years now. When looking at the results, my immediate thoughts are:

- Vintage soccer autographs and vintage original (Type 1) soccer photographs are still generally unloved.

- Programs were a mainstay of UK soccer memorabilia collecting in 1970s through 1990s but have generally fallen out of fashion. Higher quality, rare programs (such as England away internationals) aren’t getting prices they would have a decade or 15 years ago. Many are not hitting their reserves.

- Manchester United remain the most collected club - their items consistently achieve the strongest prices.

- Shirts can attract good money, however standard match worn shirts from non-top tier players don’t generate much interest. There’s just too much supply. Provenance is also key - apparently great shirts without the provenance didn’t attract bids.

- Some of the strongest results were shirts:

Bobby Charlton England 1964 shirt @ £22k:
[url]https://bidlive.grahambuddauctions.co.uk/past-auctions/srgrah10060/lot-details/fa23724f-addd-40f5-ab75-b0b601693066[/url]


Graham Roberts early 1980s shirt @£9k:
[url]https://bidlive.grahambuddauctions.co.uk/past-auctions/srgrah10060/lot-details/855c307f-cc5a-4f17-8035-b0b60168e82a[/url]


Bruno Conti Italy shirt from iconic 1982 World Cup match v Brazil:
[url]https://bidlive.grahambuddauctions.co.uk/past-auctions/srgrah10060/lot-details/450e637e-6cb9-45d8-af06-b0b60168f14d[/url]


For those UK Sterling prices, add a further 28.8% for commission.

I'm always tempted with Budd's auctions, but the almost 30% on top makes a lot of it out of my budget sadly. I wanted a few pieces from the Raymond Kopa auction, but reached my limit fairly quickly :(

[QUOTE=YayNJ;19189635]I'm always tempted with Budd's auctions, but the almost 30% on top makes a lot of it out of my budget sadly. I wanted a few pieces from the Raymond Kopa auction, but reached my limit fairly quickly :([/QUOTE]

Kopa items are a bit of a sore point for me as I previously owned his 1957, 1958 & 1959 European Cup medals. I bought them in my 20s when consigned directly by Kopa for sale in 2001. Unfortunately I sold them a year later as I needed to raise money to buy a house. For over 20 years, these medals were the items I most regretted selling and by some distance.

They have only had one owner in past 20+ years and initially were put up for auction earlier this year but none of the medals achieved their £22k reserves.

I still thought the £14k to £18k reserves for each of these medals in last week’s auction was on high side and didn’t think any would achieve £14k. However, both the 1958 & 1959 medals did that. I suspect it was the same buyer and bid up by auction house based on £14k reserve. I had smaller bids.


After the auction, I was able to contact Graham Budd and purchase the Kopa 1957 European Cup medal for £13.5k + commission so around £17.4k all-in. I still think that is a high price and, in honesty, more than it’s worth in today’s market. I was in two minds but ultimately bought it. I wanted at least one of these medals back and it was the first ever European Cup medal won by a French player and by a star of the era, albeit one who doesn’t have a particularly high profile outside of France these days.




The other item I bought post sale which I believe to be better value was a set of England autographs relating to match versus Northern Ireland in 1946. This cost me £75 + commission. Importantly, these autographs were on headed notepaper of a well known Northern Irish resort hotel (still in operation today) where the England team must have stayed. More so, this represented Billy Wright’s first ever full international appearance and he would ultimately become the first player to win 100 caps.

Original “Type 1” team photos of Real Madrid. These date from circa 1920 through to World War Two era. Real Madrid were rightly awarded the “Team of the 20th century” title by FIFA. However, this was largely a result of the mid 1950s to early 1960s era (5 x consecutive European Cup wins from 1956 through to 1960). The pre-Di Stefano era of Real Madrid is still relatively ignored, as is most soccer history of the period.

Whereas vintage sports photography in the US-dominated sports (esp. baseball) has increased in popularity and as a collecting genre over the past 10 to 15 years, soccer photography is still relatively under the radar.


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I was recently interviewed by the Calcio England website in relation to my passion for Internazionale memorabilia:

[url]https://calcioengland.com/2024/11/15/pazza-collezione-a-look-inside-ciaran-crillys-extraordinary-collection-of-inter-milan-memorabilia/[/url]

Recent purchase.

A postcard sent from Lisbon, Portugal to Turin, Italy on 03 May 1949. It is autographed by the Torino soccer club who were in Portugal to play an exhibition match against Benfica on that 03 May 1949 date.

Torino were one of the leading clubs of this era and were on the verge of winning the Italian national soccer championship for a fifth successive season. They were commonly known as ‘Il Grande Torino’.

The importance of this item is that on 04 May 1949, the day after the game and the day after this postcard was sent, the plane carrying the squad back from Lisbon crashed into the hills of Superga as the aircraft was approaching Turin. All on board, including the entire Torino squad, died instantly. Everyone who signed this postcard died a day after it was sent.

The Superga disaster remains a pivotal and sad moment in Italian sporting and cultural history and is commemorated each year. This year was the 75th anniversary of the tragedy.




[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/G3JMqsFj/IMG-0452.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/LstywYdR/IMG-0453.jpg[/IMG]

What a historic (and sad) item to own.

That postcard is amazing. What a piece of history. How much did it cost you?