A Football League Golden Jubilee Celebrations illuminated address dated 30th May 1938, paper damages, mounted, framed & glazed, the address 76 by 51cm

A Football League Golden Jubilee Celebrations illuminated address dated 30th May 1938, paper damages, mounted, framed & glazed, the address 76 by 51cm., 30 by 20in. appendix The following lot has been donated by Play in Britain and is offered on behalf of Sport Relief. Played in Britain and Sport Relief - an appeal to the sports clubs of the nation by the writer and historian Simon Inglis During nearly three decades of visiting sports grounds and clubs, rummaging around in their archives and cupboards, in back offices and sheds, I have often come across abandoned or neglected items of historic interest; curled up and torn minute books, faded photographs, mouldy scrapbooks, rusting implements or, in some cases, even items damaged in fires or floods. Over the last decade or so, great progress has been made in securing our sporting heritage, thanks to heightened awareness and the actions of our leading sports museums. But at club level it is still often the case that a lack of resources and awareness results in precious items being lost to future generations. The illuminated address I am donating for auction in aid of Sport Relief is one such item. It is one of perhaps a few hundred printed and hand-coloured addresses that were inscribed and presented to the 88 member clubs of the Football League, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 1938. Several prominent individuals within the football world were also among the recipients. This one has no inscription and may therefore have been surplus to requirements. Bearded and beaming in the top left hand corner of the scroll is the avuncular Scot, William McGregor, founder of the League in 1888, the first of its kind in the world. McGregor was a Birmingham shopkeeper and director of the club I support, Aston Villa. Charlie Sutcliffe (top right), a doughty solicitor from Rawtenstall, Lancashire, was, by 1938, the oldest survivor from the League's formative years. After half a century of service to football, as a referee, as the compiler of the annual fixtures and as a fierce defender of the clubs' contractual rights in the face of growing player power, he was finally elected as its president in 1936. Incidentally, Sutcliffe did not dye his moustache. It was stained dark from nicotine. For my history of the League ('League Football and the Men Who Made It', published in 1988), I researched the lives of all the men whose names appear on this scroll. Vice president Fred Rinder of Aston Villa is a particular favourite, not least for being that rare club chairman, a man with an interest in architecture as well as football. But the greatest pleasure I derive from this address is from reading the names of the clubs. For all its faults as an organisation, in 1938 the Football League was much more like a family than it is now. Income was shared. Commercial exploitation was frowned upon. Small clubs could get to the top. Notice Brentford in the First Division, while Manchester United, Villa, Newcastle, West Ham and Spurs all appear in the Second. I suspect that any true fan of football could happily pass time simply scanning these names and comparing them and their rankings with today's status quo. Normally I would advise the owners how such forgotten treasures might be restored and perhaps displayed for public interest, but in this case the owners were not interested in the scroll and would have thrown it out. With their assent I therefore took it home, had it restored as best as my pocket could then afford, and wondered what I should do next. Many years, and many other found objects later, I thought of Sport Relief. I hope this beautiful artwork will be appreciated by its new owner, and that its sale will, in its own small way, help for us to remain the extraordinary sporting nation that we are. The message I append to the address is this. Too many priceless sports-related objects such as this have already been lost. If you belong to a sports club, please therefore make sure that you and your members seek out and guard your historic artifacts with love and care, and if not able to do this properly, professionally or securely, please, please, please seek advice or hand them over to a museum or to your nearest heritage centre for their safe keeping and conservation. Messrs McGregor and Sutcliffe, generous and community minded as they were, would I am sure endorse this plea. If you are interested in the sporting heritage of our nation, or need advice on what your club should with its historic holdings, please see our website, www.playedinbritain.co.uk and get in touch. Played in Britain's efforts are supported by English Heritage and a number of public and private supporters. We are delighted in turn to help Sport Relief. As the Dutch cultural historian wrote in the same year as the League's Jubilee, 1938, '...only the English have a word for ''fun''' Whether linguistically correct or not, this does sum up rather well why we all wish Sport Relief the very best in its efforts.