Four Northern Ireland tickets from the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, for the matches v Czechoslovakia and West Germany (both Group Stage), Czechoslovakia

Four Northern Ireland tickets from the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, for the matches v Czechoslovakia and West Germany (both Group Stage), Czechoslovakia (Group Play-Off) and v France in Norrkoping (Quarter Final), numbers 8, 23, 26 and 28 The ticket that has the fan's hand written inscription regarding the play-off match between Czechoslovakia and Northern Ireland, and the 1-1 score after 90 minutes is curious. Ticket No.28 was actually produced for the West Germany v Yugoslavia quarter-final played in Malmo on 19th June. The Play-off took place in the same stadium two days earlier. On the face of it, this would suggest that the quarter-final Malmo tickets were accepted as valid for entry to the play-off match as well. The Northern Ireland v Czechoslovakia play-off was ticketed at short notice (No.39) but attracted a crowd of just 6,196, the second lowest gate of the entire tournament. So there was clearly a good deal of spare capacity in the stadium for Malmo quarter-final ticket holders to be allowed entry.