Two Football Memorabilia collections kick off Graham Budd Auctions forthcoming sale
Two important collections will highlight Graham Budd Auctions’ forthcoming sale of Sporting Memorabilia on Tuesday & Wednesday, September 7 & 8, 2021.
Starting at 10am each day, the live/ online sale will take place via https://bidlive.grahambuddauctions.co.uk and will comprise more than 1000 lots relating to Football, Olympic Games, Golf, Boxing, Cricket, Motor Sport, Horse Racing, Rugby, Tennis and other popular sports.
The Bryan Horsnell Collection includes over 200 lots of Football memorabilia including Medals, Caps, Player Collections, Official Match Pennants and Vintage Jerseys.
Graham Budd comments: ”After raising a family, the time of life has arrived when Bryan and his wife are downsizing from their matrimonial home in Reading for their retirement. Bryan Horsnell is a pioneer of football collecting and has been very active in this pursuit since the 1960s, a time when very few people were like-minded in this hobby. More often than not we would acquire items directly from footballers and built up a spectacular collection. This has been supplemented by purchases at auction since memorabilia sales grew from the 1990s onwards. It would be difficult and expensive for anybody setting out today to amass such an incredible array of treasures. However, the auction offers a unique opportunity to buy football memorabilia of the highest quality. The collection has three distinct strands, medals and caps; vintage shirts; and match pennants relating to England international games.”
Among the highlights of the medals are two F.A. Cup Winner's Medals won by father and son, Harry Johnson senior and Harry Johnson junior for Sheffield United FC. Dating from 1902 and 1925, they are each estimated at £3,000-5,000.
As Graham Budd explains: “The achievement of father and son both awarded F.A. Cup winner’s medals came into focus once more at last season’s Final when the Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel emulated the feat of his father Peter Schmeichel. The original father and son winning duo were Harry Johnson senior and junior who won their F.A. Cup medals in 1902 and 1925 respectively, and both for the same club Sheffield United. This exclusive club boasts only two other families, Frank Lampard senior and junior; and Ian Wright and his adopted son Shaun Wright-Phillips. At Graham Budd Auctions we are very honoured to offer the opportunity of acquiring the Johnson originals medals.”
Elsewhere in the Horsnell Collection is a 1903 F.A. Cup winner's medal awarded to Willie Wood of Bury FC which is also expected to fetch £3,000-5,000 as is the F.A. Cup winner's medal awarded to Arthur Rigby of Blackburn Rovers in 1928. While among the pennants is an important pennant presented by the Portugal F.A. to the Football Association on the occasion of the England v Portugal World Cup semi-final played at Wembley Stadium on July 26, 1966, that is estimated at £3,000-5,000. England won 2-1 with both goals scored by Bobby Charlton with the outstanding player of the tournament, Eusebio scoring an 82nd minute penalty but the hosts held on for a hard fought victory to progress to the World Cup final where they would defeat West Germany 4-2 in extra time, to be crowned World Champions.
The final element of the Horsnell Collection is devoted to Vintage football jerseys, with the highlights being Bobby Charlton’s signed red Manchester United No.9 home jersey circa 1965 which is also estimated at £3,000-5,000, while Bobby Moore’s white Fulham No.6 1975 F.A. Cup Final jersey - believed to have been his unused spare jersey - expected to fetch £2,000-3,000.
The other notable collection in the sale is the Cliff Bastin Collection. Cliff Bastin (1912-91) was an English footballer, who played for the English national team, as well as playing as a winger for Exeter City and Arsenal Football Club, where he was their 3rd highest goal scorer.
As Graham Budd notes: “The collection is remarkable as every single cap he was awarded as an England player has remained intact. Very often such a collection fragments as different branches of a family are given one as a memento, or are gifted to friends during the player’s lifetime. The most interesting cap is from 1934 and the match played at Bastin’s club Arsenal, which is estimated at £1,500-2,000. The England v Italy match was a very bad tempered ill-disciplined game and became known as “The Battle of Highbury.” Italy had recently been crowned World Champions in the FIFA 1934 World Cup held on their home soil. Cliff Bastin’s Arsenal goalscoring record of 178 goals remained a record from 1939 until finally beaten by Ian Wright in 1997.”
Also of interest among the 31 lots is the Red England v Wales cap awarded to Bastin for his England debut in the match played at Anfield on November 18, 1931 that carries an estimate of £1,200-1,600, and the medal from the same match, which is expected to fetch £500-700.
The earliest Manchester United [Newton Heath] football medal ever to have been offered at auction will be included in the sale and is estimated at £20,000-25,000. The Manchester Senior Cup winner's medal was awarded to Thomas Fitzsimmons in 1893. In the 1892-93 Manchester Senior Cup Final Newton Heath beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at Hyde Road on April 15. Newton Heath had progressed to the final with victories over West Manchester and Bury, with Fitzsimmons scoring four goals during the competition. 1892-93 was also Newton Heath's first season in the Football League Division One. They avoided relegation by beating Small Heath [Birmingham] in a play-off 'Test Match'. Fitzsimmons, having joined the club in November, scored five League goals during the campaign. Thomas Fitzsimmons was a Scot, born at Annbank in South Ayrshire on October 21, 1870. He was an outside-right and was one of several players on trial at Celtic who were seeking a replacement for Celtic's first ever goalscorer Neil McCallum. He was till a trialist when he made his League debut v Rangers at Ibrox on September 24, 1892. As such, this makes Fitzsimmons the only player in Celtic history to debut for the club in an 'Old Firm' fixture. This proved to be his only appearance for the Bhoys, although some records would suggest he played in a Glasgow Cup game before his League debut v Pollokshaws Athletic on September 17. A couple of months later he transferred to Newton Heath making his debut v Aston Villa on November 19 at North Road, scoring in the 2-0 win. In all he made 30 competitive starts and scored 6 goals. In June 1894 Tommy Fitzsimmons returned to Scotland to play for his local team Annbank FC. His brother David also played for Newton Heath.
As Graham Budd comments: “We are very pleased to be selling this important historic medal on behalf of a UK private collector. It is the oldest Manchester United medal that has been offered at auction. And there is no knowledge of the whereabouts of any other medal in existence that is older. Manchester United were still playing under their original name of Newton Heath. The medal was awarded when the club won the 1893 Manchester Football Association Senior Cup. They beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at Hyde Road, the original ground of rivals Manchester City, whose original name at this time was Ardwick. 1892-93 was also the first season that Newton Heath played in the top flight of English Football, League Division One. The medal was awarded to their Scottish player Thomas Fitzsimmons, who played at outside-right.”
A 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games torch, which measures 64cm. long, along with a running vest with lapel badge is expected to fetch £5,000-6,000. The blackened aluminium bowl is inscribed XVII OLYMPIAD TOKYO 1964 with Olympic rings, the bottom of the stainless steel cylinder features the Tokyo official logo,
Graham Budd notes: “The 1964 Tokyo torch is being sold by a UK Olympic collector. They have appeared at auction before although this one comes with the torchbearer’s vest and lapel badge. At the previous games there had been some technical issues with the torches. So in 1962 an Olympic Committee was formed with the brief to oversee that the 1964 torch design was both technically and practically ideal. What came out of this was a very lightweight torch with a minimalistic design, just a handle, hand guard and slender cylindrical shaft packed with the priming powder and fumigant. This is in stark contrast to the 2020 torch which is very artistic and elaborate.”
Another interesting medal was the Football League Division One 1901-02 Championship medal awarded to Sunderland's Jimmy Watson that carries an estimate of £5,000-6,000. James 'Jimmy' Watson (1877-1942) former Scottish left-back footballer, who played for Sunderland from 1900 to 1907, making 211 appearances, winning The Football League Championship in 1901-02 and won six Scottish caps from 1903 to 1909.
Graham Budd commented: “Jimmy Watson is a name from the golden age of Sunderland’s history when they won five Championship titles between 1892 and 1913. He was a stalwart of the team in the early years of the 20th century playing at left-back. He also represented Scotland (born in Motherwell, 1877) on six occasions. His nickname was ‘Daddy Long Legs’ due to his style of running which saw arms as well as legs in exaggerated motion.”