Sporting Memorabilia & Equipment

This sector of the art and antiques market often generates big headlines in the general media – not least when an auction record for 1966 World Cup is set for example. But the market is extremely wide and varied. Here there really is something for everyone at every price level, whether a buyer focuses on football programmes, historic golf clubs or fishing tackle.


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Prices high for Man Utd programme rarities

20 May 2024

A football programme for for the Estudiantes de la Plata v Manchester United Intercontinental Cup final on September 25, 1968, hammered down at a top-estimate £10,000 in Shropshire.

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Early memorabilia gets pulse racing for cycling enthusiasts

20 May 2024

Archive sold in Somerset and bugle offered in Dorset reflect the first organised cycling clubs

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Messi napkin contract sells for £600,000

17 May 2024

The napkin responsible for the signing of the teenaged Lionel Messi to FC Barcelona was sold by the player’s former agent at Bonhams

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Diego Maradona’s 1986 World Cup Golden Ball to go to auction

10 May 2024

The player was named player of the tournament after winning the World Cup for Argentina

West Brom shirt

John Wile’s bloodied FA Cup shirt scores at auction

09 May 2024

The West Bromwich Albion shirt from the 1978 FA Cup semi-final sold for £11,000 at Stacey’s Auctioneers in Essex.

Pugilist prints

Boxing prints punch above their weight at auction

08 May 2024

Three boxing prints proved to be heavy hitters at Wimbledon Auctions on April 29, selling for 32-times the high estimate.

Napkin

Napkin contract that signed a 13-year-old Lionel Messi to Barcelona FC comes to auction

20 March 2024

What is probably the world’s most famous napkin – the document that secured the services of a young Lionel Messi to Barcelona FC – comes to auction at Bonhams.

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Pick of the week: All Blacks debut in a white top

11 March 2024

A shirt from the first time the famed All Blacks played in white instead has sold at auction.

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FA Cup hero’s 1884 honour sells in Cheshire

11 March 2024

A football medal sold at a Cheshire auction house was so early in date that it was only the 13th time the FA Cup final had been contested, the game was played at Kennington Oval and the opposition was a Scottish team.

Lot 85 White All Blacks Shirt Credit Graham Budd Auctions.1

Could be a lucky 13: all white rugby shirt won by an All Black for the first time is up for sale

01 March 2024

A shirt from the first time the famed All Blacks played in all white is going up for auction next week.

Spalding Baseball World Tour promotional poster

Barnstorming performance for recently discovered 1888 Spalding Baseball World Tour poster

29 February 2024

Discovered by an auction house in Ohio, a baseball poster described as ‘the finest known’ has sold at auction for a record $200,000/£158,000 ($240,000 including premium).

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Football trade card portraying first black professional player Arthur Wharton takes astonishing £26,800

17 January 2024

A trade card sold for a remarkable £26,800 hammer price was not only one of the earliest-known examples but also had the considerable appeal of featuring the first black professional football player.

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Scarce Manchester United programme for Wolves game called off after Munich disaster sells at auction

16 January 2024

One of the world’s rarest football programmes is for a game abandoned due to tragedy: the Munich air crash of 1958.

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Making a match – football shirts worn in action sought by collectors

15 January 2024

The growth in the market for vintage football tops connected to popular players continues apace

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Panini also a World Cup winner in 1970 – plus Newton Heath trade card

15 January 2024

The 1970 World Cup was the breakthrough year for Panini.

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Single owner collection of football pictures pitch up in the saleroom

15 January 2024

The magic of the cup helped to sell a sizeable scene showing a Corinthians v Manchester City game offered as part of an extensive selection of works on a football theme which featured at Bonhams (28% buyer’s premium).

A 1931 FA Cup winner's medal

FA Cup medal takes £5000 at Harper Field

11 January 2024

An FA Cup winner's medal awarded to a club's assistant secretary may not sound that much of a big deal.

Bowler sculpture

Howzat for a marble sculpture thought to be one of the first depictions of a cricketer

02 January 2024

A white marble sculpture of a young man holding what appears to be a cricket ball flew away from its estimate to bring $30,000 (£23,700) at Andrew Jones (25% buyer’s premium).

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould

BBC’s Fake or Fortune? expands into memorabilia

01 November 2023

The BBC’s 'Fake or Fortune?' is known for discovering artworks – from paintings to sculpture. But for its next series it is expanding into memorabilia.

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Peter Orr silver trophy races away to 10 times low estimate

23 October 2023

This colonial-era Indian silver horse racing trophy is marked for Peter Orr and Sons of Madras.

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