Collecting football memorabilia

With less than four weeks to go until the beginning of season, we look at what you can be doing while you’re twiddling your thumbs, apart from soaking up some sun of course!

You might be reading a book or watching TV, but how about spying into the world of rare football memorabilia to see if you can unearth a treasure?

Car boot sales are an endless source of wonder, seeing what people throw out. There’s many a bargain to be picked up by the determined browser.

Tales of rare Lalique glass bought up for a few quid abound, not least on programmes like Antiques Roadshow and Flog It.

These are one-in-a-lifetime moments when something truly valuable turns up and the lucky individual manages to flip them for thousands.

There was one legendary find from an episode in 2022 when a rare 1880 Hughes & Woodward Football Rule Book turned up for evaluation, eventually tipping the scales at over £110,000! If only!

The reality is a little less prosaic.  

The list of rare items is littered with exceptional finds, but what should you be looking for in the current market? There is no doubt that the market for football memorabilia has exploded in recent years.

After the 1966 World Cup final there was a huge rise in interest, with rare, signed England shirts going for thousands of pounds.

To this day you can pick up World Cup Willy programmes and other memorabilia from our greatest sporting moment! From signed football shirts to signed footballs, football boots, goalkeeper gloves and photos; pretty much anything can be picked up online for a price.

It’s knowing what to look for that’s the key, and it all starts with you and your interests. You wouldn’t buy a piece of art you didn’t like, and the same goes for rare football memorabilia.

If you collect what you like then it will never look out of place on your wall and you will never tire of it. 

If you are a Manchester City fan, then collect items relating to the club, and if there is a rare moment that you witnessed, then maybe pick up something related.

It’s that unique connection between fan and event that creates an emotional bond. It could be a signed Denis Law shirt from Scotland’s 3:2 win over England in 1967, or a signed shirt from Haaland’s record five goal haul in the FA Cup match against Luton Town earlier this year. 

The biggest players and items from iconic moments in the sport‘s history go for the most money, so predictably, the highest priced football jersey ever is Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ shirt from the infamous England’s World Cup clash in 1986, which went for £7.1m at auction.

The tip here is that moments and star appeal matter. Always buy quality and you won’t go wrong. Signed Maradona shirts can be picked up for around £3000, Pele, for around £800 and signed Geoge Best Manchester United shirts for upwards of £2000.

Buy the best for the best future return if that is part of the thinking process. Quality will not only retain its value but increase it as the years pass by.

Oh, and one of those Framed Haaland shirts? Current valuation, around £1000.

It’s not only shirts that have value either. Anything that carries a genuine football player autograph will have a value. From a player signature scribbled on a programme after the match, to a wide variety of items available online.

If money is tight and you are an ardent fan, then start small. It’s not everyone that has a grand sitting in the bank to blow on a signed shirt.

Signed photographs are available for a few pounds, then as funds allow, more expensive items can be added to your collection. 

A word of warning though. Fakes abound, so take care when buying online, especially from the cheaper online auction sites. Make sure that the item is genuine.

A common trick is to use stock photographs, so always ask for extra photos of the actual item, to make sure they actually have it! Ask for a guarantee that the item is genuine, either a written letter of confirmation from a reliable body, or a certificate of origin that can be tracked back 100% and linked to the piece of memorabilia – a numbered hologram is ideal. 

Finally, enjoy what you buy. As we stated above, there is no point buying memorabilia that means nothing to you, unless you just want to trade it.

Buy the best you can, frame it, and put it on your wall. Good luck!