Sporting Memorabilia & Equipment

Alan Chalmers of The Tennis Bookshop (established in 1988) has been awarded the United States Court Tennis Association’s 2023 George Plimpton Prize for his “fine work as a book dealer”.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

By far the most desirable wares from the Goodwin & Harris ‘Metropolitan Scenery’ series of blue and white transfer printed earthenwares are those featuring cricketers in the grounds of Windsor Great Park.

In one way, Johnny Berry (1926-94) was luckier than many of Manchester United’s Busby Babes: he survived the Munich air disaster on February 6, 1958, that killed many of his teammates.

This jersey dates from between 1886 and 1890, making it not just the oldest Middlesbrough FC shirt but possibly the oldest Football League shirt extant.

With Arsenal still setting the pace at the top of the Premier League as we went to press, several lots offered at Graham Budd’s (24% buyer’s premium) sale on March 7-8 acted as a reminder of the club’s formative days.

“A very rare and early item of cricketing history” is how Knights Sporting Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) describes the large silk handkerchief shown here.

Gold has become the standard to aspire to at the Olympics but for the first version of the modern summer Games it was silver.

A pair of football programmes proved the pull of early Manchester United memorabilia remains strong among collectors

While Ascot Gold Cups are not uncommon, the sight of two heading down the home straight to a rostrum finish on the same day was definitely rare.

A hat-trick of six-figure prices was achieved for England 1966 World Cup hero Alan Ball’s (1945-2007) winner’s medal, cup final shirt and World Cup cap.

The authorities in Qatar may not think so, but beer and sport can perform rather well together.

The soaring demand for sport memorabilia is evident from the result for the shirt of a player who did not even make it on to the pitch for a famous game.

The Panini company, founded by two brothers in Modena in 1961, began life producing football cards of Serie A teams.

The Higgs Deliverer ‘rake iron’ club was an attempt to solve a tricky golf problem: how to hit the ball out of sand, high grass or similar terrain.

A happy football fan in Texas – quite possibly with Caledonian roots – is now the proud owner of the first jersey to come to auction from Rangers’ 1972 European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph over Dynamo Moscow.