Bonhams’
Sale of Sporting Memorabilia at Chester on 27 April will include
many rare items from the annals of footballing history, with
highlights including:

1957 Manchester United ‘Busby Babes’ Blazer

Frank Worthington’s Golden Boot

1978 World Cup Final Ball (pictured right- World Cup Final ball,
1978 World Cup game used Final ball, Argentina v Netherlands
25th June. The ball was acquired by Netherlands translator and
trainer Claudio von Foster following the game. It was then signed
by the entire squad. Von Foster was a former Boca Juniors trainer
and work for the Netherlands into the 1980`s. C.O.A. signed
by Claudio Von Foster.)

Sir Frederick Wall Collection of FA ephemera

BUSBY BABES BLAZER
Star of the sale will be a highly poignant memento from one
of soccer’s most tragic moments . On 6 February 1958 the airliner
carrying the players and backroom staff of Manchester United,
plus a number of journalists and supporters, crashed in a blizzard
on its third attempt to take off from Munich airport. ‘United’
were returning from Belgrade where they had just made it into
the semi-finals of the European Cup. Twenty-three of the 44
passengers on board the aircraft lost their lives as it burst
into flames, including eight ‘United’ players. The disaster
rocked the world of sport as the "Busby Babes," a
team with an average age of 22, was poised to dominate European
football after winning successive championships in 1956 and
1957.

Kenny Morgans, born in Swansea in 1939, had just broken into
the team and at the age of 18 was a favourite for the coveted
No. 7 shirt. He survived the tragic air disaster, but the air
crash left its mark on the 19-year-old Welsh lad, who sadly
failed to live up to his early promise. Morgans decided to part
with his blazer about 25 years ago. Estimate £18,000 –
25,000.

FRANK WORTHINGTON’S GOLDEN BOOT
During the 1978/9 season, Frank Worthington scored 24 times
while playing for Bolton Wanderers, a performance which earned
him the Golden Boot award for most goals scored in Division
One. One of these goals has become an all time great, and is
screened at regular intervals on TV: Worthington chests a throw
in, flicks the ball over his shoulder and over oncoming defenders
to turn and volley it into the net…GOAL! No doubt Sam Allardyce
refers to Worthington’s magic touch to inspire Bolton’s current
climb towards the top end of the premiership. Estimate £8,000
– 12,000.

THE SIR FREDERICK WALL COLLECTION
A wonderful array of rare mementos comes to the sale from Sir
Frederick Wall’s direct descendent Cyril Manning. Knighted in
1930, Frederick Wall was appointed Secretary to the Football
Association in 1895 and he worked tirelessly in this post for
almost 40 years. During this time he collected programmes, badges,
menus and other assorted memorabilia, and Bonhams is delighted
to be offering 45 items from his collection. Included will be
a group of 13 FA Cup Final Stewards’ badges dating from 1925
to 1937 estimated to sell for £2,500 – 3,000.

"This is an absolutely outstanding collection from a prominent
figure in the Football Association’s early years," said
Dan Da vies, Bonhams’ football memorabilia specialist. "
We rarely have the opportunity to offer programmes in such good
condition."

WORLD CUP FINAL FOOTBALL
A ball used in the 1978 World Cup final will come back into
play for Bonhams’ sale on 27 April. Only once before has a football
from this hotly contested match between Argentina and Netherlands
come up at auction, making this a very rare catch. Acquired
during the match by Netherlands trainer and translator, Claudio
von Foster, the ball was then signed by the entire squad. Estimate
£3,000 – 4,000.

CHARLIE PAYNTER’S MEDALS
Seven winners’ medals belonging to Charlie ‘Mr West Ham’ Paynter,
whose lifelong association with the club saw him as player,
trainer, masseur, coach and eventually manager, a position he
retained from 1932 – 1950. Paynter achieved a triple of "Wembley
Firsts" and medals to be sold document his successful career
with West Ham. The 1923 FA Cup Finalists medal (estimate £1,500
– 2,000) was dedicated to his daughter and is inscribed on the
reverse "West Ham United FC from Dad to Irene".

Also on offer to those wanting to have every footballing fact
at their fingertips will be a complete run of Wisdens from 1864
– 2004. Estimate £15,000 – 20,000.

For more details visit the Bonhams
web site.