A match-worn number seven Northern Ireland jersey, worn by George Best in his first year of international football in 1964 is going under the hammer on Thursday September 28 for an estimated £8,000-12,000.
The jersey is just one of the pieces of memorabilia up for auction in one of the 'biggest collections of Manchester United Memorabilia in a generation' at Graham Budd Auctions.
The auction will include a memorabilia collection, amassed over 25 years from lifelong Red Devils fan, Paul Atkinson. The sale collection is estimated at over £500,000 and Paul's collection is estimated between £200,000 to 300,000.
Atkinson said: “I’ve been a passionate supporter of Manchester United since childhood and went to University in Manchester in the 1970s so I could regularly go to matches.
"It reached a pinnacle sitting behind the goal at the Nou Camp in 1999 when Solskjaer scored: nothing could ever match those three minutes.
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"The following year I went to an auction at Old Trafford out of curiosity but I got the bug and within about five years, I had an almost complete post-war collection of competitive match programmes. I spent the next decade or so picking up United medals.
"The ‘ultimate’ was a European Cup Winners medal from 1968; these are particularly scarce as the United Museum have some, and only 12 were issued, including one for reserve goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer."
The collection is part of a larger auction of over 650 lots of memorabilia entirely dedicated to Manchester United which also includes rare and sought-after relics from the last 120 years of the club’s history, including shirts worn by club legends including George Best, Bobby Charlton, Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Ronaldo and many others, together with highly collectible medals including Bill Foulkes' 1968 European Cup Winners medal, one of only 12 issued, which is estimated to fetch between £40,000 and £60,000.
Foulkes and Charlton were both survivors of the Munich Air Disaster in 1958 which went on to win the European Cup 10 years later with Matt Busby's team.
Other highlights include:
Bobby Charlton match worn Manchester United shirt, 1964 (£15,000-20,000)
Eric Cantona’s last ever Champions League match worn Manchester United shirt (£10,000-15,000)
A collection of early 20th century programmes from matches that took place between 1906 and 1939 (estimates range from £600-3,000)
