Signatures of football legends go under the hammer

A FOOTBALL programme signed by legendary England manager Sir Bobby Robson, who died last month, will go under the hammer at an auction of sporting items and memorabilia in the Cotswolds.

The England vs Brazil match programme from 19 May 1987 is also signed by goalkeeper Peter Shilton, Gary Lineker – who scored England’s only goal of the match – midfielders Neil Webb and Peter Reid and defenders Gary Mabbutt and Dave Watson.

The result of the friendly, which was played at Wembley, was 1-1. The lot, which carries an estimate of £50 to £80, also includes an original match ticket, and is among hundreds of items at Moore Allen & Innocent’s sporting sale in Cirencester on Friday, August 28 from 10am.

From an earlier era of football, there’s a signed photograph of Billy Wright, who spent his whole career at Wolverhampton Wanderers and made 105 appearances for England, captaining the team a record 90 times, including the 1950, ’54 and ’58 World Cup runs. The lot also includes a signed Wolves team picture from the 1950s, which Wright has signed. The photographs are expected to achieve between £80 and £120.

There’s plenty at the sale to interest collectors of hunting, shooting and fishing antiques. Included in the taxidermy section are some striking Cape buffalo heads, two greater kudu heads and a waterbuck head, each of which is expected to achieve between £200 and £300.

Skins include a fox skin rug, which, the label states, was killed by native Americans in Quebec in 1987 and prepared by local tribesmen. It carries an estimate of £80 to £120. Two zebra skins are expected to make £300 to £500 a piece and the skin of a Canadian black bear is valued at £400 to £600. Meanwhile, a massive turtle shell, measuring 3ft by 3ft, carries an estimate of £300 to £500.

There is a good selection of stuffed and mounted fish, including a pair of roach in a bow fronted case by the renowned taxidermists J Cooper & Sons of London, which carries an estimate of £600 to £800, a pike by the equally renowned W F Homer of London, which is expected to achieve between £600 and £800, and a striking example of a zanda chasing down its tiny prey, which should make £300 to £500.

In the fishing section, highlights include an early ebonite salmon reel, probably by Heaton. A rare item due to the fragility of ebonite, this late 19th century example carries an estimate of £200 to £300.

The large selection of fishing rods includes a Farlow Super Parabolic Fario Club split cane fly rod from the 1930s, valued at £150 to £200, and a Hardy Richard Walker carp rod in split cane, estimated at £200 to £300 and named after the famous carp fisherman of the 1950s and ’60s whose record 44lb catch stood for over 30 years.

And a 1921 first edition of The Way of a Trout with a Fly by G E M Skeus was so good the author signed it twice – once, presumably, during a mass signing session and then again as a dedication to the book’s original owner. It carries an estimate of £80 to £120.

Finally, there are some exciting lots in the sporting pictures section. An original watercolour of hounds chasing a hare by Cecil Aldin – illustrator of the original 1893 publication of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, years before Walt Disney got his hands on the tale – is expected to achieve between £1,500 and £2,000.

Pencil sketches of horses by Michael Lyne, whose death in 1989, aged 77, was said to mark the end of an era of great sporting artists, carries an estimate of £300 to £500.

And a Moore Allen sporting sale wouldn’t be a Moore Allen sporting sale without at least one picture by the renowned artist Snaffles, and they have seven, including a signed chromo lithograph of The Grand National – The Canal Turn (1927) is a great example of the artist’s work, and carries an estimate of £500 to £800.

A pair of roach in a bow fronted case by J Cooper & Sons of London	An early ebonite salmon reel, probably by Heaton.
Pencil sketches of horses by Michael Lyne	A 1921 first edition of The Way of a Trout with a Fly by G E M Skeus

A turtle shell	A signed picture of footballer Billy Wright
A football match programme signed by legendary England manager Sir Bobby Robson, Gary Lineker, Peter Shilton and others	A zebra skin
The taxidermy section