Post by Salem6 on May 19, 2005 11:28:11 GMT
The oldest existing version of the FA Cup has become the world's most expensive piece of football memorabilia after being sold for a record £420,000.
The cup attracted a lot of interest
The sale, at Christie's auction house in London smashed the previous record of £254,000 paid for the Jules Rimet World Cup in 1997.
An added premium took the actual price paid by the unnamed telephone bidder to £478,400, Christie's said.
The solid silver trophy was presented to winning teams between 1896 and 1910.
David Convery, head of the sports memorabilia department at Christie's, said the buyer had asked to remain anonymous.
Speaking after the auction, he added: "It was thrilling. Football sales started in 1989 [at Christies] and this is by and large the most impressive result.
"It illustrates the growing strength of the sporting memorabilia market and I was incredibly pleased to be able to offer for sale football's greatest prize."
Stolen
The trophy, one of four produced for the FA Cup competition since it began in 1871 is the only one to have come up for sale.
Its holders have included Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle, Everton and THFC.
The trophy was made as a replacement for the first cup, which was stolen from a shop window and is thought to have been melted down.
It was replaced by the FA in 1909 after holders Manchester United made a replica and the body realised it did not own the copyright.
The obsolete cup was then given to Lord Kinnaird to mark his presidency of the FA for more than two decades.
The record breaking sale was part of a memorabilia auction that also included Alan Ball's 1966 World Cup winners' medal, which sold for £140,000.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4561147.stm