24 November 2010
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The 1968 European Cup winner’s medal awarded to George Best sold for £156,000 on 20th October at Bonhams.
The 1968 European Cup winner’s medal awarded to George Best sold for £156,000 on 20th October at Bonhams. ...
The 1968 European Cup winner’s medal awarded to George Best sold for £156,000 on 20th October at Bonhams, Chester, as part of its Sporting Memorabilia sale. The medal, which attracted a pre-sale estimate of £90,000–120,000, was presented following Manchester United’s 4-1 victory over Benfica, Portugal, when Manchester United became the first English team to win the European Cup.
The medal was among 13 awards presented to George Best during his football career put up for auction by the executors of Best’s estate. The proceeds from the sale, which totalled £200,000, will go to Best’s sister, Barbara McNally.
Top prices were also paid for a replacement European Cup Winner’s medal, which fetched £9,000; the 2002 BBC Lifetime Achievement Award sold for £7,800; while the 2000 Belfast Telegraph Hall of Fame award made £4,800.
From private collectors, a limited edition George Best Fabergé egg sold for £25,200, against an estimate of £15,000-20,000, and a George Best Northern Ireland match-worn shirt, the last shirt worn by Best for Northern Ireland while a Manchester United player on 14th November 1973, sold for £6,000.
The sale also featured the shirt worn by another legendary footballer, Pelé, in his final international appearance for Brazil versus Yugoslavia on 18th July 1971, which made £8,640.
A collection of Muhammad Ali memorabilia, hand-signed and donated by the celebrated former boxer to Parkinson’s UK, raised more than £3,000 for the Parkinson’s disease charity.