MY FAVOURITE SIGNED ITEM-WHAT'S YOURS?

[manchesterunitedman1]

Another tough one to consider but this is it https://flic.kr/p/ow4tHd

Wins hands down even over the Busby Babes due to the design/artwork/ vibrant colours and this formed Matt Busby's first squad of player who would win the cup in 1948 and finish runners up in 46-7,47-8,48-9,50-1 until they won it in 1951-2.

https://flic.kr/p/ow4tHd

[NWM Football]

I have a 1982 Tottenham away (sky blue) Centenary Year shirt which I have been getting autographed as and when the opportunity has arisen over the last few years or so.

To date the signatures on it are Paul Allen, Ossie Ardiles, Phil Beal, Alan Brazil, Garry Brooke, Keith Burkinshaw, Justin Edinburgh, Mark Falco, Les Ferdinand, Tony Galvin, Jimmy Greaves, Glenn Hoddle, David Howells, Pat Jennings, Dave Mackay, Steve Perryman, Graham Roberts, Andy Sinton, Gary Stevens, Ricky Villa and Paul Walsh.
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Visit http://nwmfootball.com/ for programmes, books, DVDs, shirts & sportswear and other football collectables. Click here http://nwmfootball.com/nwm-diary/ to see which Programme Fairs and Antiques & Collectors' Fairs we will be attending.

[Dorking]

At Palace we've always been spoiled in that we can always get all the players to sign stuff, just by waiting where they park before and after home games. It's a little busier now we are in the Premier League, but even so, you can literally bring along anything and they will sign it, whereas at some clubs the players are kept separate, so to get anything signed is more difficult. So to amuse myself if I have something nice like a ball or a shirt I'll just get it signed, and consequently I have tons of the stuff.

So choosing favourites isn't easy.

Like NWM above, I have a special shirt, in my case the 1990 Cup Final shirt. Mine is the number 15, which is unusual as it was the spare 'blood' shirt. I didn't actually get it until a few years after the game, when the former kit man was selling off his collection.

I managed to complete the shirt a couple of years ago. Took a lot of going to testimonials, and waiting long times for one autograph at a time, so a bit more rewarding than the more 'easy pickings' stuff.

Strangely the autographs on it that I didn't get till last were ones I had got easily many times over 'back in the day' when they were at the club....

Steve Coppell - waited outside the Madejski after a Reading-Palace game for over 2 hours, felt like he was the last person to leave the stadium while I patiently waited by his marked parking space! Needless to say was the only person waiting for his autograph by then! He doesn't like being crowded for autographs when he visits Palace as it's like the Pope has visited and everyone goes mental around him.

Ian Wright - missed a couple of what would have been 'easy' booksignings, then one Palace home game he mentioned he was coming to our game on his twitter, so I watched the directors car park like a hawk, scrutinising everyone in every car as it went in! Was just about to give up, when he turned up window down in his car, so you've never seen me sprint so fast! Got his auto easily, but as he headed for the ground entrance he got mobbed!

Andy Thorn - there's usually one person in every team who goes on to just have a quiet life, and for a good decade after retirement that was Andy Thorn. He just vanished. A few 'cup final reunions'/charity games/testimonials followed but he either didn't come or I was in the wrong place wrong time and missed him. Anyway eventually he became a scout for Coventry and then a few years later, briefly their manager! When the Cov. team coach arrived at Palace for their game that season I think every Palace auto collector had the same idea as all manner of Cup final merch and memorabilia came out and to his credit he signed the lot! Must have been dozens of people and items presented for signature!!

[James73]

Not entirely sure how I managed to get such an item but I have football signed by the Spurs 1981 FA Cup winning side, Hoddle, Perryman, Ardiles, Houghton etc, etc

It is in prize place along with my signed copy of Greavsies autobiography when I met the great man a few years ago, I wanted to tell him how much of a hero he was of mine and how I grew up hearing of his scoring feats and I just dried up completely.

Also a signed ticket from the Best & Marsh show, great evening with hilarious tales and a great Q&A, especially when some wag stood up and asked George why he drank so much. George being the ultimate in coolness took one sip of his water (vodka) looked straight at the guy, took another sip of water (vodka) and replied "Because I fooking like it" - brilliant.

[Jim LFC]

This is my favourite and the first time we actually won the thing! Many moons ago I bought a bundle of Liverpool homes from a programme fair and it was a good 12 months later that I actually got round to reading each individual one. Imagine my glee when I discovered a couple of used tickets and this historic menu contained within!
Now I check every programme diligently and recently found an Ian St John testimonial ticket I had stuffed inside a spare programme in the 70's. I actually got 4 times as much for the ticket as I did for the programme on Ebay. It did help that the opposition was Chelsea though!!

[Five and In]

I have loads of Spurs signed stuff as I used to go to all of the supporters club presentation evenings back in the early eighties and met the players often. As I have so many to choose from, I will discount my Spurs stuff, which all has sentimental value to me.

My favourite item is probably the memory more than the item itself, but that is true for many of us I expect.

I have a 1966 World Cup Final programme signed by the team. I got it signed when I won dinner with them around 1990.
I next to Martin Peters all night talking football and then he took me around to meet all the others.
I remember being in awe of Bobby Moore who was charming and put me at ease. Pure class.
Alan Ball, then Stoke manager, told me he was hoping to sign Vince Hilaire the following day.
There were also several members of the German side there that night and I got to meet Helmut Haller among others.
The single moment that I will take with me to the grave though was Geoff Hurst taking the mickey out of my tie (which was awful to be fair) and my response to him asking if he had looked in the mirror and seen his own!! He took it well, thankfully!!

[James73]

Bit indulgant of me but I could read these all day. I love hearing about how other fans of football have been in the prescence of our heros and idols.

Following on from earlier post I met Peter Shreeves at a Middlesex Wanderers do many years ago and spent a good hour chatting all things Tottenham with him.

Random meeting was at a Canvey Island friendly (my ex-brother in law was a Canvey stalwalt) against Hull City, Nick Barmby was a sub and used the portaloo for a wee behind the main stand, stood and doen my business next to him. He is very short, in height

[NWM Football]

There's not much room left on the Tottenham shirt, but there a couple more marks I'd like to get on it at some point before I get it framed, mainly players from the '80's, in particular Gary Mabbutt and Ray Clemence (too young to have seen Pat play, so Ray counts as best THFC keeper I've seen).

Jimmy Greaves' signature was the first one to go on it at one of his shows about ten years ago. I used to be involved at Hayes FC/Hayes & Yeading United, and post merger Bill Perryman (Steve's brother) was Commercial Manager, although I've known Bill for around thirty years anyway as I used to buy discontinued replica shirts from their shops, and put a couple of quid on them to sell in the club shop. Steve was an occasional visitor to our games, and as any Spurs collector knows Steve will ALWAYS oblige. Tony Galvin was with him at one of the matches too, and Bill arranged "Evenings with...." Ossie & Ricky, and Alan Brazil. Obtained Pat's at a similar evening at a local golf club too. Les Ferdinand's connections with Hayes are pretty well known.

Bill gave me a nod one day that he was going to a game in the SP Lounge, and kindly took the shirt along, so Paul Allen, Phil Beal, Garry Brooke and Graham Roberts signed it that day, while he also took it when seeing Dave Mackay one day. Dave would ask £5 for autographs which would be donated to Alzheimer's charities, which of course nobody would begrudge. Justin Edinburgh and Andy Sinton signed the top when they were managing Rushden & Telford respectively, while Gary Stevens was coach with a team that Tony Adams brought down for a friendly. Keith Burkinshaw was at a HYU game at around six years ago (oddly enough a couple of days after Bill got the other signatures for me, so luckily I had the top with me !), while one of Glenn's academy players was trialling with us, so he came down to watch him. Most recent autographs were Mark Falco and Dave Howells when the Spurs Legend XI played at Harrow a couple of years ago.

Hayes' ground also hosted a game for Jason Roberts' charity against the Liverpool Legends XI, so that was when Walsh signed it. Naturally enough, I made sure I had a Liverpool shirt with me that day, so Phil Thompson, Phil Neal, John Aldridge, Bob Bolder, Ronnie Whelan, Alan Kennedy, Mark Wright and Phil Babb (who later had a spell as Hayes' manager) signed it that day. Dean Saunders had signed it a few weeks prior to that when he was manager of Wrexham. Bill P. had also been at an event where David Johnson and Bruce Grobelaar signed it, while Ian St. John had also signed it at a show with Jimmy Greaves.

We also had an evening with Geoff Hurst at the club, so he signed my 1966 WCF prog, although to stop material instantly going on auction sites, he always asks for your name, so my prog is signed "To Lee..." (not that I'd part with it anyway). I've also got a multi-signed 1999 England shirt, Hurst and Greaves signed it their events, the Liverpool boys (Walsh, Neal, Weight, Kennedy) signed it at the charity game, while Tony Adams, Gary Stevens and Glenn Hoddle also signed it when I met them as detailed above. Hayes legend Cyrille Regis also signed it while watching the Jason Roberts XI game, while Paul Merson (who I was at school with, he's three days younger than me !) also played for the Jason Roberts XI that day, so it was good to have a quick catch up. The shirt has also been signed by Ray Wilkins. His brother Graham used to work for the Press Association and covered games at Hayes, so he took it and got that signed for me, along with a 1987 Rangers shirt, which has also been signed by Graham Roberts, and Terry Butcher (I used to work for one of Brentford's directors).

I also have yellow 1991 Spurs top which has been signed by Perryman, Ardiles, Villa and Jennings at the events mentioned above. Hope I haven't bored you all too much, but as the other members have said, it can be such a thrill when you get an item signed.
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Visit http://nwmfootball.com/ for programmes, books, DVDs, shirts & sportswear and other football collectables. Click here http://nwmfootball.com/nwm-diary/ to see which Programme Fairs and Antiques & Collectors' Fairs we will be attending.

[wandererpaul]

Again, I'm not a huge collector of autographs, have some items but not that many.

Here's an interesting one! A 'sick bag' from the flight home after the Ascoli Anglo Italian Cup match in 1992. - No, the cabin staff weren't called to dispose of it!



A more recent addition. The menu from May 2015.



My favourite has to be the 1936-37 Squad picture with original autographs beneath. Fading over time. Now it's in a cupboard away from any light.


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Not Forgotten; Allwright, Greechan, Hagan, Kennedy, Littler, Purver, Robotham, Saunders, Shields

[NWM Football]

I should also add that I have a 1985 Everton Score Draw retro shirt signed by 15 of the squad from their greatest ever season for sale on my website (listed under Other Football Memorabilia) Looking for £70 for it, will happily e-mail picture on request.
_________________
Visit http://nwmfootball.com/ for programmes, books, DVDs, shirts & sportswear and other football collectables. Click here http://nwmfootball.com/nwm-diary/ to see which Programme Fairs and Antiques & Collectors' Fairs we will be attending.

[Five and In]

This is a really good thread and I agree with James, I could read them all day.
I can't believe I forgot this one earlier. It easily outweighs anything else I own in my football collection.
I coached at youth level for 17 years in London, Herts and the Midlands.
I was with my last club, Hundred Acre FC, from Under 11's (Relegation fodder) to Under 17's (Challenging for titles and cups).
We achieved our success by improving the players we had and only replacing if somebody moved out of the area. 95% of the squad were with me for the entire journey.
Anyway, in pre season before their last year as a youth side, I was offered a job in Devon and decided to take it.
This shirt was signed by the lads at our last training session and almost all of us were in tears. Even looking at it now brings a lump to my throat.
No stars, No household names, but something very very special to me.

[PompeyPhil]

Great Post "Five and In".......I have some lovely signed items ranging from the 1939 FA Cup Final Team, the Two 1948-49 and 1949-50 Championship Teams through to the 2008 and 2010 FA Cup Final Teams however the one item that means more to me than any of these is the following item:


A squad signed Photograph of the Portsmouth Team that became Champions of the 3rd Division in 1982-83. (Included in the team my schoolboy hero and Rod Stewart Lookalike Alan Biley). This group of players were something special and set me on a roller coaster journey that has taken in all Four Divisions of the Football League, Two FA Cup Finals, a European Tour, a fair few Promotions and Relegations, Two or Three Administrations and Finally club Survival by a Fan Owned Trust................ and guess what I'm back again in the 4th Division where it all started in the 1970's!! Life as a Pompey Fan is never boring!!

[NWM Football]

Five And In's polo shirt is VERY special, and a worthy reminder of his work over many years. Nice one !
_________________
Visit http://nwmfootball.com/ for programmes, books, DVDs, shirts & sportswear and other football collectables. Click here http://nwmfootball.com/nwm-diary/ to see which Programme Fairs and Antiques & Collectors' Fairs we will be attending.

[yachtsmun]

Possibly not my favourite, but definitely worth an airing...

In August 1988 Wimbledon sent their full 1st XI to Shanklin (Isle of Wight) to mark the latter's centenary (Shanklin boss Gerry O'Rourke had played for The Dons in the 1960's and retained strong links with the club).

Midway through the first half a certain Vince Jones was sent off for an unprovoked headbutt on I.W. postman Dave Woodhouse. Jones spent the rest of the afternoon banished to the Wimbledon team coach, and missed the following week's Charity Shield v Liverpool because of the incident.

Programme signed in full by both teams, including both Jones and Woodhouse (some of the Wimbledon players signed on the Shanklin page, which annoyed me enormously at the time). Got a very rare ticket from this somewhere too - tickets were only issued for the 100-or-so temporary seats installed for the game.

As an aside, was always tickled by the name of the Shanklin trainer - bit obscured in picture but quite why Mr & Mrs Bowler decided to name their son Tom is beyond me...

[blueshearer]

Probably this one


https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueshearer/18238751742/in/album-72157648595300380/


https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueshearer/18054709778/in/album-72157648595300380/

Leslie you'll have to remind me how to shorted the flickr link!!

[Five and In]

Thanks for the kind words NWM and PompyPhil.
Phil, in some strange way I envy the opportunity that the rise and fall of Pompey has given the fans the chance to visit so many grounds in a relatively short space of time. The same with the likes of Swansea, Rangers etc. Obviously it works better if it ends with an upward trend and I would rather not experience it with Spurs!
Great Liverpool v Pompey story in another thread too. Great cover.

[James73]

Just catching up on the thread and love the additions

Five and In - what an amazing polo shirt. To the world it doesn't mean much but to you it means the world and those are the items the mean the most. Great story.

[manchesterunitedman1]

blueshearer wrote:

Probably this one https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueshearer/18238751742/in/album-72157648595300380/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueshearer/18054709778/in/album-72157648595300380/ Leslie you'll have to remind me how to shorted the flickr link!!

THIS IS YOUR SHORT VERSION https://flic.kr/p/tMGnsW

get your image up on your site, look to the right hand side you will see 3 icons one is an arrow pointing to the right and that is the icon to share and it shortens it waiting for you to right click and send it where ever you want it to go too-ok.

[gatfb]

Menu from the luncheon given in honour of the players of The Allied Armies x1 V The British army played on March 15 1941 at Stamford bridge.

[Baltimore]

Although I have thousands of football autographs going back decades, my favourite has to be:

A Celebration Dinner Menu for the legendary West Brom Kitman Dave Matthews who served West Brom for FIFTY years before his death a couple of years ago.

Such was his commitment, his Dinner was supported by 40 or 50 players of past and present.too many for any dinner menu.so I decided ask the past managers who were present to sign the item.

In the end it was signed by the following;

Johnny Giles
Ron Atkinson
Colin Addison
Brian Talbot
Bobby Gould
Ossie Ardiles
Keith Burkenshaw
Tony Mowbray
Roy Hodgson

Needless to say they were all a pleasure to meet, and we're all willing to take time for a chat.so many memories!

Up the Baggies!