Pre war West Ham VIP issue

[holtie96]

Recently acquired this from a contact in Croatia can anyone confirm that this 1936 programme for gradjanski FC Zagreb v West Ham is a ViP issue and also roughly how many would exist and if any have come up for sale before?
Many thanks 👍

[colchestersid]

Hi

Yes, this is the VIP programme for this game - West Ham usually marked visits by overseas opposition before the war with a directors box issue - as they did for the Charlie Paynter testimonial in 1950

The regular programme from this game is rare - certainly rarer than you would expect as regular league games from the late 1930s are quite easy to find. It was a midweek afternoon kick off but even so I'm not sure if that explains why this one is so difficult to turn up

There's been a similar issue on ebay for years against FC Austria but priced way too high at £699 so no takers for that

[holtie96]

Many thanks for your response it is appreciated.
Another collection has said that they haven’t seen one come up and the issue they have displayed is owned by an American collector.
Possibly only 30 odd in existence so happy with my find and the opponents are no longer around, they dissolved in 1945. Dinamo Zagreb is more or less its successor
If anyone else has a copy please let me know thank you

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Just noticed that the centre forward in the West Ham side is the Crystal Palace legend and record goal-scorer Peter Simpson - 165 goals in 195 games for Div III South Palace - he was in his thirties and crocked but his reputation got him his belated move to Division 2 West Ham in 1935.

Another very nice item, Holtie

[colchestersid]

Just noticed the names of the linesmen - Stanley (SGJ) Earle who played 250+ games for West Ham before he retired in 1932 and D Cearns - surely some relation to the Cearns family, owners of the club for so many years?

Not sure how many decisions went for the Croatians that day!