Rare Middlesbrough FC football shirt from the 1880s sells for £16,000 at auction

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A football shirt more than 130-years-old has sold for £16,000 at an auction.

A Middlebrough FC jersey, believed to be the “oldest league club shirt still in one piece”, has sold at an auction for £16,000. The football shirt is thought to have been made between 1886 to 1890, when the club changed its colours to blue.

The blue and white polka dot pattern around the collar and buttons, as well as the trim on the rare white shirt, has been described as “exceptional”. The shirt has an embroidered badge that reads the club’s latin motto “M.F.C ERIMUS” - We Shall Be - and was manufactured by E.Banks of Middlesbrough.

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The jersey was sold on March 8 at Graham Budd, an auctioneer specialising in sports memorabilia, and fetched £16,000. The auctioneer described the rare shirt as being in excellent condition.

A spokesman said: "Overall, for the age of the shirt it is in excellent condition. We would imagine that this is the oldest Middlesbrough shirt that survives and possibly the oldest example of a shirt from a League club still in one piece.

"I find it fascinating that this actually bears a badge beautifully embroidered on the breast pocket with the MFC logo. I would also imagine that the shirt could have held some special significance to either club or player."

Also sold at the auction were David Beckham’s 1998-1999 match-word Adidas Predator Accelerator boots and George Best’s Manchester United jersey from 1967-1968 for £14,000 and £13,000 respectively.

Boots worn by Diego Maradona worn in in the 1976-1977 season with Argenitos Juniors sold for £3,000.

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