As England fans look forward eagerly to this Friday's match with Algeria, one collector has bought themselves a piece of history to help them dream.
Geoff Hurst's spare shirt from the 1966 World Cup final, in which he scored three of the four goals in England's 4-2 win over West Germany at the old Wembley, made £8,800 at Bonhams, Chester today (16 June) as part of its sale of Sporting Memorabilia.
It had attracted a pre-sale estimate of £6,000-8,000, but a couple of collectors wanted it a little more that and bidding went into extra time.
Hurst, who was only five months and eight games into his international career, made World Cup history as the only player to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final, and England will be hoping that a player such as Wayne Rooney feel like repeating the feat.
In the same auction, a 1957-58 Italian league champion's medal awarded to John Charles shortly after his transfer to Italian club Juventus FC sold for £8,800 against an estimate of £8,000-10,000.
 Geoff Hurst's spare 1966 World Cup shirt (Click to enlarge) |
Charles, who joined Italian club Juventus FC in 1957 for a then record transfer fee of £65,000, was one of the first British professional players to be signed for an overseas team.
In his five years at Juventus he scored 93 goals in 155 matches, and was voted the best-ever foreign player to play for Juventus by the club's fans.
Other top prices were achieved for a 1951 FA Cup final winner's medal presented to Newcastle's Jack Fairbrother, which sold £6,000; and a 1955 FA Cup final winner's medal awarded to Newcastle Captain Jimmy Scoular, which sold for £6,960.
Scoular had previously won First Division winner's medals with Portsmouth in 1948/9 and 1949/50.
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