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Celtic legend and 'Lisbon Lion' Bertie Auld's famous football tops expected to make £100k at auction

The football shirt "Lisbon Lion" Bertie Auld swapped during Celtic's historic European Cup win in 1967 is among jerseys being auctioned by his family in a sale expected to fetch about £100,000.

The collection also includes the jersey of Dutch star Rinus Israel, of Feyenoord, which was swapped following Celtic’s ill-fated European Cup final clash on May 6 1970.

The game, in which Celtic were defeated 2-1, secured Feyenoord, and the Netherlands, their first European Cup. The jersey is expected to fetch up to £20,000.

Billy Bremner’s match-worn shirt from the 1970 European Cup semi-final, which remains the highest attended game in any European competition, is also among the collection.

Auld’s son Robert Auld said: “Dad was quite humble about his achievements and didn’t talk too much about the games, but then again, he didn’t need to.

“The shirts speak for themselves and show how Celtic went from underdogs on the international stage to one of the most dominant forces in Europe during the late 1960s and early 70s.

“Dad was a phenomenon and a tremendously hard worker on and off the field.
“He always said he never had any regrets in life, although he did admit that he could have scored four against Inter in the 1967 final.”

He said his father would be pleased with the work the Bertie Auld Legacy is doing, including raising money for Kilbryde Hospice in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, and Football Memories – a project to help people with dementia using footballing images to improve recall.

He said: “Dad suffered from dementia and in the last few years of his life I spent a lot of time with him, which I loved.

“We would spend time in the garden, building fences and what not, with dad singing along to his favourite Frank Sinatra songs.

“As we look to expand the charity’s activities, we are looking to support a number of other good causes, including research into dementia.”

As well as the European jerseys and Auld’s Scotland shirts, the collection also includes a match-worn Kenny Dalglish Scotland jersey, one of Auld’s Hibs jerseys and a pair of his match-worn Celtic shorts, complete with his signature No 10 on the leg.

McTear’s specialist James Bruce said: “There is no doubt Bertie Auld thoroughly deserves his place in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, with the Celtic midfielder playing a pivotal role in multiple European games in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Lisbon Lions’ triumph in 1967.
“The collection paints a detailed picture of Auld’s incredible career, including the runs to both the 1967 and 1970 European Cup finals.

“It is a rare thing to see just one shirt from this illustrious period in Celtic’s history come to auction, but to see over a dozen from some of the game’s most famous players is simply breathtaking.

“We are already seeing huge intertest in the auction“

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Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 [MUSIC]
00:20 I'm James Bruce, I'm the sporting specialist here at McTeers auctioneers.
00:35 And I'm absolutely thrilled,
00:36 absolutely delighted to present to you here today, the Bertie Auld collection.
00:41 This collection, 17 shirts, match worn from campaigns including the European Cup,
00:47 as well as his international career, the late great Lisbon line that is Bertie Auld.
00:53 I've selected a few of my favorites, the standouts.
00:56 I've got four just behind me here.
00:58 And I was gonna tell you a wee bit about them.
01:01 As I say, these shirts pinpoint that career,
01:04 which included the iconic Lisbon line side that lifted the European Cup.
01:09 As well as the less successful 1970 campaign,
01:12 where they got to the final but sadly lost the final.
01:15 Indeed, behind me here, I've got four, including two of those shirts.
01:20 First off, we've got lot number one.
01:22 It's the Inter Milan shirt from the 1967 Cup final.
01:26 Of course, Bertie and the boys going on to lift the European Cup,
01:32 winning 2-1 in that iconic game in the heat of Lisbon, the searing heat of Lisbon.
01:38 Bertie was gallus as he was, was lucky to run up to the captain of Inter,
01:43 Nazionale, Armando Pici, with whom he swapped shirts at the end of the match.
01:47 And that will be offered the first slot with an estimate of 20 to 30,000.
01:52 Following on from that, as I said, the less successful 1970 campaign,
01:57 where they did reach the final.
01:59 However, whilst hotly tipped and favourites lost out to Feyenoord,
02:05 who went on to lift their first and still only European Cup.
02:08 This top here, he swapped with the captain, Rinas Israel,
02:12 who of course scored the first goal in Feyenoord's 2-1 victory.
02:17 An iconic player again, who represented the club for a number of years.
02:24 We've also got some unusual pieces, including from that same campaign,
02:29 Billy Bremner, his lead shirt.
02:31 This was the Battle of Britain, the semi-final for the 1970 European Cup.
02:37 Bremner himself, of course, scored in that second leg game.
02:42 However, it wasn't enough to see off Celtic.
02:45 The game was witnessed by almost 140,000 fans at Hampden,
02:50 in what remains a record attendance for a European Cup match.
02:56 Again, a captain's shirt swapped with Bertie Old at the end of the match.
02:59 Unusually for such a strong and successful player,
03:04 he was only capped three times for the national side.
03:07 And indeed, all of those appearances, those three appearances,
03:11 came in the same year, 1959.
03:13 What we've got here is the shirt from his first cap for Scotland,
03:18 worn in a friendly tie versus the Netherlands.
03:21 Now, whilst he was, throughout his career, a player who garnered many accolades,
03:28 one accolade perhaps he didn't want came about during this match.
03:32 In fact, he was red-carded in the 93rd minute
03:36 in what became the first ever sending off of a Scotland international.
03:40 Indeed, it's believed that this was the reason he only received three caps,
03:44 as Celtic, it is said, put pressure on the national committee
03:50 not to choose Bertie Old again to represent the team.
03:53 So it's a wonderful collection,
03:55 which we're privileged to be offering on behalf of the Old family.
04:00 And the sale will be taking place here on the 12th of October.
04:03 And in keeping with Bertie's nickname, the sale will commence at 10.30.
04:07 When collections like this are offered,
04:11 it's always a privilege to work through them.
04:14 And provenance for shirts particularly is important in its key.
04:19 And these couldn't come with any better provenance than they have.
04:22 As I say, they are being offered by the family
04:25 who have decided to give these artefacts, these objects, these jerseys,
04:30 a chance to see the world, really.
04:34 Mentioning Bertie's gallus nature,
04:38 we have another few from captains,
04:40 and he seemed to like to go up to people at the end of a match, for instance.
04:45 A wonderful shirt just over here,
04:48 belonging to Fiorentina legend Giancarlo De Sisti.
04:53 I also mentioned, interestingly, the Peneral shirt,
04:56 which is behind me there, worn by a stalwart for them too,
04:59 a guy called Giulio Abadie.
05:01 And that's an interesting shirt,
05:04 because it was actually worn in a friendly match contested at Hamden,
05:08 in anticipation of the Intercontinental Cup in 1967,
05:13 which of course was played between Celtic and Racing Club.
05:15 Now, this friendly was won 2-1 by Celtic,
05:19 who defeated the previous year's Intercontinental Cup champions.
05:24 And it was a friendly affair, you know, shirts were swapped at the end of the match.
05:27 Less can be said, so, for the Intercontinental Cup against Racing Club,
05:32 which culminated in what is known as the Battle of Montevideo,
05:37 during which six red cards were awarded,
05:40 including one to Bertie Old in the 88th minute.
05:43 But amid the chaos, he refused to leave the park.
05:46 So, each shirt sort of has a story to tell.
05:48 You know, I mentioned the Scotland shirt,
05:50 we've also got a Scotland Football League XI shirt
05:55 from the 1967 game against the English Football League.
05:59 Now, sadly, much like many of his Lisbon Lions comrades,
06:03 Bertie was seriously neglected by the national side.
06:06 And it's funny to think that he was chose for the Scottish League XI in 1967,
06:11 after winning Europe's premier prize,
06:13 but would never pull on the national jersey again.
06:16 So, some of the moments are glorious, as I say,
06:19 the Lisbon shirt, worn in that searing heat.
06:22 And some of them are kind of bittersweet.
06:25 I know, talking, for instance, about the Feyenoord shirt.
06:29 But what we have here is also other campaigns.
06:32 And interestingly, Celtic were often put out by teams who would go on to win the Cup.
06:37 For instance, we've got Pete Kyser, the legendary Pete Kyser,
06:41 who represented Ajax and was sort of seen as Johan Cruyff, his right-hand man.
06:47 And that's from 1971.
06:49 Again, that team went on to lift the European Cup,
06:52 as well as that season, that is.
06:55 We've also got an AC Milan shirt here,
06:59 worn by a player named Rognoni.
07:02 He wasn't necessarily a regular appearer for AC Milan,
07:07 but that was the campaign during which Milan manager had said,
07:11 "If you beat Celtic, you'll go on and lift the Cup."
07:14 And they did. They won 1-0 in the second leg,
07:16 which allowed them to progress to the semi-final,
07:19 and then went on to the final to win it.
07:21 So, Celtic were talking about a period where they were the team to beat in Europe.
07:27 Okay, they certainly won the European Cup in 1967,
07:32 a glorious moment.
07:34 All of the lads, of course, born within the radius of Park Head.
07:39 30 miles, I believe it was.
07:41 And what an achievement it was.
07:45 Bertie Old, even thinking of that game, known for his personality,
07:49 stood in the tunnel before the match against all these tanned,
07:55 slicked-back hair, Italian film star-looking chaps,
07:58 and starts singing the Celtic song as they walk on through.
08:02 That was the nature of Bertie Old,
08:04 and you really feel that in the collection, too.
08:06 [silence]

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