There was a time, long before the phrase ‘sports memorabilia’ entered the sporting lexicon, when collecting a cricketer’s autograph, match day programmes or photographs of footballers depicted on cards distributed with packets of chewing gum represented the extent of any ‘memorabilia’ market.
Commercial considerations could hardly have been further from the mind of the clutch of youngsters stood in the rain at most football grounds in the 60s and 70s following Saturday afternoon’s match, autograph book open and pen eagerly poised. Furthermore, players stopped, chatted and signed the proffered autograph books too.
Burly security men donning equally bulky high-visibility reflective jackets keep would-be autograph hunters at bay while too many superstar footballers head straight to the car park and their latest overpriced four-wheel drive. Why? Probably because the value of virtually all sporting items, be they balls, gloves, kit or photographs have shown a tendency to increase in price (if not inherent value) should they be enhanced with the barely decipherable squiggle of a sporting ‘personality’.
And there’s the rub. The sports memorabilia market has been swamped by a wave of perfectly authentic signed photographs, programmes and a host of other merchandise capable of accommodating a signature, to the extent that today, most of it is worth less than £20. Of course, the perceived value is often considerably higher, but the fact that a simple Google search of the term ‘sports memorabilia’ produces 157 million results explains why some experienced auctioneers and traders believe that perhaps 99 per cent of the market is perfect only for hobbyists, not investors.
Yet collecting sports memorabilia is not dissimilar to collecting stamps because every so often, something of real value is uncovered. It is this possibility of unearthing the unexpected rarity, a find of real sporting value, which explains why sports memorabilia is increasingly viewed as an investment asset class in its own right.
Over the past decade, for example, Sothebys, the auctioneer, has sold a host of sports memorabilia, achieving some eye-catching prices. Sir Stanley Matthews’ FA Cup winners medal from 1953, for instance, brought £23,500, while last year, the firm sold the earliest rules of football, dating from 1859, for a staggering £881,000.
Another auctioneering firm, Bonhams, has suggested that bolder investors are turning to sports memorabilia and viewing it a form of alternative investment, much like fine wine and forestry. Christopher Hayes, the firm’s sports memorabilia specialist, said: “It’s becoming increasingly popular for investors to purchase sporting goods at auction for investment purposes, rather than [accept] the current interest rate. As the world’s biggest sport, football is naturally the biggest seller, although you have to be selective in your purchase to turn a profit.”
This is wise advice. Consider, for example, that two years ago, Nobby Stiles sold his 1968 European Cup winner’s medal for £48,300. A few months later, George Best’s estate auctioned his winner’s medal from the same match. Best’s brought £156,000.
Trevor Vennett-Smith, owner of Nottingham-based specialist sports auctioneer Vennett-Smith, emphasises the need for would-be investors to focus upon quality. “Prices have fluctuated wildly over the past decade,” he says, “after the internet helped drive valuations upwards. International caps, shirts, blazers and medals leapt as much as fourfold between 1997-2007, but they have fallen significantly over the past five years.”
He fears that up to 85 per cent of sports memorabilia sold on auction websites could be just about worthless. “I used to get people coming in with soccer star signatures. I had to tell them they owned a nice photograph, but that someone had spoiled it with a scribble,” he adds. Cricket could offer better investment opportunities than football, although Mr Vennett-Smith cautions against buying items just because they’re old.
He has a painting by former England wicket keeper Jack Russell, currently on display at the Getty Museum in London, up for sale at his next auction on 27th-28th November. Uniquely, the piece is painted on thirty six full-sized cricket bats which come together to form an overall image, that of a quintessentially English village cricket scene. Such an original piece should appreciate in value, depending upon what it sells for in November.
“The sports memorabilia market changes frequently, but the dramatic reversal in fortune is not limited to football,” explains Mr Vennett-Smith. He recalls selling a cricket bat from a match between Oxford University and Australia back in 1907 which had been signed by both teams, including Australian great Victor Trumper. Five years earlier, Trumper became the first player to score a century on the opening morning of a Test match, notching 103 before lunch against England at Old Trafford. In 2005, the bat sold for £5,000; today, it’s valued at between £1,500 – £2,000.
But the extent to which selected sporting memorabilia valuations have grown, together with those of a host of other genres, is evident from an examination of Fraser’s Rarity Index, a measurement of the value of rare autographs, established in 1997. Fifteen years ago, the index’s aggregate value (it comprises autographs from 100 well-known people) was £80,720; by 2011, it had grown to £354,935, an increase of 339 per cent. Significantly, perhaps, only eight of the index’s 100 signatures originated in the world of sport.
The chart on the left shows the most valuable sporting autographs currently available on Fraser’s Rarity Index but of course, this excludes more than 90 per cent of the other names that comprise the index and herein lies a further opportunity for those seeking alternative investments. Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of collecting memorabilia is it subjectivity. Does it matter that my framed Bristol Rovers v Manchester United programme from 1974-75 occupying a space on his study wall is just about worthless? No – but it does show United languishing in the Second Division which makes it especially satisfying.