West Bromwich Albion programme set to fetch £20k
It cost only one old penny new but now, 127 years later, one of the rarest and most valuable West Bromwich Albion football programmes is set to fetch nearly £20,000 at auction.
The black and white single sheet programme, with team line-ups on one side and an advertisement on the back, was issued for the Baggies v Preston North End FA Cup final at the Kennington Oval in London on March 24,1888. It is thought to be one of the few surviving copies of this 'scare' programme.
It is particularly desirable for Albion collectors because it is a memento of West Brom's first FA Cup final triumph. The club lost their first two finals in 1886 and 1887 but it was third time lucky when they beat Preston North End 2-1 in the 1888 match.
The game itself was watched by 19,000 fans at the Oval.
Preston were favourites to win the match, especially after thrashing Hyde 26-0 in the first round of the competition, but goals from George Woodhall and skipper Jem Bayliss ensured victory for West Brom.
The final was a controversial match as many observers felt that the referee, Major Francis Marindin had shown bias towards Albion's all English 11.
At one point during the match, he stopped play just as Preston were about to score to award a free kick to West Brom, even though no Baggies player had made an appeal, which was required by the rules of the game at that time.
The programme was originally owned by WBA director,Major Harold Ely, who at the time of the 1911 Census was living at 31a Thynne Street, West Bromwich.
It is now expected to fetch between £15,000 and £20,000 at Graham Budd Auctions in London on Tuesday, May 19 and included with the programme is a photograph of Albion's 1888 FA Cup winning team.
But these could turn out to be cautious pre-sale estimates.
For at the same auction house on May 10, 2006, a single sheet 1889 Preston North End v Wolves FA Cup final programme was expected to sell for between £7,000 and £10,000 but in the end sold for £21,850, which set a new world auction record for a football programme.
Albion's 1888 FA Cup winning team was Bob Roberts, Albert Aldridge, Harry Green, Ezra Horton, Charlie Perry, George Timmins, George Woodhall, Billy Bassett, Jem Bayliss (captain), Joe Wilson and Tom Pearson.
Other rare programmes that have gone for big bucks include the one for the 1908 Wolves v Newcastle match, which went for £4,800 at Bonhams.
The auctioneer said: "It is extremely rare as it is believed to be the only surviving programme from this game.
"The vendor was left the programme with other programmes by a relative. He did not realise how valuable it was."
The programme is a precious memento of one of Wolves's earliest FA Cup final triumphs, when Wolves beat Newcastle 3-1 at Crystal Palace in London in front of 74,967 fans.
