£4,800 for rare Wolves programme
One of Wolves' rarest and most sought-after programmes - which cost just a penny when new - has been snapped up for £4,800 at auction.
The programme from the 1908 Wolves v Newcastle match is believed to be the only surviving one.
Despite some damage on one edge, auctioneers from Bonhams, which put the programme under the hammer in Chester on Wednesday, had expected it to sell for between £5,000 and £6,000 as it is so rare.
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 is." The programme is a precious memento of one of Wolves's earliest FA Cup final triumphs, when Wolves beat Newcastle 3-1 at the Crystal Palace in London in front of 74,967 fans.
Wolves have won the FA Cup just four times - in 1893, 1908, 1949 and 1960 - so it could be the chance of a lifetime for any Wolves fan keen to complete a set of programmes from those four historic games.
During the 1908 final, Wolves won with goals from Kenneth Hunt, George Hedley and Billy Harrison. Wolves' centre forward Hedley also played for England and ended up running a boarding house in Wolverhampton.
In 1909,the year after helping Wolves win the cup, right half Kenneth Hunt became a parson before becoming a teacher in London.
Pre-war programmes are particularly prized by collectors.
But any programme from the late 1880s to 1914 are even more desirable because of their rarity and their links to the earliest days of professional football.
The current world record value for a football programme is £21,850, the sum paid at Graham Budd Auctions in London in May 2006 for an 1889 Wolves versus Preston North End FA Cup final programme,
