Ruben Neves’ £1,300 Wolves shirt helps cash total in Poppy Appeal auction
An auction of Wolves special Poppy Appeal shirts netted nearly £9,000 for charity – with Rúben Neves’ scoring the highest bid this year at £1,350.
Twenty-one special edition Wolves shirts went under the hammer in the latest Sky Bet Poppy Auction in aid of the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.
The Wolves shirts put up for sale were from the 2-0 home victory against Fulham on November 3.
And supporters from across the world, as far afield as Japan to America, tuned in to the live auction to try and snap up a one-off shirt.
After a flurry of bids Neves’ shirt finally sold to an online bidder from England called tjp1980 for £1,350, at least twice the amount of the rest of the shirts on offer.
Other clubs were also auctioning off poppy shirts.
But organisers from Sky Bet said Neves’s was the most any Championship shirt has made this year.
The Portuguese midfielder’s shirt also sold for more than shirts worn by Manchester City forward Sergio Agüero and F1 champion Lewis Hamilton – which were sold at previous auctions for £1,300 and £716.
But it didn’t quite pip the most expensive Championship shirt to sell, which was £2,000 for former Leeds United’s Alex Mowatt’s shirt from their win over Huddersfield Town.
The second highest selling Wolves shirt on Thursday was Diogo Jota’s, which went for £675.
Jota, a fellow Portuguese player, signed for Wolves on loan in July and has become another fan favourite and integral part of the side.
Wolves have announced they will sign him on a permanent transfer this summer. Forward Ivan Cavaleiro, also part of Wolves’ Portuguese contingency, had his shirt fetch £660.
The total sale of the shirts raised was £8,996, with the average going for £428.
The auction that finished on Thursday was one of a number run by Charity Stars and the total made by Championship shirt sales since November is around £60,000.
Villa have donated some of their Poppy Appeal shirts to local charities and will hold a silent auction at the end of the season for the rest of the shirts.
Albion auctioned off their Poppy Appeal shirts in November and raised £8,431.23 for the Royal British Legion.
Grzegorz Krychowiak’s two match-worn shirts proved popular and sold for £770. Ben Foster’s home jersey went for £343.80, while Salomon Rondon’s top – worn at Huddersfield – fetched £310.
Birmingham City FC also sold shirts for the appeal in January.
All funds from the auctions will be used to support the charity’s vital welfare services it provides to the Armed Forces community, such as the Battle Back Centre in Lilleshall, in Telford, which helps to recover wounded, injured and sick personnel.
Ben France, a spokesman for the charity, said: “We’re grateful to Sky Bet for supporting the Legion through the shirt auctions and to the football league community who each year dig deep and donate to the Poppy Appeal.”
Sky Bet spokesman Sandro Di Michele said: “The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal is a cause we’ve worked closely with for nearly four years and we’re always impressed by the swell of support we see from EFL clubs and their fans.
"To be in a position where we can raise a huge amount of money for such a worthwhile cause and pay our respects to those who have served our country is an honour.”
The shirts featured poppies as a mark of remembrance, ahead of Remembrance Day on November 11.
The list of the Wolves shirt sales are: Alfred N’Diaye, £550; Conor Coady, £501; Leo Bonatini, £480; Ryan Bennett, £425; Barry Douglas , £400; Willy Boly, £400; John Ruddy, £400; Danny Batth, £400; Matt Doherty, £355; Romain Saiss, £335; Helder Costa, £300; Jack Price, £300; Bright Enobakhare, £270; Will Norris, £255; Roderick Miranda, £250; Ruben Vinagre, £250; Ben Marshall, £220 and Kortney Hause for £220.
The auction of Wolves shirts ran for two weeks finishing on Thursday. More auctions will take place again in the coming weeks on the Charity Stars website.
Keep up to date with future auctions by visiting expressandstar.com
