An early Sheffield Football Club athletics trophy will be the highlight of an upcoming sale at Woodbury Auction in Connecticut on September 29.
The trophy, which carries an estimate of $50,000-70,000, is made from sterling silver and was awarded to the winner of a three-mile flat race in July 1872.
 The cup dates from 1872 and was awarded to the winner of an athletics event |
Sheffield Football Club was founded in 1857 and is the oldest surviving football club in the world. The rare gentlemen's sports day trophy is one of a handful of existing examples of 19th century club trophies - and was awarded at its 15th annual interclub games.
Memorabilia from the early years of organised football can change hands for large sums at auction. Last year a ball used in the 1892 FA Cup final hammered for £15,000 ($23,843).
In May of this year the earliest known example of an FA Cup football programme sold for £30,000 ($46,000) at Graham Budd Auctions in the UK - an increase of 20% on its £25,000 ($39,738) estimate and a record price for a football programme.
We have a wide selection of football memorabilia for sale.
The auction also features a William Van Zandt oil painting detailing a horse and sulky. It dates to 1894 and is offered in its original frame.
A separate painting by the artist, almost identical in composition although dated 1888 and featuring a sulky and rider, made $9,750 at Doyle in New York in 2004 - well over its high estimate of $9,000.
For more information on sports memorabilia and collectibles, please sign up to our free weekly newsletter.
