Scottish sporting history goes under hammer: £20k Rangers kit, Jimmy Bell collection, Celtic shirts hard to identify and Muhammad Ali drawing

Over 500 lots will feature, dating from the Victorian era to the modern day, and while football dominates there are also highly collectables from golf, rugby and boxing.

Jerseys, medals and caps that belonged to the likes of Kenny Dalglish, John Grieg, Billy McNeill, Mo Johnston, Andy Goram, Paul Sturrock, Henrik Larsson and Alex McLeish are up for sale along with a pair of shorts owned by Ken Buchanan, the former undisputed world lightweight champion, and a signed Barbarians jersey worn by the great Sandy Carmichael in the classic match against New Zealand in Cardiff in 1973.

While Scottish lots dominate, there is also a drawing by Muhammad Ali included in the auction which will be held at the Trades Hall of Glasgow, and online, on April 10. A public viewing takes place the day before.

The earliest lot is an eight-page booklet, ‘Royal and Ancient – Rules of the Game of Golf’, which is from 1842, and is expected to fetch between £3,200 and £3,800. Another golf highlight is the silver-gilt replica of the Ryder Cup which was presented to George Will and is listed with an estimate of £5,000-£7,000. Will, from Ladybank, Fife, represented Great Britain and Ireland at three Ryder Cups, in 1963, 1965 and 1967.

The biggest contributor to the auction is Alex Miller, the former Rangers player, Hibernian manager and coach of Liverpool and Scotland, whose collection comprises 102 lots and includes jerseys from his Ibrox playing days, notable Hibs items such as Keith Wright’s shirt from the 1991 Skol Cup final triumph and Liverpool memorabilia linked to Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Emile Heskey gifted to Miller during his nine-year stint at Anfield working alongside Gérard Houllier and Rafael Benítez.

There is also a large array of strips from the family of former Rangers kitman Jimmy Bell who died in 2022, and a collection of medals and jerseys which belonged to Dundee United great Sturrock before he sold them to a private collector.

The item with the highest estimated value is the jersey worn by Derek Johnstone when Rangers won the European Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1972, defeating Dynamo Moscow 3-2 in the final in Barcelona. Johnstone, who was 18 and went on to become one of the club’s most prolific centre-forwards, was drafted into defence for the match. The jersey is expected to fetch between £15,000 and £20,000.

“It’s a big estimate but I think it deserves every penny of that and more hopefully,” said David Convery, the head of sporting memorabilia at Graham Budd Auctions who are organising the sale. “Rangers tried twice before, getting to two finals and were sadly beaten but they eventually won it the third time, 3-2, in a nervy finish back in ’72. One or two senior players were injured and Derek Johnstone, who was 18 years old, was thrust into a European final, does remarkably well and wins a medal. The jersey has not come from Derek himself, he gave it away years ago. It’s come from a private collector.”

Johnstone would go on to enjoy plenty more success with the Ibrox club, helping them to domestic trebles in 1976 and 1978 and his league winners’ medal from the latter is also up for auction, with the estimate listed at between £1,800 and £2,200. It was Johnstone’s most prolific season, with the striker scoring 38 goals.

Kenny Dalglish, Scotland’s most capped player and arguably their greatest, features twice in the auction. A Celtic jersey he wore against Queen of the South in the club’s double-winning campaign of 1976-77 is available (estimate: £1,000-£1,500). It was Dalglish’s final season at the club before his British record £440,000 transfer to Liverpool. “The hardest thing with Celtic is that in those days the shirts had no numbers and no badges,” said Convery. “It can be very difficult to tie a shirt down to a particular game but this one comes from a Queen of the South player’s family,”

The second Dalglish item is the classic Umbro Scotland shirt with diamond trim from the friendly against Argentina at Hampden in 1979, the match in which Diego Maradona scored his first-ever international goal. The jersey is likely to set you back between £1,800 and £2,200.

Dalglish left Parkhead in the summer of 1977 but a Celtic jersey from the following season has already attracted a bid of £1,600. It was a trophyless campaign but notable for being Jock Stein’s last in charge and the first time that the Celtic top had featured the club badge. Incidentally, the league medal won by Stein in 1977 is also up for auction and estimated to fetch £4,000 to £6,000.

There’s only one rugby item in the sale but it’s a good one and the estimated value of Carmichael’s Barbarians jersey is the second highest of the 500-plus lots. Carmichael, the redoubtable West of Scotland prop, wore it in the Baa-Baas’ 23-11 victory over New Zealand in Cardiff 51 years ago. It was the match in which Sir Gareth Edwards scored what is often considered rugby union’s greatest try, finishing off a free-flowing move begun by the late Phil Bennett deep inside his own half.

“Again, it’s come down the family line,” said Convery. “Sandy sadly died in 2021. It’s the game that had the greatest try ever scored. And it was also the first time the Baa-Baas players were allowed to take their shirts. Before, you had to hand them back after the match. Gareth Edwards’ jersey sold for almost £250,000 a couple of years ago. Sandy Carmichael was a great Scottish rugby player, the first to get to 50 caps, so this should appeal and I think £12,000 to £15,000 is a sensible estimate.”

Ken Buchanan’s shorts (est: £400-£600) also date from the early 1970s. They bear the names of his children, Mark and Karen, as well as the intriguingly named Mistys Nite Spot, presumably one of the great Edinburgh’s boxer’s backers. They come from the family of the seamstress who used to make Buchanan’s shorts.

The provenance of the Muhammad Ali drawing up for auction is equally engrossing. “He was very famous for doodling and this was done on a flight to Dubai and given as a thank you to the chief steward who looked after him in first class,” explained Convery. “These drawings have been a recurring theme for Ali and this is quite a big example. It was long flight and it’s been signed by him on the right-hand side. He’s the greatest boxer of all time and his stuff is always at a premium at auction.” It’s expected to realise between £5,500 and £7,500.

One of the most fascinating items to be auctioned is an extremely rare black and white striped long-sleeved Scotland football jersey worn by former Hibs inside forward William McCartney against Ireland in 1902. It was the only time Scotland wore this kit which is thought to have been based on the jersey of Queen Park, the preeminent Scottish team of the era. It also happened to be the only cap won by McCartney who was part of Hibs’ league-winning team in 1903 and went on to play for Manchester United and West Ham.

Convery estimates you will need to pay between £5,000 and £8,000 for this slice of Scottish sporting history.