Sir Stanley's silver tea set scores with punters at Flog It! auction

The tea service was one of 30 lots entered in Halls' interiors auction by BBC One antiques series Flog It! which had a film crew there to witness a south coast buyer win a fierce bidding battle which raced away from the pre-sale estimate of £1,500.

Hallmarked 'Sheffield 1932', the four piece service carried the monogram 'SM' and the Stoke City crest.

It was presented to Matthews by the football club following his 44th appearance for England against Belgium on January 19, 1946.

Jeremy Lamond, Halls' fine art director, said: "We were delighted with the price achieved for the tea service which was a very fitting tribute to Sir Stanley, a football legend.

"Any item associated with him attracts a huge amount of interest from football fans and collectors alike and the tea service had the added bonus of being connected to his record appearance for England."

He added: "The Flog It! team brought some very good quality lots to the auction which we were delighted to sell on behalf of private clients and look forward to hosting them again in the future."

Matthews went on to win a total of 54 caps for England between 1934 and 1957, playing in the World Cup in 1950 and 1954 and winning nine British Home Championships.

He played for Stoke City for 19 years, from 1932 and 1947 and from 1961 to 1965, his service being broken by 14 years with Blackpool, where he won the FA Cup in 1953 in what became famously known as the Matthews Final.

Sir Stanley, who died in February, 2000 shortly after his 85th birthday

is still the only player knighted while still playing.

He played his final competitive game in 1985, at the age of 70 and played at the top level until he was 50.