Rare Shrewsbury Town programmes score by fetching £4,000 at auction
A collection of Shrewsbury Town football programmes sold for thousands of pounds when they went under the hammer at a Derbyshire auction house.
Raising more than £4,000, the programmes had been collected by lifelong fan Dave Bridgwater, a retired police officer from Telford.
Mr Bridgwater died earlier this year at the age of 84, after suffering from a rare muscle-wasting condition.
His vast collection of 4,000 programmes, which included virtually every match day home and away publication some of which dated back to 1950, were sold at Hansons Auctioneers sporting memorabilia auction.
It had been hoped that the collection would sell for £10,000 but despite a number of bids the collection, which was sold in individual and group lots, sold for £4,000.
Mr Bridgwater’s wife, Barbara, 77, said her husband started supporting Shrewsbury Town at the age of 11.
She said: “It was his passion. I went with him to one game when we first met but wasn’t really interested in football – I went shopping instead.
“It’s horrible without him but he was very poorly towards the end.”
Despite his illness, Mrs Bridgwater said her husband rarely missed a game and had bought his season ticket for this year, and hopes the programmes will go to someone who loves the club as much as he did.
David Wilson-Turner, head of the sporting department at Hansons said: “The collection of Shrewsbury Town programmes attracted a wide array of keen collectors from across the UK including fans of Shrewsbury Town and other clubs.
“The programmes were sold in batches or singular depending on their rarity value. For example, a collection of 27 programmes from the 1970/71 season sold for £320 from an estimate of £40-£50.
“A Shrewsbury Town League Cup run of programmes from 1960/61 also did well. They made £180 from a low estimate of £80. Another highlight was a scarce Shrewsbury Town v Derby County single sheet, pre-season friendly programme. It made £120 from a low estimate of £30.
“Overall, this magnificent collection of Shrewsbury Town football memorabilia realised about £4,000."
The next Sporting Memorabilia Auction is on February 21.
