Go to Spain, Italy or Brazil…
Countries where, as they say, "football is a religion".
The passion of the fans is unlike anything we see over here in the UK - they even make the locals at Millwall look shy and retiring…
So you might expect these countries to be hotbeds of football memorabilia. Not a bit of it.
 Geoff Hurst's 1966 World Cup Final shirt - victory for England in 2014 could 'revitalise the market' |
Look at the most expensive pieces of football memorabilia ever sold. Eight out of 10 of those items are British - seven of them English.
You've got an early example of the FA Cup, which sold for £278,400, Geoff Hurst's 1966 World Cup Final shirt (£91,750) and George Best's Manchester United 1968 European Cup winner's medal (£156,000).
It's not as though these isles have a monopoly on great footballing moments.
Real Madrid's 7-3 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 European Cup Final is widely regarded as one of the finest matches of all time. Yet the game's memorabilia features nowhere.
What's the reason British memorabilia dominates the football market?
Paul Fraser Collectibles asked this very question to Kevin Moore, the director of the National Football Museum in Manchester.
He told us categorically:
"It's the history of the game. When you talk to people from overseas they get that. We had [former Danish international and Manchester United keeper] Peter Schmeichel here the other day and he said that the FA Cup was the one game as a child that you would watch, because of all that tradition and history."
I think it also has something to do with the British psyche. We are a nation of nostalgics. We adore collecting. We adore football. Put the two together and you have a wonderful match.
It helps explain the phenomenon of programme collecting. Rare copies of programmes from nondescript matches can sell for hundreds, and the world record stands at £35,250, set by an example from the 1882 FA Cup Final between Blackburn Rovers and Old Etonians.
And with the case of England World Cup memorabilia, perhaps because there remains just one sole triumph, artefacts from that historic day are all the more attractive to collectors.
So…
Would an England victory in 2014 dent prices for 1966 memorabilia?
Moore doesn't think so.
"It could in fact revitalise the market," he says.
"1966 is always going to be the defining moment for England fans as it was the first."
So if you're looking to buy football memorabilia with a view to it growing in value over the long-term, remember to buy iconic and buy English.
Enjoy the football.
Paul
