Gary Lineker's last ever shirt on sale as part of £383k football collection

  /  autty

A collection of football memorabilia worth an estimated $500,000 (£383,000) has gone on sale in the United States.

The group of more than 700 souvenirs includes Gary Lineker's shirt from his last England appearance at the European Championships in 1992 and a signed Michael Owen shirt from the 1998 World Cup.

The memorabilia was collected by the founder of US football side the Charleston Battery in South Carolina, and displayed in a purpose-built British pub called "The Three Lions" within their stadium since 1999.

With Battery moving to a new home this year and their former ground, now known as the MUSC Health Stadium, set to be demolished, the items have been put up for an online auction.

Some of the lots also include signed shirts from Man Utd's treble-winning 1999 season and Liverpool's 1977 European Cup-winning squad, a turnstile from Anfield, and a Nat Lofthouse England shirt from 1954.

A percentage of the profits will also to go to the British Red Cross, as nominated by Lineker who is backing the event, along with local charities in the US.

"This collection features items from some of the greatest players and teams in football folklore," said Josh Bussman of Schneider Industries who is handling the auction.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a piece of the beautiful game's history.

"The collection took years to bring together. We expect it to attract a lot of interest, particularly from football fans in England and Europe."

The auction is now live here and runs until March 11.

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