Celtic legend’s famous football tops expected to make £100,000 at auction

The football shirt “Lisbon Lion” Bertie Auld swapped during Celtic’s historic European Cup win in 1967 is among jerseys being auctioned by his family in a sale expected to fetch about £100,000.

The Celtic great died in 2021 aged 83 after being diagnosed with dementia and a portion of the proceeds will go to the charity set up in his name, the Bertie Auld Legacy.

Among the 17 football shirts going on sale is the one the midfielder swapped with Inter Milan captain Armando Picchi after the Glasgow club’s 2-1 victory in the European Cup final in Lisbon in May 1967, a result which led to the victorious players becoming known as the Lisbon Lions.

Picchi was a legend of the game in Italy and experts at McTear’s auction house in Glasgow estimate the Inter Milan shirt could sell for between £20,000 and £30,000.

Mourners outside Celtic Park during the funeral procession for former Celtic player Bertie Auld (Andrew Milligan/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Andrew Milligan

The collection also includes the jersey of Dutch star Rinus Israel, of Feyenoord, which was swapped following Celtic’s ill-fated European Cup final clash on May 6 1970.

The game, in which Celtic were defeated 2-1, secured Feyenoord, and the Netherlands, their first European Cup. The jersey is expected to fetch up to £20,000.

Auld’s son Robert Auld said: “Dad was quite humble about his achievements and didn’t talk too much about the games, but then again, he didn’t need to.

“The shirts speak for themselves and show how Celtic went from underdogs on the international stage to one of the most dominant forces in Europe during the late 1960s and early 70s.

“Dad was a phenomenon and a tremendously hard worker on and off the field.

“He always said he never had any regrets in life, although he did admit that he could have scored four against Inter in the 1967 final.”

Bertie Auld speaks to the fans at a Celtic v Inter Milan match at Celtic Park (Richard Sellers/PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Richard Sellers

He said his father would be pleased with the work the Bertie Auld Legacy is doing, including raising money for Kilbryde Hospice in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, and Football Memories – a project to help people with dementia using footballing images to improve recall.

He said: “Dad suffered from dementia and in the last few years of his life I spent a lot of time with him, which I loved.

“We would spend time in the garden, building fences and what not, with dad singing along to his favourite Frank Sinatra songs.

“As we look to expand the charity’s activities, we are looking to support a number of other good causes, including research into dementia.”

As well as the European jerseys and Auld’s Scotland shirts, the collection also includes a match-worn Kenny Dalglish Scotland jersey, one of Auld’s Hibs jerseys and a pair of his match-worn Celtic shorts, complete with his signature No 10 on the leg.

Bertie Auld heads the ball in a game against Dynamo Kiev at Celtic Park (PA)PA Archive/PA Images - PA

McTear’s specialist James Bruce said: “There is no doubt Bertie Auld thoroughly deserves his place in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, with the Celtic midfielder playing a pivotal role in multiple European games in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Lisbon Lions’ triumph in 1967.

“The collection paints a detailed picture of Auld’s incredible career, including the runs to both the 1967 and 1970 European Cup finals.

“It is a rare thing to see just one shirt from this illustrious period in Celtic’s history come to auction, but to see over a dozen from some of the game’s most famous players is simply breathtaking.

“We are already seeing huge intertest in the auction and we expect this to continue to ramp up as we move closer to the October 12 sale.”