Dallaglio’s medals and Cantona’s shorts lead Budds’ ‘Octoberfest’ auction as market for sporting memorabilia surges
This week at Budds auction house’s “Octoberfest” sale, auctioneer David Convery presided over 332 lots of sporting memorabilia, many drawn from the collection of former England rugby union captain Lawrence Dallaglio. Items ranging from a 2003 World Cup winner’s medal to Eric Cantona’s shorts changed hands as online and in-room bidders competed.
The auctioneer’s delivery was as much part of the event as the lots: he cradled his gavel in his palm “like a pipe, the handle pointing towards him,” and punctuated his patter with an occasional swig from a water bottle while calling to the room – “Are you bidding, Wilf? You’re waving at me.” Convery, who has run auctions with twice as many lots, has three decades of experience and has secured world-record prices, including the oldest surviving FA Cup and Pelé’s 1970 World Cup final shirt.
Recent headline sales have pushed the market to new heights: this week a jersey worn by Michael Jordan in the second game of the 1998 NBA finals sold for over £10m, following a game three jersey that fetched £9.3m two weeks earlier and outpacing the game one jersey that Sotheby’s sold in 2022. The sale was described as unprecedented in basketball, and the broader market’s top price remains Babe Ruth’s 1932 “called shot” jersey, which sold for over £18m in 2024.
Almost all of Budds’ catalogue that attracted major attention was the property of Lawrence Dallaglio, declared bankrupt a year ago. His set of tankards sold for £1,600 and his 2003 World Cup winner’s medal went for £54,000, near the bottom of its estimate; his England and Lions caps drew a strong flurry of bids, noted for their old-fashioned gold braid, tassel and individual numbers stitched on the peak.
The sale mixed low-value ephemera with higher-ticket items. Diane Modahl’s leotard from the 1998 Commonwealth Games attracted no takers even at £50 despite the inclusion of her spikes and signature, while a £5 note autographed by Jack Nicklaus found more interest. The catalogue moved from signed prints, photos and programmes to cricket caps and touring blazers from the era when England wore the MCC’s colours and crest overseas.
Surprises under the hammer included Trevor Bailey’s touring blazers, which sold for less than a decent new one at John Lewis, and the comparison that Paul Stirling’s Ireland T20 shirt commanded a higher price than a pair of Godfrey Evans’s wicketkeeping gloves. Lots ranged from Harry Kane shirts to Eric Cantona’s shorts and a coffee table used by Des Lynam in the BBC television studio at the 1998 Fifa World Cup; that table, previously owned by Robbie Williams, became the focus of a transatlantic contest before selling for £800 to a UK bidder.
Speakers at the sale and the catalogue reflected wider market forces: the US tradition of valuing on- and off-field artefacts and the globalisation and internet-driven expansion of buyers. Examples cited in the room included the Steve Hodge shirt swapped for Diego Maradona’s No 10, which an anonymous buyer paid over £7m for four years ago, and six of Lionel Messi’s Argentina shirts, which recently proved to be worth more than the entire turnover of his own clothing line.
After three hours the auctioneer was still working the room, his rapid cadence punctuated by the soft digital ding each time the website registered a sale, and online bidding remained active throughout. The market for sporting memorabilia continues to be supported by intense competition among collectors and online platforms, as reflected in the volume and diversity of lots at Budds’ “Octoberfest.”