Football hero sells medals for a ‘few quid’ at Christmas
Scottish football hero John Mcgovern is selling his Championship winning medals at auction to help pay for his Christmas shopping.
The retired Montrose-born midfielder is most famous for captaining the Nottingham Forest side that twice won the European Cup.
Despite winning the top prize in club football twice he was never capped for his country because manager Ally Macleod did not know he was Scottish.
But now he is selling his 1972 Division One winners medal in order to fund Christmas presents for his friends and family this year.
Themedal,whichmcgovern won with Derby County, will go under the hammer along with other prized memorabilia from his career with the club.
A Division Two winner’s medal from 1969, a Texaco Cup winner’s trophy and his kit from the 1971-72 season are expected to fetch around £3,000 in total.
He has also put a Derby County ceramic ram celebrating their Division Two success on sale, along with a tie from the 1971-72 season.
The online auction hosted by John Pye auctioneers started last Wednesday and bidders have until midday on Thursday to secure the historic pieces.
Mr Mcgovern, 68, said that he was not desperate to sell the honours but wanted to have some more money in the runup to Christmas.
He said: “People ask me why I’m selling them and I say listen ‘I don’t owe the bookmakers any money, I own my own
0 Double European Cup winner John Mcgovern is selling his prized memorabilia from his career with Derby house, I own my own car’. There’s no desperate reason to sell them but I’m just hoping to have a bit more money when it gets closer to Christmas.
“It was a great honour to play for Derby and win the medals.
“It’s just come to a time when I’ve moved from living in Sheffield for 20 years to moving to an apartment in Nottingham and the medals I don’t have on display anyway.
“I thought selling them would give me a few more quid at Christmas to do some shopping.”
He has refused to sell his most prized possessions – his two European Cup medals that he won with Nottingham Forest in 1979 and 1980.
The former manager – he was player-manager at Bolton Wanderers – added: “I’ve got two grandchildren now and I’ve got two European Cup winners medals and I would like to hand them or the moneytothem. Atthemoment,the medals I won at Nottingham Forest are staying put.
“There’s no special reason for that either. I’m lucky enough to have won medals at both clubs.”
Despite spending his entire career in England, the uncapped midfielder was inducted in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame earlier this year.