Rugby shirt sells for £6k

A RUGBY shirt worn by the man considered Wales’ greatest-ever player has been snapped up for a staggering £6,000 at an auction of unique pieces of Welsh history.

The number 9 jersey worn by Gareth Edwards during Wales’ 25-9 victory over Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park in 1977 is considered to be very rare, as he is known to have kept hold of most of his shirts, although this one had been handed to fan Ken Rees following the match.

It was expected to fetch between £2,000 and £3,000 and was snapped up by a collector.

The shirt was one of hundreds of lots in a flagship auction of Welsh works held in Cardiff.

Also sold were the original latex puppets of Lord Neil and Baroness Glenys Kinnock from Spitting Image from the 1980s and ’90s. They went on sale with a guide price of £2,000 to £3,000, but fetched £3,400.

Among the other unusual items on sale, which ranged from Ynysmeudy pottery to a dark humour sculpture of a skeleton pulling a garden roller, were Sir Kyffin Williams’ 80th birthday card, which featured a caricature selfportrait of the artist walking with a stick. It had a guide price of £30 to £50 but fetched £170 and an original poster promoting the film Tiger Bay, starring Hayley and John Mills, went for £80.

Auctioneers Rogers Jones and Co on Penarth Road in Cardiff said the sale is their flagship auction of Welsh works of art and other items.

Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones said it was the more unusual items that flew out of the door, rather than the sought-after artworks of Sir Kyffin Williams.

A vintage Leonard Richmond British Railways platform poster promoting travel to Aberystwyth went for £600 when the guide price was between £350 to £450.

And a wartime recruitment poster from 1916 in the Welsh language was bought for £80, although it had been expected to sell for more.

Mr Rogers Jones said the “excellent” auction had attracted people from all walks of life.

“There was furious bidding for the Gareth Edwards shirt,” he said.

“There was bidding online and two bidders in the room

“A Cardiff collector bought it who usually specialises in British Lions, but he bought this because it was so rare.”