The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Mark’s Best auction find ever
AN AUTOGRAPHED memento of the time George Best arrived in Angus with Miss World has been sold off at a Royal Mail auction.
The rare match programme, signed by Best and his ex-girlfriend Mary Stavin, was among “lost in the post” items which went under the hammer last week at Wellers Auctioneers.
Wellers has an exclusive contract to sell Royal Mail’s undelivered post and the programme was bought by Mark Whitby, from Wiltshire, during the auction in Surrey.
The programme has now been put up for sale on eBay with a starting price of £49.99, which is sure to enrage the previous owner whose post went astray.
Royal Mail sells off the contents of about 75,000 undelivered packages that got “lost in the post” every year to help meet its running costs.
Even customers who paid for premium “secure” services to cover valuable items have been shocked to find their goods put up for auction.
To celebrate their centenary year, Arbroath Vics secured Best’s services in a match against Arbroath at Gayfield Park on Sunday August 8 1982.
Best scored twice in a 4-3 win and stayed behind long after the match to sign autographs before leaving to fulfil his engagements at the Vics’social club.
Mr Whitby told The Courier: “I don’t really know too much about the programme. I bought it last week from a ‘lost in the post’ Royal Mail auction in Surrey.
“I did some research on the internet and found the match. The autographs on the programme are George Best, Mary Stavin and World Cup referee Bob Valentine.
“I assume that, with both George and Mary’s signatures on the programme this makes it quite rare and a collectors’ piece.”
Royal Mail have said about 500,000 undeliverable parcels are sent to its return letter centre every year.
They are kept for up to six months, after which a proportion — about 15% — are sent to auction, with the proceeds making a contribution to the centre’s annual £10 million running costs.
In 1974 Best left Manchester United, effectively ending his career at the highest level at the age of 27.
He would play on for nearly 10 more years at a number of lesser clubs.
Arbroath Vics club secretary Jimmy Smith was an associate of Bill McMurdo, who was Best’s agent at the time.
He chanced his arm and called McMurdo and a guest appearance was duly arranged.