Major football collection lost as fire wrecks shed

AFOOTBALL lover lost 70 years of memorabilia - including 50,000 programmes - after his shed caught fire.

Ben Grice, 22, had been passed down the collection ten years ago from his grandfather.

The Bristol City fan, from Huntley, Gloucestershire, said his grandad began collecting in the 1950s and Ben started adding his own finds to the collection.

He had stored the vast array of shirts, programmes, team sheets and signed pictures in his shed.

But Ben was devastated when he was called home on April 13 to find almost his entire collection destroyed by a suspected electrical fire.

Now, more than 30 strangers have jumped to help him replace the loss by offering their own historic football items.

Ben, a highways worker, said: “I got a call from my dad saying everything was gone.

“I was devastated. That’s so many memories passed down the family, it’s all gone now.

“But it feels so good that people have been getting in touch to donate.

“There are a lot of good people out there.”

Ben’s shed contained around 50,000 programmes from the past 70 years.

It was also stuffed full of countless signed T-shirts, posters, pictures, tickets and team sheets.

But he was horrified after the call from his dad telling him to come - and he found it all destroyed.

Only 500 of the 50,000 programmes in the collection, dating back to the 1950s, survived the blaze.

Ben said: “The firefighters suggested it was from an electrical fault.

“I was heartbroken, I just broke down when I saw.

“That’s so many memories just gone.”

Now Ben has received more than 25-30 emails from strangers offering some of their own memorabilia.

He was even donated a match shirt by Bristol City legend Scott Murray to help build his collection back up.

Ben said: “I want to get back what I have lost.

“It feels so good when people get in touch offering to donate things.

“There are a lot of good people out there.”

SWNS Firefighters at the scene after Ben Grice’s shed had burnt down