The club does the right thing

David Gill and The Glazers have been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism, but they have done a good deed today by purchasing medals of former United player, Nobby Stiles. Whatever their intentions were in doing so, it was still  nice gesture and it’s great that the medals will be displayed in the club’s museum. It’s just a pity the club couldn’t do the same with George Best’s European Cup medal.

From ESPN:

A 1966 World Cup winners’ medal belonging to England player Nobby Stiles was bought for a record-breaking sum by his former club on Wednesday.

Manchester United paid £188,200 for the medal at an auction of football memorabilia in Edinburgh. The price trumped the £165,000 fetched by team-mate Alan Ball’s own World Cup medal five years ago.

Stiles, 68, made a total of £424,438 from his collection during the sale.

Manchester United bought several of the 45 lots, which a representative from Convery Auctions said would be displayed in the club’s museum.

Stiles said he had intended to leave the mementoes to his children, but decided to sell them after being unable to divide them up between his three sons.

The defender’s football cap from the famous 1966 final was also sold during the auction, fetching £35,287.

Stiles’ European Cup winners’ medal from 1968 and the blue shirt he wore during the triumphant match against Benfica went for £49,402 and £30,582 respectively.

The footballer, who suffered a stroke in June, told the BBC: “It was always my intention to leave the entire collection to my children but I have three sons – how do you fairly divide up this sort of collection between them?

“They have each selected some pieces they would like to keep for themselves.”

The sale also featured the shirt worn by Alan Ball during the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany. It fetched £51,755, Convery Auctions said.

A spokeswoman said there had been interest in the sale from around the world, including Australia, Chile and the Far East. All prices include the buyer’s premium.