FOOTBALL legends Nat Lofthouse and Alan Ball are helping boost the bidding in a unique sale of World Cup hero Geoff Hurst's memorabilia.
Sir Geoff who scored the winning hat trick in England's 1966 World Cup victory, has decided to sell off around 200 treasures he has collected over the years.
And a highlight of the auction at Christie's in London on September 29 will be the sale of two autographed albums produced to try and help England's recent ill-fated bid to host the World Cup in 2006.
The books, created by the Football Association, feature pictures and autographs of 22 players, past and present, who best represent England's fighting spirit.
Players include modern day stars such as Alan Shearer and Paul Gascoigne as well as Bolton's Lion of Vienna Nat Lofthouse and Farnworth born World Cup star Alan Ball.
Only a handful of the white hardback albums were ever produced to be presented to FIFA delegates and, as part of the England bid team, Sir Geoff kept two copies. Each is expected to fetch up to £800 at auction although they are not the most expensive items in the sale. Experts believe the famous England shirt worn by Sir Geoff in the World Cup final could fetch as much as £30,000!
Nat Lofthouse told the BEN that he could not remember contributing to the autograph albums but added that he is pleased that his name and picture could help Geoff Hurst raise an extra few hundred pounds, especially if some of the cash goes to charity.
The auction is expected to raise a total of around £200,000 and 58-year-old Sir Geoff explained his reasons for deciding to sell.
"It was always my intention to leave the collection to my children, but I have three daughters and, apart from a few special items, they're not really interested in the bulk of it," he said.
"I've also lost a significant part of the collection in two burglaries and, as a consequence of this, everything is now locked away and no one ever sees any of it."
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