Rare World Cup 1966 memorabilia belonging to England legend Alan Ball up at auction

But one very lucky fan – with very deep pockets – is set to become the owner of unique pieces of memorabilia from the 1966 final.

The shirt, medal, and symbolic cap of legendary player Alan Ball will come under the hammer at Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, on December 9.

The pieces, which have been auctioned before separately but never together, are unique with no other player’s medal or shirt ever believed to have come on the market.

And their rarity is reflected in the estimates for each piece.

The cap – marked with the words World Championship Jules Rimet Cup 1966 - could go for 15,000-25,000 plus buyer’s premium.

The shirt too, complete with Ball’s No 7 on the back, is set to fetch up to £50,000 too.

But it is the medal, made of gold and with an intricate carving on it, which could fetch the most money – up to £120,000.

Ball originally sold his medal and cap at auction in 2005 when they were purchased by the owner of Bolton Wanderers, businessman and philanthropist Edwin ‘Eddie’ Davies, who died in 2018.

Kegan Harrison, expert in Toys and Collectables at the well respected auction house, said: “Oddly, the date for the auction wasn’t planned to coincide with the Cup, that’s just how it has happened.

"In terms of rarity, when you’re looking at something like the World Cup medal, they were only given to the team and manager, not the squad – so there are only 12.

"There’s been quite a lot of interest so far which at this early stage is unusual."

Mr Harrison handles all sorts of interesting and rare objects as part of his day-to-day job, but, as he admits, there’s something special about these particular lots.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said. “As a young lad, they showed the 1966 World Cup film in the cinema and I went to watch it, that’s stuck in my mind.

"For any sports fan, it’s the defining moment of England men’s football.

"I’ve heard about Baddiel and Skinner re-releasing Three Lions with its thirty years of hurt and 1966 was the Year 0 of that.

"It doesn’t get much more important, and the staff here are really excited too.”

The auction will take place in person and online, and Mr Harrison expects it to be busy.

"There’ll be people in the room, telephone bidding, online bidding – everything,” he said. “A lot of other companies have given up on having the rooms, but you can’t get much better atmosphere than a room sale.

"It’s very exciting when you get items like this selling, the auctioneers will be gesturing around the room and egging people on – it doesn’t quite work like that online.

"The auctioneer can work with people in the room and that’s something we’re very much in favour of.”