One of the most comprehensive and best-preserved football memorabilia collections auctioneer Graham Budd (17.5% buyer’s premium) has ever handled netted a hammer total of £107,000 for a remarkable 47 lots including medals and caps on November 14-15.
Jesse Pennington was captain of West Bromwich Albion (aged 36) when they won their one and only league title in 1919-20, but his success stretched beyond that to the international scene (Budd believes he would have gained a record number of caps for the time if it had not been for the First World War).
West Brom’s total of 60 points in the era of two for a win, and their 104-goal scoring tally, both set new league records. In another impressive performance, every one of the Pennington lots got away at the sale held at Sotheby’s in New Bond Street, mostly well over estimate.