Documents from World Cup winner and former Ipswich Town manager Sir Alf Ramsay to go under the hammer at TW Gaze in Diss
An unassuming suitcase – containing manuscripts, letters and documents from a world-cup winning and former Ipswich Town FC manager – is set to go under the hammer for more than £1,000 tomorrow.
The case contains an archive of material which belonged to Sir Alf Ramsey and relates to his tenure as the manager of the England football team for the FIFA World Cups in 1966 and 1970.
Documents from the 1966 World Cup, where England beat West Germany 4-2 to lift the trophy, include letters signed from the then Leeds United first team coach Syd Owen and Manchester United boss Sir Matt Busby, as well as scout reports on teams talking about legends such as Portugal’s Eusebio and West Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer.
Robert Henshilwood, a book expert who is managing the sale at TW Gaze in Diss, said: “It’s an incredible collection of letters and papers showing the inner workings that went into England’s victory at the 1966 World Cup, and from the man at the helm of it all.
“It is completely unique and a one-off chance to own a piece of the crowning glory of England’s football history.”
The collection, from the estate of the Coupland family, who were close friends and neighbours of the Ramseys in Valley Road, Ipswich, from the 1960s, also has a good quantity of similar documents from the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, where The Three Lions were knocked out in the quarter finals.
This includes a British Olympic Association medical report into the effects of altitude in Mexico City and a typed note on captain Bobby Moore after he was accused and cleared of stealing a £600 emerald bracelet from the Green Fire shop in the Tequendama Hotel, Bogota, in May 1970.
There is also a folder containing several documents on the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, mainly on various teams and the groups. England’s failure to qualify for the tournament led to Sir Alf being sacked by the FA on May 1, 1974.
TW Gaze’s book and ephemera sale starts tomorrow at 10am.
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