The late Liverpool icon's collection featured an extraordinary body of match worn shirts, medals and tracksuits
Emlyn Hughes enjoyed an illustrious career in a Liverpool shirt
Emlyn Hughes enjoyed an illustrious career in a Liverpool shirt
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Emlyn Hughes's memorabilia collection has sold for a combined £1.2m as multiple world records were broken at an auction yesterday (November 2). The late Liverpool FC icon's collection featured an extraordinary body of match-worn shirts, medals and tracksuits.
Hughes, who died of a brain tumour aged 57 in 2004, enjoyed an illustrious career in the game and is the only player in Liverpool's history to captain the club to two European Cup titles. Both his 1977 and 1978 shirts, alongside tracksuits, featured in the collection among many other iconic items of sporting history from one of the greats of the game.
The auction of football items was run by BUDDs, who has revealed all the items sold during yesterday's auction. Multiple world records were broken with Kevin Keegan's match-worn Hamburg shirt from the 1977 Super Cup fetching the largest amount with £84,500.
Hughes' collection featured a number of shirts he traded with football icons, such as Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer. The shirt he traded with George Best from England's game against Northern Ireland in 1970 went for £49,400.
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Hughes' match-worn shit when he captained Liverpool to the side's first European Cup in 1977 went for £72,000, while the winner's medal went for £52,000. The League Championship winning plaque from the 72/73 season went for £62,400.
At a public viewing to launch the auction last month, the ECHO spoke to Hughes' children, Emma and Emlyn Jr, who said they wanted to share their dad's legacy with people from all across the world. Emma said: "Someone asked before, 'how are you feeling?' I feel proud, but on the day when they're going, I probably will feel emotional."
Emlyn Hughes children Emma and Emlyn Junior with part of his huge shirt collection
Emlyn Hughes children Emma and Emlyn Junior with part of his huge shirt collection(Image: Liverpool Echo)
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Emlyn Jr added: "There will be emotions because there are stories he told about 77, 74 and one of the long sleeve shirts in the 1971 FA Cup Final [which Liverpool lost and led Hughes to never wear a long sleeve shirt again]. It'll be those memories when they do sell, when they do go through the auction that will come to the forefront.
"It will be emotional but the overriding emotion will be pride about what he's done." They made the difficult decision to part with the memorabilia after their mum, Barbara, died last year.
The incredible collection had lay in boxes for many years as Emlyn Jr said: "They've been in the family for 50 years, but we made the choice to let other people enjoy them."
Kevin Keegan's 1977 European Super Cup shirt was sold for £84,500
Kevin Keegan's 1977 European Super Cup shirt was sold for £84,500(Image: Budds / SWNS)
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Emma added: "Unfortunately he died before he met any of his three grandchildren. My son said I can go on social media and see what he's done, but they've never been on display anywhere, so it's not like you're going to be missing them."
Emma and Emlyn Jr were overwhelmed with pride to see the scale of their late dad's achievements when they were out of the boxes and laid out in the exhibit.
Emma added: "He did have some career, didn't he?" Speaking about how their dad would want to be remembered, Emlyn Jr hailed his passion and will to win.
He said: "He would like to be remembered by the fans as he put everything into wearing that shirt. Every ounce of energy, everything he could do, went in to make Liverpool successful. And to be fair, he didn't do to bad of a job."
A shirt and tracksuit top from the 1977 European Cup final
A shirt and tracksuit top from the 1977 European Cup final(Image: Liverpool Echo)
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He added: "In '77, dad went up to pick up [Liverpool's first European Cup in Rome] and he wasn't thinking of himself. He always said this to people who asked. He wasn't thinking of himself. He was thinking about all the fans who had made all the effort over all the years up to that point. He was picking it up for the fans, the players, the likes of Roger Hunt, the Ron Yeats, the Ian St Johns that had laid the foundations for him to be lucky enough to be the one to pick the trophy up."
But despite Hughes being one of English football's most successful ever footballers, Emma and Emlyn Jr will always simply remember him more for being their dad.
Emlyn Jr said: "At the end of the day, it was dad. That was what he did. It's taking seeing it like this to appreciate it a little bit more. I'm immensely proud of what he did."
He added: "I was proud every Thursday evening turning the telly on and seeing dad. He was exactly the same person at home as you saw on Question of Sport. There's that many lovely memories. We went to the Rugby World Cup a year before he passed away and that was such a lovely trip."