A World Cup medal and a European Cup medal won by Nobby Stiles have been bought for more than £200,000 by Manchester United.
The World Cup medal which Stiles won in the 1966 final against West Germany was sold for £160,000 at auction. The 68-year-old’s European Cup medal, which he won with Manchester United in 1968, also went under the hammer, fetching more than £49,000.
Mr Stiles is selling his memorabilia so his family can benefit from their sale.
The 1966 World Cup final medal will cost the buyer £188,200 when premiums, commission and VAT are added.
The collection for sale also includes Stiles’s 1966 World Cup cap and his 1968 European Cup winner’s medal. The blue Manchester United shirt he wore in the European Cup final against Benfica is also up for sale, as is Alan Ball’s 1966 World Cup final shirt, which Stiles acquired from his team-mate as a swap after the match.
He was born Norbert Peter Stiles in Collyhurst, Manchester, in 1942, and was awarded the MBE in 2000 for his part in England’s 4-2 victory over West Germany on 30 July 1966.
Stiles, who suffered a stroke in June, said: “It was always my intention to leave the entire collection to my children.
“But I have three sons – how do you fairly divide up this sort of collection between them?
“They have each selected some pieces they would like to keep for themselves.”
IMO Manchester United have made a gracious, classy gesture in buying Nobby’s medals. One, they were they highest bidders for both medals, hence ensuring that a former United star got as much as he could to leave his children and two, they will now be able to make this memorablia part of United’s history as opposed to allowing it to end up in someone’s collection or hawked off on eBay after Nobby’s death.
A classy gesture from a classy club.
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