Long lost Sheffield football trophy worth thousands turns up on eBay

The long-lost Sheffield and Hallamshire FA County Cup trophy turned up for sale on eBay earlier this month, priced at an eye-watering £2,900 – but a fraction of its true value.

Launched in 1920, the Cup was played between South Yorkshire’s five professional football clubs until it was abolished in 1998.

Barnsley were the last winners of the competition in 1993, with teams choosing to pay opt-out fees rather than take part from then on. But when Sheffield and Hallamshire FA requested the “incredibly important cup” back for display at their Clegg House base 20 years ago, it was found to be missing.

“Think of the legendary captains of these five clubs that have held this cup aloft after winning the tournament and the history that could have been lost,” said Martin Westby, author of A History of Sheffield Football from 1857 to 1889 and trustee of the Sheffield Home of Football (SHOF) project.

He tracked it down alongside Chris Eyre, Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA historian, as part of a SHOF campaign to find 12 Sheffield football trophies from the nineteenth century. Martin struck a deal with the antiques dealer selling the trophy to buy it for £2,000 and bring it back to its “rightful place”.

He said: “There is probably one or two people in the world that could have deduced what we were looking at. One of these men, Chris, knew straight away a historically important trophy, with a very high monetary value, was about to escape his clutches again.

”This is where I played my modest part.”

Martin now plans to reunite the trophy with its base, which has remained at Clegg House all these years. Once reunited, Martin guessed it could be worth “at least 10 times” the amount he paid.

He said: “To my eye it does not look to have suffered any damage over the years and just needs a good clean to return it to its former glory.”

It comes after another important trophy in Sheffield’s footballing heritage, which for decades was thought to have been lost, was rediscovered.

Find out more about the SHOF campaign at http://www.homeoffootball.net/.