The shirt worn by former Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero when he scored the goal that clinched the club’s first league title in 44 years is to be sold at auction next week.
The historic Manchester City No.16 jersey worn the Argentine footballer – who played for the sky blues from 2011-2021 – when he scored the unbelievable winning goal v Queen’s Park Rangers in the fourth minute of extra-time at the Etihad Stadium in 2012 is being auctioned off to raise worthy funds for charity.
The shirt is set to go to auction exactly a decade after the iconic ’93:30′ moment – which has gone down in sporting history as one of the most dramatic winning goals of all time.
Set to be sold by Graham Budd Auctions (GBA), the “iconic” mud and champagne-stained shirt has an estimated guide price of £20,000-£30,000.
Although, experts at GBA expect it could sell for more than £46,000.
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GBA chief executive Adam Gascoigne said the shirt represented “one of the most important pieces in the history of the Premier League”.
The shirt being sold at auction comes after the striker himself – who won 15 major trophies in 10 years with Manchester City, and is the fourth-highest scoring player in Premier League history, with 184 goals in 275 games to his name – recently unveiled a statue marking the tenth anniversary of the goal.
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The enormous striking steel sculpture – which has been created by celebrated artist Andy Scott – has been installed pride of place outside the Etihad Stadium, and was officially unveiled to the public last Friday.
Aguero – who retired in December 2021 for health reasons – described the historic title-winning goal as “the best moment of my life”.
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The shirt is being sold by Neville Evans, who owns the National Football Shirt Collection.
Mr Evans said in his Letter of Provenance that the shirt had come to him completely by chance, thanks to the forgetfulness of Aguero’s then-teammate, Mario Balotelli.
He said that when Manchester City’s players returned to the dressing room after being presented with the Premier League trophy on the pitch, Balotelli asked the Argentine for his shirt as a souvenir and Aguero agreed, so the Italian striker put the shirt in his kit bag, alongside a commemorative T-shirt, the shirt he had received in a swap with QPR’s Taye Taiwo and his playing shorts, but “then left the stadium without his bag”.
The shirt was found the following day and sent to the club’s training ground, but Balotelli never claimed it, and so it was gifted to the National Football Shirt Collection.
Mr Evans said he “never had any intention” of selling the shirt previously, but has decided to put it up for auction now as he wanted to support his collection’s curator – who was “requiring ongoing critical medical care”.
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Profits from the shirt sale will to Testicular Cancer UK and the Stroke Association.
The shirt will go under the hammer on Tuesday 24 May, and you can find more information about the listing on the Graham Budd Auctions (GBA) website here.
Police officer who sexually assaulted a child while on duty sacked
Daisy Jackson
A ‘morally reprehensible’ police officer who sexually assaulted a child while on duty has been sacked and barred from service.
GMP held an accelerated misconduct hearing with PC Dean Dempster, 35, and he has been dismissed without notice.
The disgraced officer admitted ‘sexually touching’ the six-year-old child in December 2023 and is set to be sentenced at a later date.
He was a response officer in Oldham at the time that the offence was reported, and was arrested by a supervisor when he returned to work the next day.
A senior officer has now said that Dempster ‘has no right to be in police uniform or in a position to serve the public’.
Another said it was ‘among the most distressing cases ever presented’ and a ‘despicable betrayal’ of police duties.
Dempster was convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl while responding to an incident on 29 December 2023.
He was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court in February and remained suspended since being charged at the end of last year.
Presiding over today’s hearing, CC Watson found PC Dempster’s conduct amounted to gross misconduct, saying: “This sexual assault occurred whilst the officer was on duty and where the victim was totally trusting and reliant on him performing his duties professionally, compassionately and with her welfare uppermost in his thoughts.
“It is this most egregious breach of trust of an innocent young child that is most upsetting aspect of this case and something that clearly amounts to an aggravating factor.
“I consider this case to be among the most distressing ever presented to me such is the despicable betrayal of all that is inherent in being a decent police officer.
“I have no hesitation whatsoever in dismissing PC Dempster from the service with immediate effect.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Allen, head of GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate, said: “Dean Dempster is not a police officer, he’s a child sex offender who has no right to be in police uniform or in a position to serve the public.
“We have no time for people like Dempster who should not be in GMP and does not represent us.
“This is why we’re increasingly using accelerated misconduct hearings to root out and boot out officers who are unfit to serve in our uniform, and this work will continue while ever they remain.”
Dempster has been added to the College of Policing Barred List by Chief Constable Stephen Watson, who described Dempster’s actions as ‘morally reprehensible’.
GMP used accelerated proceedings as part of its pledge to ‘root and boot’ officers unfit to serve the public.
The force is now writing to the Deputy Mayor of GM to appeal for Dempster to lose his right to a police pension.
Manchester City reveals details around the first Andy’s Man Club sessions at the Etihad Stadium
Danny Jones
Manchester City have released the first details surrounding their inaugural Andy’s Man Club sessions at the Etihad Campus.
One of the most important charities in the UK when it comes to male mental health and suicide prevention, Andy’s Man Club and even its logo alone have become a recognisable force for good over the past few years, and the significance of bringing it to such a big scale as City cannot be overstated.
The football club first announced the partnership back in February and has already been working closely with the non-profit organisation to promote better wellbeing amongst men, getting first-team stars such as defender John Stones to open up about his own experiences with mental health just last month.
With that in mind, the word is now out that Man City will be providing yet another location for groups to meet and crucially talk through Andy’s Man Club sessions, confirming details around their first meeting from next week onwards.
Set to kick off in the East Stand of the Etihad Stadium from 7-9pm on Monday, 13 May, Man City will not only help deliver a vital outlet for men in the East Manchester area but become just the latest in a long line of teams to back the regular support group.
Joining over 180 clubs nationwide – including the likes of Altrincham FC, Ashton United and Bolton Wanderers, just to name a few in the Greater Manchester area – Andy’s Mans Club is currently helping well over 4,000 men open up and combat their struggles through peer-to-peer sessions.
Founded by a group of nine blokes from Halifax back in 2016 to create positive change in men’s mental health, Andy’s Man Club now helps gather men aged 18 and over across the country every week throughout the year.
In alignment with other partnered clubs Andy’s Man Clubs across the country, attendees will be asked to arrive from 18:30 (UK) ahead of the 19:00 start time.
The sessions are free with registration or ID required and, more importantly, there’s no pressure to talk if you don’t want to. The first step is easy: just listen.
Just because it’s being held at City’s ground doesn’t mean you have to be a season ticket holder, have an official Cityzens membership to attend or anything like that, you can simply arrive via the East Stand reception (Door F) and join the session.
Attendees will be greeted on arrival by trained volunteers from Andy’s Man Club who will guide them through the stadium. With the club now on board, group sessions will be running at the same time every week (except bank holiday Mondays) with the first dates scheduled for the following nights this month:
Monday 13 May
Monday 20 May
Monday 3 June
Monday 10 June
Well done to all those involved in bringing Andy’s Man Club to Manchester City and the East Manchester community. We hope the sessions will help those going along as they have done for thousands of others.