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.
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.
Jimmy Bradbury, Reuben Haycocks, Aoife Anson O’Connell, and Paddy Murphy – better known together as Westside Cowboy – formed back in 2023 when they were students at the Royal Northern College of Music, so while they may not all be from Manchester, they definitely have the spirit of our city at the heart of everything they do.
After playing in different bands across the city throughout their student years, the four-piece joined forces to create Westside Cowboy – an indie rock collective credited with self-coining the genre of ‘Britainicana’.
Put simply, Britainicana is a cultural concept that mixes the hazy, mythic feel of American country and folk, with the sound of raw British punk, indie rock, and small-town life.
Westside Cowboy have released their debut album, It Goes On / Credit: Clementine Schniedermann (Press Shots – Supplied)
If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you’ll be pleased to know that Westside Cowboy have released their debut album, It Goes On, to the world today (21 August).
And the reception from critics, arguably, couldn’t be better.
Prior to the release of their debut album, the band had released two EPs, including So Much Country ‘Till We Get There in January earlier this year, and had started to make a name for themselves with their popular debut single ‘I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You)’ in 2024.
They went onto make even further waves when they supported equally-rising American rock band Geese on their UK and Irish tour back in March – with many fans calling it one of the best support and main act combinations in some time.
Three singles from their debut album were shared with the world ahead of its release – ‘Kick Stones (The Boys)’ came first, followed by ‘Pin Up Boys’ and ‘Dobro’.
So, it’s fair to say the anticipation for album was high… and if the reviews are anything to go by (which we think they are), it looks like the band has very much delivered what they set out to achieve.
Westside Cowboy’s debut album It Goes On is now available to stream, or you can purchase a physical copy in a range of formats from their website here.
Take a listen👇
Featured Image – Press Shot (Supplied)
News
UK set to be battered by storms as ‘unprecedented’ El Niño arrives this autumn
Emily Sergeant
The UK is being told to brace for a series of storms this autumn when the ‘unprecedented’ El Niño weather event arrives.
It’s already been a summer of extremes for the country, with multiple heatwaves over the past couple of months, but now it appears that autumn and winter are set to have some extremes of their own, as the Met Office is warning that this upcoming El Niño could be one of the most significant in recent memory.
El Niño is declared when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5°C above the long-term average, which therefore impacts global rainfall patterns and average temperatures.
The natural warming of sea temperatures is forecast to reach more than 3°C in the coming months, according to the Met Office, making this year’s weather event have the potential to be ‘the largest since the 19th century’.
The UK is set to be battered by storms as ‘unprecedented’ El Niño arrives this autumn / Credit: Johannes Plenio (via Unsplash)
El Niño will create a heightened risk of drought in the tropics, southern Africa, and north eastern Australia, but over in north western Europe – including the UK – it means we are likely to experience wetter and stormier conditions.
The UK, and of course Greater Manchester, is absolutely no stranger to a storm around this time of year, but forecasters say this could be an entirely different beast.
“We should be clear that this is an unprecedented event,” warned Professor Adam Scaife, who is the Head of Long Range Forecasting at the Met Office.
“I have never seen an El Nino signal this intense in our forecasts.”
Professor Scaife concluded: “A typical El Nino leads to an equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperature rise of between one to 2°C, with 2°C being a really big event. This implies that, if the forecast is accurate, and other forecast systems show similar extreme values, then 2026 will far exceed our recent experience of El Niño and its worldwide climate influences.’
Forecasters and officials, however, have warned that it could take months of sustained rainfall before rivers, reservoirs, and groundwaters are ‘completely replenished’ – which is when a drought can officially be declared as over.
It also warned drought conditions could persist into the new year as, despite El Niño, as current forecasts do not suggest this autumn will have the amount of rainfall needed to drive recovery.
Emily Sergeant -
19th May 2022 
