A Manchester United superfan is to pass on his memorabilia collection of over 70,000 pin badges through online auction this Wednesday.
Hugh Mortimer’s haul is believed to be the largest Manchester United memorabilia collection in the world.
It includes badges commemorating the Munich Air Disaster, as well as membership badges for a host of different supporter branches and homages to decades of footballing victories, and also includes a huge selection of books – from collector’s editions, to autobiographies – and flags, which have been flown at games home and away.
Speaking on the ever-growing collection back in 2018, the United superfan explained that he wanted to boost his collection of badges to 62,958 as a means of reflecting the anniversary date of the Munich Air Disaster – 6.2.1958 – but judging by the sheer number on offer this week, he’s definitely managed to exceed that number.
Hugh – who started badge collecting at the start of the millennium – said: “United are my one love in life.
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“I’ve spent my life demanding things of the team, because that’s what we do as fans and this is my small way of putting United in the record books and saying thank you for everything,”
He added: I left everything behind me to move to Manchester and be closer to Old Trafford and I’ve never regretted what I did. When I arrived here, I got a job on a stall outside the ground and I would be paid in badges instead of cash, it was a deal that worked well for me and the guy who owned the stall.
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“Some players didn’t have a badge, so I would have batches made up.
Charles Taylor Auctioneers
“My favourite badge is of Joe Jordan because he was my favourite player. He really battled for United and I loved him more than Bryan Robson or Roy Keane.
“He was everything.”
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The memorabilia collection is to be divided into around 300 separate lots at the auction.
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the auction will be fully hosted online by auctioneers Charles Taylor – who are based out of Salford – on Wednesday 28th October and bidders interested in the haul are encouraged to contact Charles Taylor as the auction house will be opening its doors by appointment-only for the two days preceding the auction.
Matthew Bateman – Director and Auctioneer at Charles Taylor – said: “As local auctioneers in the shadow of Old Trafford, we were humbled to be approached by the vendor to sell his lifelong collection of Man Utd memorabilia.
“We’ve sold lots of sporting collectors items in the past – a Stirling Moss signed racing suit and an autographed Ayrton Senna racing helmet to name a couple – but none that is as unique and special as this.
“As dedicated United fans ourselves, we’ve followed our team both home and away – so the significance of this collection really isn’t lost on us. We’re all season ticket holders ourselves so, whilst we can’t go and see our team play right now, we hope the winning bidders will take as much pleasure in owning their badges as we know the vendor did collecting them.”
You can find more information ahead of the auction via the Charles Taylor website here.
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Emily Sergeant -
26th October 2020 
