Man reunited with grandfather's lost England cap
Brian describes his grandfather as "a nice, gentle man"
- Published
A Leicester man has been reunited with memorabilia from his grandfather's days as an international rugby player in the early 20th century.
Brian Penny, 85, is the grandson of Sid Penny, who made almost 500 appearances for Leicester Tigers between 1896 and 1910.
He discovered items from his grandfather's professional career he had not seen since the early 1950s were up for sale after being found in an abandoned storage locker in Swansea.
Brian paid about £2,000 for the set and said he got "quite emotional" after receiving the memorabilia.
He explained that Sid was picked to play for England on a tour to New Zealand.
"He wasn’t allowed the time off work," Mr Penny said. "But the next year he was picked for England to play against South Africa.
"It must have been brilliant for him."
There are three caps in the set, one each from Leicester Tigers, England and the Midland Counties.
Mr Penny said: "He never mentioned his rugby career to me and neither did my dad.
"That really astounds me."
Mr Penny eventually found out about his grandfather's career when he was about 12 and that was the last time he saw the memorabilia, he said.
He said he does not know how the items ended up in the storage locker, and discovered they were for sale through a Leicester Mercury article.
"I was determined to get them," he added.
'He'd be pleased'
Some of the memorabilia is more than 120 years old and includes photographs of Sid and his teammates, as well as newspaper cuttings.
When the items arrived, Mr Penny described their condition as "very poor".
He added: "I’m not an emotional person and I just sat there looking at them for minutes and minutes.
"I’m glad I got them. I think he’d be very pleased that they’re back in the family.
"I’m going to try and get them back into the condition that they should be in."
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