Rare Sex Pistols poster found in Barton goes under hammer

The Sex Pistols performing in 1976

A poster for an early gig performed by the Sex Pistols "on the cusp of going big" is to go up for auction after being found in a drawer 47 years later.

The flyer for the punk band's first Liverpool performance in 1976 was discovered in the North Lincolnshire home of a support act.

Hansons Auctioneers said it was a "very important piece of Pistols and punk history".

The poster is expected to fetch between £750 and £1,000 in next week's sale.

It was found by retired musician Martin Watson, 67, a guitarist with the band Albert Dock, who supported the Sex Pistols in the gig at Merseyside music venue Erics on 15 October 1976.

Weeks after the gig, the Pistols released their first single, Anarchy in the UK, which catapulted them to notoriety.

Their performance in Liverpool was watched by only about 50 people, but is said to have attracted future stars including members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Pete Burns of Dead or Alive.

The poster is expected to fetch up to £1,000 at auction

Mr Watson, who was a 21-year-old art student at the time, chatted to Pistols' singer Johnny Rotten and bassist Glen Matlock before watching their headline slot.

The musician, now of Barton-upon-Humber, said: "Johnny and Glen were just young lads like me looking to make their mark in the music business.

"They looked great with their short hair and punk clothes. Most people at Erics were still in flares with long hair. They probably all went to the barbers the next day.

"At the time I never realised how important punk would become."

'Piece of history'

Mr Watson, whose own band later changed its name to the Yachts and recorded two sessions for John Peel on Radio 1, said the poster had been "sitting under lining paper in a drawer for the last 47 years".

He decided to sell it "because there are lots of Sex Pistols purists out there who would love to own this piece of history".

Claire Howell, music memorabilia consultant at Hansons, said the gig came "at a pivotal time for the Pistols".

She added: "Three weeks prior to this show, Nick Mobbs of EMI saw the band for the first time, and on October 8, just a week before the gig at Erics, the group signed to the label.

"The Pistols were on the cusp of making it big. They went on to spearhead the 1970s punk movement. It was the calm before the storm."

The poster will be sold during a music memorabilia auction at Hansons' saleroom in Etwall, Derbyshire, on 15 March.