Celtic legend Bertie Auld's European Cup shirts sell for £100,000

The collection included jerseys swapped with some of Europe's top footballers

A collection of European Cup and international football shirts owned by Celtic legend Bertie Auld has sold for £100,000 at auction.

The Bertie Auld Collection, which was held by his family, included jerseys the midfielder swapped with some of Europe's top players.

Auld was a member of Celtic's Lisbon Lions who won the 1967 European Cup, becoming the first British winners.

The Parkhead club also reached the final in 1970.

The top lot in the McTear's auction was a jersey believed to have been worn by Josef Vacenovsky of Dukla Prague during the 0-0 second leg of the 1967 European Cup semi-final.

The rare shirt eventually sold for £14,800 after several bids.

• Celtic's Lisbon Lion Auld dies aged 83

Auld played for Celtic in two spells, making 275 appearances and scoring 79 goals, and played three times for Scotland.

His second period at Celtic was his most successful, when he helped the club secure five league titles, four League Cups, three Scottish Cups, as well as the 1967 European Cup.

He played for Hibs and Birmingham City .

He died in 2021 aged 83, just five months after he was diagnosed with dementia.

Bertie Auld helped Celtic become the first British side to lift the European Cup

The football memorabilia collection boasted 17 shirts, including an Inter Milan jersey from the late captain Armando Picchi.

It is not believed to have been the one worn during the 1967 European Cup Final, but the jersey still sold for almost £13,000.

To reach the 1970 European Cup final, Celtic defeated Leeds United in the semi-final in what became known as the Battle of Britain in front of a European-record crowd of 136,000 at Hampden Park.

Leeds legend Billy Bremner swapped jerseys with Auld, with that shirt fetching £12,000.

Auld was known as a fierce opponent and earned Scotland's first ever red card during a match with the Netherlands on 27 May 1959, with that infamous shirt selling for £2,000.

The collection also included a match-worn Kenny Dalglish Scotland jersey which sold for £4,900.

One of Auld's Hibs jerseys and a pair of his match-worn Celtic shorts went for £2,800 and £2,500 respectively.

Bertie Auld's son Robert said: "Dad was quite humble about his achievements and didn't talk too much about the games, but then again, he didn't need to.

The jersey believed to have been worn by Josef Vacenovsky sold for £14,800

"The shirts speak for themselves and show how Celtic went from underdogs on the international stage to one of the most dominant forces in Europe during the late 1960s and early 70s.

"Dad was a phenomenon and a tremendously hard worker on and off the field.

"He always said he never had any regrets in life, although he did admit that he could have scored four against Inter in the 1967 final."

'Simply breathtaking'

McTear's specialist James Bruce said: "There is no doubt Bertie Auld thoroughly deserves his place in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, with the Celtic midfielder playing a pivotal role in multiple European games in the 1960s and 1970's, including the Lisbon Lions triumph in 1967.

"The collection paints a detailed picture of Auld's incredible career, including the runs to both the 1967 and 1970 European Cup Finals.

"It is a rare thing to see just one shirt from this illustrious period in Celtic's history come to auction, but to see over a dozen from some of the game's most famous players, is simply breathtaking."

A portion of the proceeds from the sales will be donated to the Bertie Auld Legacy, which was launched by Robert Auld in 2022.

The charity has raised funds for a number of causes including the Kilbryde Hospice, Spirit Aid and Football Memories.