Memorabilia from Leicester City FA Cup final collected by winger Howard Riley to go up for auction

Memorabilia from a Leicester City FA Cup final collected by winger Howard Riley is set to go under the hammer.

The player’s runner-up medal and tracksuit top and jersey from the 1963 FA Cup final are being offered alongside his jersey from the 1961 FA Cup final.

They will be in a Christmas Art & Antiques Auction at Harborough-based Gildings Auctioneers’ on Tuesday December 6.

It comes weeks after a Leicester player’s top sold for £600 at auction.

Despite being favourites to win, Leicester lost the FA Cup final 3-1 to Manchester United. The team wore an all-white strip for the match to distinguish them from Manchester United's red kit on black-and-white television.

By also reaching the 1949 and 1969 finals, Leicester made it to the most FA Cup finals without winning when they finally lifted the trophy in 2021.

Born in Wigston in 1938, Howard Riley made more than 200 appearances for Leicester City, joining the club straight from Kibworth School only four days after his 17th birthday, before army service called.

He was the only county-born player in Leicester’s 1961 FA Cup final side, with his moment of cup glory coming in 1964 when he scored the winning goal in the League Cup final against Stoke City.

Gildings director Will Gilding said: “Having recently sold a 1969 FA Cup final tracksuit top belonging to Leicester player Bobby Roberts for £600, which was double its upper estimate, we’re expecting great interest in this memorabilia.

”The 1961 jersey is estimated at £200 - £300 and the pair of tops from 1963 is expected to realise between £400 and £600.

“The 1963 nine-carat gold runner-up medal, which is offered in its original box and engraved with ‘The Football Association,’ two players and the three lions emblem on the front and the player’s name on the back, should be particularly sought after on the day and is estimated at £1,500 - £2,500.”

The auction also includes collectable items of art, port and whisky, 20th-Century Design and Arts & Crafts items from Liberty & Co.

Highlights also include a private collection of five bronzes by the acclaimed wildlife sculptor Geoffrey Dashwood.

Other standout lots include a late 19th century Louis Vuitton trunk, which could sell for £4,000 - £6,000 and a naval officer's sword, reputedly part of Markham's sled arctic expedition of 1875-6, estimated at £300 - £400.

Whisky connoisseurs are expected to bid £1,500 - £2,000 for a 1990s bottling of Macallan 100 proof Speyside single malt whisky.

Mr Gilding added: “A Geoffrey Dashwood Barn Owl bronze we sold in 2021 achieved the artist’s auction record of £14,000, so we expect these sculptures, which represent his evolution in style from the classical to the contemporary bird sculptures he is famed for, to attract interest from collectors around the world.”

Visit gildings.co.uk to view the auction or public viewing will take place on Dec 2 and 5 ahead of the auction at 6am on Tuesday December 6.