1953 Ball Kicks off the Summer Club House

Their next ‘Club House’ auction on July 1^st includes an incredible array of lots. The first lot in the auction is the leather match-ball from the last time Wales beat the All Blacks, in 1953. The ball has been in the same family ownership since shortly after the famous match which was won 13-8 by the Welsh in Cardiff Arms Park.

The Western Mail raffled the ball after the match and the owners were the lucky winners. Fortunately, the family looked after the ball, the auctioneers describe it as ‘structurally sound’, and only once did it leave their possession - when it was loaned to the WRU for display at the Millenium Stadium. The ball comes with a pre-auction guide of £1000-2000 but as auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones says, such items are very difficult to predict the price on

Also relating to that famous Wales v New Zealand match in 1953 is an All Blacks jersey worn by Brian Fitzpatrick during the same fixture. Brian was the father of Sean Fitzpatrick – now on the board at Llanelli Scarlets. After the match, Brian Fitzpatrick swapped jerseys with Ken Jones of Wales. Fitzpatrick’s jersey has been entered for auction by Ken’s nephew.

There are also lots in the auction from the early 20^th Century. Lot 6 is a Wales International rugby jersey from the season 1910/1911 – 114 years old! The jersey was issued to forward Harry Jarman, whose life came to a tragic but heroic end at an early age,

‘At the age of 45, Jarman came to the rescue of several children who were playing on a colliery tramway. Jarman heroically threw himself in front of a runaway wagon, derailing the truck and saving the lives of the children towards which the wagon had been careering. Tragically Harry Jarman died from pneumonia which had set in after he sustained serious injury in the incident’.

Included with the jersey is a 1910/1911 Triple Crown Winner’s commemorative tantalus and tobacco box. A sign of the times that it was fully expected that sportsmen would not only drink, but smoke tobacco too! The auction estimate on the jersey and box is £3500-4500.

Another player whose life was cut short was the Scottish player Roy Kinnear. Kinnear was the father of actor Roy Kinnear and grandfather to Rory, the James Bond actor. Sadly, Robert ‘Roy’ Muir Kinnear died in 1942, when he collapsed and died at just 38 years of age while playing a match, he was at the time serving with the RAF.

Rogers Jones & Co will be auctioning Kinnear’s 1929 Wigan Rugby League jersey, his 1926 Scotland International Rugby Union cap and another rare cap relating to the Rugby League invitational side ‘Other Nations’. Collectively, the Kinnear items are expected to realise over £1000.

But the highest auction estimate is for a 1915 Barbarians jersey worn by Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Edward Crawshay Partridge (1879-1965). Better known as ‘Birdie’, Partridge was an important figure in early rugby union history; he was the only Welshman to be capped by the Springboks in 1903 against the British Lions. He was a founder of the Army Rugby Union, he captained Blackheath, Newport and the Barbarians. He also featured in the first ever Barbarians International match against Wales in 1915 in which he wore the jersey being auctioned. Although the Barbarians invitation side had been going for many years before, the 1915 match against Wales, arranged to raise funds for the war effort, was the first ever international.

Auctioneer, Ben Rogers Jones said

‘..it is always a privilege to be entrusted by the family of former players. In Birdie’s case, the jersey has come all the way from Birdie’s family in South Africa so it is an honour to be selected to represent the jersey for sale. It is lovely that such Barbarians history is being auctioned on Penarth Road, almost a kickable distance from Penarth which is the Barbarians’ spiritual home – the side would always stay at the Esplanade Hotel in Penarth on their Easter Tours.

This jersey is a very special artefact. Birdie is a pivotal name in early rugby who fought in the Boer War and World War 2. He was so in love with the game of rugby that he always had his boots and would accept invites to play by sides with relish. Ironically though he was never capped for Wales – the only Welsh International match in which he played was wearing this Barbarians jersey’!

These rugby items are now on view and to bid in July's Club House auction, other rugby related items include over 40 Groggs, Sir Gareth Edwards’ playing jersey, other match-worn jerseys and caps….

The auction also includes other sports, motoring, motorbikes, military collectables, taxidermy, signage etc