Sir Stanley Matthews memorabilia going under the hammer at Moreton-in-Marsh

A COLLECTION of football memorabilia belonging to Sir Stanley Matthews is going to auction at Moreton-in-March next month.

Sir Stanley, who died aged 85 in 2000, is considered to be among the greatest footballers who ever lived.

The collection belonged to a close friend of Sir Stanley who recently died in Staffordshire. The family who inherited them hope they will go to new owners who will continue to cherish the items, which include England caps - one versus Brazil and another for a game against Yugoslavia - and a number of his medals.

There is also Sir Stanley’s 1948 Footballer of the Year trophy, which was presented by The Footballers Writers Association. It comes with a signed letter and has an estimated value of £12,000-15,000.

The items will be sold by Kinghams Auctioneers on 5th December.

Sir Stanley joined Stoke City in the early 1930s as an office boy at the age of 15. He played for the reserve team during the 1930-31 season and, after the war, returned to play for Stoke as well as having a spell at Blackpool.

He played for England 54 times and was manager of Port Vale.