Times online reports that property developer Andrew Leslau is selling the iconic red No 10 worn by Hurst when he scored his winning hat-trick and is hoping it will attract wealthy fans swept up by World Cup fever
Sir Geoff sold the shirt in June 2000 in an auction at Christie's to a private collector for £91,750. It was then sold to an unnamed fan of West Ham. But just ten years later, the prized item has a whopping £2.3million price tag - more than 25 times the amount he sold it for.
In 2008 Leslau, 52, from Milton Common, Oxfordshire, bought it on behalf of foreign investors for an undisclosed sum, but took out insurance on the item for £1m.
Mr Leslau said he originally planned to display the shirt at Harrods in London in the month running up to the South Africa World Cup.
It is currently on display there until June 14, but Mr Leslau said he will now sell it after receiving several inquiries.
If it is sold for £2.3million, it would become the most expensive football shirt ever sold.
The previous record is £157,750 paid in 2002 for the one worn by Pele in Brazil’s 1970 World Cup triumph.
The long-sleeved shirt was worn by Hurst during the England team’s most glorious moment, when they won a dramatic 4-2 win over Germany with a goal in the dying seconds of the game.
'The shirt is without equals or comparables,' he said. 'It is an iconic image of the greatest moment in this country’s football and sporting history.
'What’s more, no other player has scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final. Whatever happens in the future, Sir Geoff will always be the first.'
David Convery, former associate director of Christie’s and a specialist in sporting memorabilia, told the Sunday Times the price was excessive.
'You need a Middle Eastern buyer with money to burn for a daft price like that,' he said, valuing it at £200,000.
The shirt worn by George Cohen, the England footballer in the 1966 World Cup final was sold at Christie’s for £38,400; Alan Ball’s 1966 World Cup winner’s medal sold for £164,800 and his cap for £43,200.
Comments
I would have thought it would be priceless to collectors, who could put it alongside their unicorn horns and fairy wings.
"Sir" Geoff Hurst. FFS.
Hurst's involvement in 1966 is the equivalent of Wayne Rooney singlehandedly getting England to this year's final but missing the match through injury, then his replacement, Emile Heskey, somehow flukes a hat-trick and receives a Knighthood for it. "Sir Emile Heskey! One of England's most legendary players!"