A Scotland shirt said to have been worn by Jim Baxter during the 1967 Wembley victory over England has been pulled from auction amid doubts over its authenticity. The jersey was due to go under the hammer at auction house McTear’s in Glasgow at 12pm on Friday, and was expected to fetch up to £60,000.
But McTear’s announced the sale wouldn’t go ahead while its experts carried out “additional research” on the shirt’s provenance. It was being auctioned as the one Baxter wore during Scotland’s famous 3-2 win. Falkirk businessmen Andrew Dickson and David Wishart told the Record this week how their dads snapped up the genuine article for £17,500 at a 1991 dinner auction attended by Baxter himself, who died in 2001.
The pair - who have pictures of themselves as schoolboys posing with former Rangers midfielder Jim and the framed shirt - had presented their case to McTear’s and urged them to halt the sale. And the Record also revealed that a singer and guitar player in the Tartan Specials has staked his claim to have the real jersey.
Kenny McIntosh, of Dunbar, East Lothian, said the band thought they’d bagged the “holy grail of tops” when they paid £1600 for it in April 2015. McTear’s sporting specialist, James Bruce, said on Friday: “Following recent reservations over the authenticity of the Jim Baxter 1967 Scotland jersey we have taken the decision to remove the lot from today’s auction.
“Although we remain convinced of the shirt’s provenance, we would never put an item to auction with questions unanswered. We will conduct additional research before taking a decision on any future sale. The provenance of the shirt traces back to the player, who exchanged his jersey with Alan Ball at the end of the match.
“The shirt then came to the father of the vendor through Alan Hudson, with Ball being present. Hudson has been contacted to confirm this chain and the key fact that Baxter didn’t leave Wembley in 1967 with the shirt.
“Jim Baxter was renowned for gifting Scotland jerseys to friends, acquaintances and functions, and that appears to be the case for the jersey bought at the benefit dinner by the other parties. Crucially, additional research has shown that the label on the shirt from the 1991 charity auction does not appear to match those worn in the 1967 game as it dates the shirt to pre World Cup 1966.
“In 1967, the Scotland shirts featured the ‘worn by the 1966 World Cup winners’ Umbro label. This label appears on the jersey consigned to McTear’s.”
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