A dispute over the true owner of Jim Baxter’s iconic 1967 Scotland jersey has broken out just hours before it’s due to go under the hammer.
Respected auction house McTears is to sell off what they claim to be the real strip worn by the legendry footballer when he helped steer the national side to their historic 3-2 victory over England at Wembley - saying it could fetch up to £60,000.
But Falkirk businessmen Andrew Dickson and David Wishart have told the Record that 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 posing with former Rangers midfielder Jim and the framed shirt as schoolboys - have presented their case to McTears and urged them to halt the sale of the rival jersey.
But valuers - who describe the lot as “the most important Scotland football jersey ever to come to auction” - told them the authenticity of the No6 jersey they have is “cast iron”.
Andrew, 40, said: “We just want to preserve the legacy behind the jersey. That, to us, is the most important thing.
“We have a huge amount of verification behind our shirt. We have a member of the Baxter family who confirmed the shirt we bought was billed as the jersey he wore at the match.
“We’ve spoken to football pundit Chick Young, who got the shirt directly from Jim and auctioned it off.
“McTears have not asked to see our shirt or had any meaningful dialogue about it.
“We’ve spoken to them and emailed them our evidence but the thing that shocked and surprised us both was their response. They have disregarded everything we’ve said to them.
“Our dads bought the shirt back in 1991 with a business partner. We have zero interest in selling the jersey. It’s of no consequence to us at all and there will be no monetary gain our end.
“All we want to do is preserve the authenticity of our item because we believe someone else is going to be duped.”
David, 43, said studying the cuffs on the shirts worn by the Scotland squad that day has also reinforced his belief that their strip is the real deal.
He said: “When you look at pictures from that game and you look at the cuffs on the jerseys they are different from the one being
offered at auction, but the ones we have on our jersey are the same.”
Chick Young told the Record he was “certain” that the shirt given to him by Baxter was genuine.
He said: “I was pally with Jim and was chairman of his testimonial committee. We had a dinner for him in 1991 in Glasgow attended by 600 people.
“Jim offered his 67 jersey and we auctioned it at the dinner.
“Curiously it sold for £17,500 - which was Jim’s transfer fee to Raith Rovers back in the day.
“It was bought by guys who owned a car company near Hampden and was displayed in the car showroom for years.
“Andrew tracked me down a few days ago and told me he had inherited the jersey and about the McTears auction. He asked me if I could verify what happened, which I’m now doing.
“I can assure you that it was the genuine 67 shirt that Jim Baxter gave me.”
The 1967 game - which saw ‘Slim Jim’ run rings around the opposition and give an impromptu display of keepie uppie skills - is considered one of the finest moments in Scottish football history.
Though he didn’t score that day, Baxter’s performance on the pitch was credited as one of his best ever.
He gained 34 caps in the 1960s for Scotland, playing alongside other greats like Billy McNeill and Denis Law.
The Wembley win ended an unbeaten run of 19 matches by the then world champions England, who won the World Cup in 1966.
McTears say Jim’s prized jersey will headline an auction of sporting medals and trophies tomorrow and is “arguably the most important Scotland football jersey ever to come to auction”.
It is being sold by Mark Deighan on behalf of his father Jimmy McGarrity, who according to McTears, was gifted the shirt by his friend, the former Chelsea player Alan Hudson, who in turn got it from the late England star Alan Ball.
It has been on display at Ibrox stadium for ten years and will feature for auction along with a copy of the loan agreement.
Mr Deighan previously told how he had unearthed the 67 strip belonging to his father in his loft in a village in Kent.
The Scot, who has no interest in football, said at the time: “It is one of the most iconic shirts ever – and it has never been framed and put on the wall, it was just put in a cardboard box. I’d like it to be somewhere people can appreciate it.”
He told McTears ahead of their auction: “The jersey has been in our family for over 40 years. Unfortunately, my dad has not been well for some time and we decided that the time was right to sell the jersey to help him to do some of the things and see some of the places he has talked about over the years.”
It’s not the first time car dealership bosses Andrew and David have defended the authenticity of their shirt, speaking out in the Record in 2006 when another man claimed to have possession of it.
When Andrew and David presented their evidence to McTears last month, the auctioneers responded saying: “Whilst I understand your concern regarding your shirt, the authenticity of the jersey that we are offering at auction is steadfast.
“The cast iron provenance 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, with Rangers F.C. having also carried out due diligence before displaying the shirt at Ibrox.”
McTears told the Record the jersey being offered for sale “comes with strong provenance”.
A spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the party that claims to own the iconic jersey.
“You’ll be aware that Rangers FC have had this on display at Ibrox for the past ten years. They were also confident of this provenance having given it pride of place in their trophy room for all those years. Baxter did not leave Wembley in 1967 with his jersey, he swapped it with Alan Ball post match.
“Jim Baxter was renowned for gifting Scotland jerseys to friends, acquaintances and functions, almost always claiming them to be the one he wore ‘in that game’. That does appear to be the case for the jersey bought at the benefit dinner by the other parties.”
Mark Deighan has also been approached for comment.
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