A third Jim Baxter Wembley ‘67 jersey has emerged with a Tartan Army band leader saying he has the genuine article hanging in his house.
The Record revealed yesterday how a dispute had broken out over the real shirt worn by Slim Jim during Scotland’s historic 3-2 victory over England.
Respected auction house McTears are due to put their top under the hammer today with bids of up to £60,000 expected.
But two Falkirk businessmen claimed to have had the genuine article in their possession for more than 30 years.
Now a singer and guitar player in the Tartan Specials - who have performed at Hampden and are known for fan favourite ‘We’ll be Coming’ - has staked his claim to have the real jersey.
Kenny McIntosh, from Dunbar, East Lothian, told how the band thought they’d bagged the “holy grail of tops” when paid £1,600 for it in April 2015.
The four musicians pooled their cash to bid for it when Kenny attended a charity auction at The Western Club in Glasgow.
He was convinced of its authenticity when it was presented by the previous owner, who had photos of him receiving it directly from Baxter, who died in 2001.
Kenny, 54, said: “There were a whole range of items on offer and I couldn’t believe Jim Baxter’s top was there.
“I immediately started contacting my friends, who lived all over the world, and we decided to pull together the cash and buy it as a band.
“I was the only person who was really intent on being successful and was delighted when we won.
“Afterwards I straight away started researching it online.”
Kenny was shocked when he heard about the strip being auctioned off today by McTears, but when he previously contacted the former owner of his top he was reassured his top was the real one.
He said: “I wanted to get more support for this being the real deal so I spoke to the people who organised the whole event and got in touch with the person who put it up at auction.
“Jim Baxter had been dead for quite a while at this point but he said he knew Jim Baxter very well and Baxter vouched for the fact it was the real McCoy.
“There’s a picture of him and Jim Baxter, being handed the framed shirt.
“I was reassured and I’d reached the end of the line in terms of trying to verify authenticity.”
Kenny came forward after seeing our article in Thursday’s Record - which told how Andrew Dickson and David Wishart, from Falkirk, claim to have the genuine top after their dads paid £17,500 at auction in 1991.
The pair – who have pictures of themselves as schoolboys posing with former Rangers midfielder Jim and the shirt – have presented their case to McTear’s and urged them to halt the sale.
But the auctioneers, who describe the lot as “the most important Scotland football jersey ever to come to auction”, told them the authenticity of their No6 shirt is “cast iron”.
It is being sold by Mark Deighan on behalf of his father Jimmy McGarrity who McTear’s said 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 10 years and will feature for auction along with a copy of the loan agreement.
Kenny said he’s still convinced he has bagged the greatest bargain in football history.
He said: “I show people the top and tell this story all the time and am forever asking people to guess what I paid. Real football fans say ‘it must be 50 grand’, but it was obviously a lot less than what others paid for what they believe to be the shirt.
“I’m an optimist by nature. I’m a Scotland fan so I’ve got to be.
“We still remain optimistic it’s the real deal as there is a clear trail back to Baxter.
“But we’d really like to get to the bottom of this to prove for sure who has the real shirt.”
The Record has seen correspondence between Kenny and the previous owner, who provided his proof of authenticity.
Kenny is still to discuss the issue with McTears but they said they stood by their initial statement last night.
A spokesman said: “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, while Rangers F.C. also carried out due diligence before giving it pride of place in their trophy room at Ibrox, where it remained on display for ten years.
“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. It is important to note, however, that Baxter did not leave Wembley in 1967 with the jersey, having swapped it with Alan Ball post match.”
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