Earlier this week we reported James Milner finishing the New York Marathon in 3:09:04, and now another Liverpool name has drawn attention for a very different reason. Emlyn Hughes' family have sold 247 items from his collection at auction, with the shirt from Liverpool's first European Cup win in 1977 fetching £56,000.
Global bidding for Hughes' memorabilia
Bids came from people based in Turkey, Mexico, Germany and the United States, which tells its own story about how far Hughes' name still reaches. Emlyn Junior said his father "would have loved to see people bidding from all over the world", while Emma Hughes said it was "quite emotional" to watch the sale unfold.
The family did not just part with a single standout piece. They sold 247 items, including memorabilia that had been sitting in a loft for years before going to buyers across the globe. Emma Hughes said, "I'm really glad they've gone to great homes," and that is probably the right way to view this sale: not as a clearing-out exercise, but as football history moving into new hands.
The career behind the collection
The shirt's £56,000 price tag reflects the scale of the career around it. Hughes made 665 appearances for Liverpool, won 62 England caps and captained England 23 times.
He signed for Liverpool from Blackpool in 1967 and remains the club's only captain to lift the European Cup twice, in 1977 and 1978. On that record, the auction interest is not hard to explain, and the shirt from 1977 has become the item that best sums up the sale.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
