All Black 1905 jersey for sale

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Cash-crisis-forcing-club-sell-shirt-survival/story-15290896-detail/story.html

Sadly my local club is going through some real stress at the moment, We are being forced to sell our most treasured possession an All Black jersey from the 1905 tour match against the All Whites. Any rich kiwis who would like a piece of their history back?

Wow, Tycroes, that's very sad to hear - a wonderful piece of history for whoever gets it

Aye were all pretty gutted were going to lose the shirt, but I guess better that than we lose the club.

Great to see that this jersey is being used to serve a pragmatic purpose,and I wish your club all the best in the future.

But wouldnt it have been a great opportunity to "market" the auction by playing a game against the original owners club or province and really drawing some attention to the auction.

Do we know who wore the jersey?

Honestly I dont know who wore the jersey Laurie but I guess we do know or can find out pretty easily. Certainly if the originals club was touring the UK then we would be overjoyed to welcome them and play a match.

your right though about the pragmatism, whist its a great piece of history and weve relished having it (initially on display) I think keeping the club alive is more important. four generations of my family have played for the club and I would be devestated to see us go under.

Something sounds odd there with the whole X-Factor debacle.

How is it being sold? It doesn't say?

Yeah we got stung bya promoter but hes now being investegated for fraud, It doesnt help us though even if he gets convicted.

Auction I believe.

Where's the auction? Do you have any details?

can let you know when its sorted, I assume its going to be a legit auction house rather than somthing like ebay.

Yeah, I'd hope so!

Why don't we organise a v2 whip round to buy it back for the Club?

I'd be in to help out, anyone else? Although it could fetch a tidy sum at auction. Might be kinder to let it run there. I would've thought 10k was a bit of a bargain, assuming (and I say this in the nicest possible spirit, that everything checks out)

Glas a du wrote:Why don't we organise a v2 whip round to buy it back for the Club?

starting to think theres only 5 posters on here with multiple accounts, we wouldnt get much

That would be hilarious.

The more I think about this,this should sell for some real serious money,as they say on the Antiques roadshow you have to get the right bidders at the same auction.
Possible bidders.
G.Henry: ex wales and All Black coach,and got S..t loads of money.

W.Gatland; former All Black and coach of Wales,I think he earns S..t loads of money.

Robbie Deans: former All Black,and great nephew of one of the members of 1905 All Black team,I think he earns s..t loads of money.

is there any rugby museums in NZ- they may take a piece of the action

strictly speaking this jersey should be in a museum,however i cant help but think that the real serious money would come from an individual buyer.

I have a feeling that there is one of these jerseys was in a glass case in the boardroom at Eden Park.

If it's legit and mint, then it's a genuinely limited bit of historic rugby iconography, a complete treasure and essentially is surely priceless in a sense. Agree with the museum comments. Anyone who snaffles it for the prices they're bandying is sitting on a gem.

You'd like to think there's ONE rugby professional out there who has enough about them to buy this and give it back to the club.

Guys you have restored my faith in 606v2.

Firstly, mitey it is legit there is no question about that, its provenance has been proven. Its in good condition, its been in a safe for quite a few years, it was on display in a glass case when we initially got it but given its worth sticking it in a safe was considered safer (forgive the pun). Thats the thing as well at least in a museum it would be on display.

The thing is that it was from the All Whites tour match rather than one of jerseys from the international games in 1905 if it was from the wales game then I would think that it would be worth a fortune. It is from the last match of the tour though.

I agree if it was going to go anywhere a museum or a glass case in Eden Park would be the place for it.

Laurie is right though putting it in front of interested parties is the way forward. Anyone got any friends at Eden Park? lol

Glas thats a nice commemt from someone who I assume is an Ammanford RFC or Amman United fan after youve been poaching our players for a century its good to see local rivals want to help

Tycroes - really sad that this has come about. I take it this is after the Alexandra burke debacle? Really hope your club comes through it alright.

I'd give my left nut for that top, a real piece of NZ history. Sadly there is no market for loped-off nuts (as far as I am aware) and that will not help your cause.

I would guess it would fetch a handsome sum through an auction house.

NZRFU might be interested....for what it is worth, I have emailed a link from the story on thisissouthwales to Stuff.co.nz, not sure if they will follow up but it would be of interest in NZ i am sure

Good luck

tycroes
The moment you can identify who wore the jersey and where they came from (in NZ) then you guys will be in a position to know in which direction approachs should be made.

Tyroes, please let me know when the auction is taking place.

I work for a rugby tour operator and will definitly help spread the word through our social media networks.

Can't add much but another who is sad to hear of your teams plight and really do wish you all the best. It's sad that in an attempt to maintain and boost the finances of your local club the exact opposite has happened. I know we don't know the full story and I guess you can't comment for legal reasons seeing as there is an investigation ongoing but I'm guessing most rugby fans would happily lynch the guy regarding the booking.

Would not the Welsh RFU be interested? This is what I would class a major piece of rugby history. I really hope it either stays in Wales or ends up on display in NZ.

Cheers guys, I know there is a comittee meeting on monday so I will pop along and see what I can find out re the auction. I will also find out the number on the back of the jersey so as to figure out which of the originals wore it if we dont know already. would the NZRFU have a record of who played in the tour matches and their position?

In fact my next door neighbour is on the committee so I will ask him tomorrow about the number.

I would also advise asking the regions, WRU, Celtic League, Nigel Owens AKA bloody anyone you can for more merchanise and try get a big auction to help your club,

Agreed Stag thats why I thopught I would mention it on here. Personally I think it should either be in NZ or with the All Whites.

game was played on 30 Dec 1905 at swansea.
New Zealand 4,swansea 3.
All blacks did their haka,swansea won the toss and kicked off with the assistance of a strong wind from the Mumbles end.I have the team,but not the numbers..

Excellent Laurie, I would assume that the position played and number would be pretty easy to put to a name once I know the number on the back. I will keep you updated. I know the whites were british club champions at the time and that it was a really tough game for the tourists although with it being the last match in the UK and with only the French to play maybe the originals minds were on the journey home. They had a few tough games in Wales that year.

TO
I have the positions as well... reference being a book "centenary 100 years of All Black rugby" put out by NZ rugby historians R.Chester and N.McMillan publ. in 1984.

Wow, such history. Wish you well with your club Tycroes, its important to keep going where you can. After all its the people that make up the club, its members and its history, not an old jersey.

Sometimes in these situations the eventual buyer is a collector and no better place to store it than with those who will treasure it and value it the most.

So lets hope it comes back in the end.

All the best...!

Such a shame that a club is forced to sell such a treasure and a piece of history.

I am with Glas, i dont mind chipping in so that it stays at your club.

Just read up. Swansea scored a try and the All Blacks a drop goal. The scoring system then meant Swansea lost. I bet the kicker who missed the conversion was gutted!

Tycroes - amazingly my email to stuff.co.nz has been picked up and the article has been repeated under Editor's Picks

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/6475175/Welsh-despair-at-selling-All-Blacks-1905-jersey

Hopefully this will open up a new market for you! I've had a reply from the website so as soon as you know when and where it will be auctioned, let me know and I can pass the info on to them....or perhaps put you guys in touch with them?

Thats a really nice thing you have done there Mintie.

aucklandlaurie wrote: TO
I have the positions as well... reference being a book "centenary 100 years of All Black rugby" put out by NZ rugby historians R.Chester and N.McMillan publ. in 1984.

Anyone got a copy of "Men in Black"*? There was a copy in the Blenheim public library when I was a kid,I'm guessing a fair few other public libraries in NZ have it.



* Released in the '80s it held match reports for every AB's match ever played up uintil that point

There is a Men in Black book from 1978 that i know of Kiwi, could they be the same one?

Minty you are a legend,

Im just off to work but I have emailed the club chairman so will have the number as soon as he replies or I will pop round and see my neighbour when I get home tonight,

Get onto your region Tycroes, if their PR bod has anything about him/her they will realise that a plaque in your club house saying

"the Committee would like all patrons to note the generosity of the Scarlets whose donation of £x saved the 'Originals' jersey for the club and ensured its financial survival"

10-15k would be repaid in the good will of Tycroes people pretty quickly I'd say.

(P.S. I'm fully aware that some of Ammanford's best players have lived in Tycroes)

Aye Glas, from Ike Fowler to my own grandfather ending up playing for Ammanford RFC of course the Ammans best player came from the other side of the valley and part of me wishes he was playing tomorrow. I have a history of Tycroes RFC coming out soon for the centenary so please tell any locals to grab a copy when they see it in the bazaar.

I do wonder how many jerseys the originals would have had, did they do a single jersey for each game in those days?

Don't be too disheartened about having to sell it. There's no point having an All Blacks jersey with no club to display it in. If that happened then it would probably just be sold later on in the future anyway. While it would be a huge loss, the club is more important.

Glas a du wrote:Why don't we organise a v2 whip round to buy it back for the Club?

Hand on heart you would get a tenner from me. If you have PayPal account I'm happy to contribute.

Yeah, cheers Griff

Radge has a point. I donated to Parks through some online thing - set a target of £18k to 'save the jersey' but explain that it is a donation to the club and doesn't guarantee that donations will be returned if the target is not met and hey presto, all you have to do then is get as much publicity for the link as you can. If you can get a celebrity ambassador, all the better (just don't ask Ms Burke )

In the other hand, she could take it on as a cause to highlight rouge agents win:win!

Glas a du wrote:Just read up. Swansea scored a try and the All Blacks a drop goal. The scoring system then meant Swansea lost. I bet the kicker who missed the conversion was gutted!

Apparently we Scots have been proposing to the IRB that we should go back to the old scoring system!