What is "first hand" source for Messi Worn Jersey

[dplettn]

My eldest son loves and plays soccer and we've talked about adding a Messi jersey to the collection. In collecting Reds and Bengals stuff, I've gotten accustomed to purchasing from the team. Are pro soccer jerseys sold by teams in the same way, or where would be the "source" to get one "first hand"?

[mrjohnmalton]

Before you go searching, they are referred to as "match worn shirts", not jerseys. :p

It's pretty difficult as players typically swap shirts with opponents, or toss them to the crowd after a match. Even superstars like Messi or Ronaldo typically follow this same tradition. I collected Manchester United and Dimitar Berbatov shirts in the past, mostly while living in the UK. There are thousands of player issued shirts that are often sold off as match worn. For this reason, many people collect match worn boots rather than shirts. Teams (including Barcelona) sometimes list match worn shirts on Charity Stars. Expect to pay a large sum of money to get a match worn shirt directly from the club with any kind of authentication. After collecting for some time, I was able to make connections with some of the clubs "kit guys" and even got to know the kit guy for the Bulgarian national team. I acquired a couple Berbatov Euro jerseys from him. I still chat with a couple of collectors that I have swapped with in the past, I can shoot them an email to see if anyone has a Messi shirt that they would be willing to sell.

[mrjohnmalton]

Also, if you come across something and need any questions answered, feel free to send me a PM.

[mfruehe]

Also, if you come across something and need any questions answered, feel free to send me a PM.

Hi, I can't figure out how to PM while I'm on my phone. Would you please send me an email if you get the chance. I am looking for some jerseys and would love if you could point me in the right direction. My email is mfruehe AT gmail.com. Thanks

[fen1kuk]

As a UK based collector who has collected match worn football (soccer) shirts before getting into game used jerseys from the NFL's London games, there are a couple of very reputable European auctioneers that you could try:

UK based Graham Budd, http://www.grahambuddauctions.co.uk

In Germany Agon,
http://www.agon-auktion.de/index_en.html

Be careful with anything that doesn't come with paperwork or pretty solid provenance. From a technical perspective everything someone needs to fake a match shirt for modern players is available online.

[mfruehe]

As a UK based collector who has collected match worn football (soccer) shirts before getting into game used jerseys from the NFL's London games, there are a couple of very reputable European auctioneers that you could try:

UK based Graham Budd, http://www.grahambuddauctions.co.uk

In Germany Agon,
http://www.agon-auktion.de/index_en.html

Be careful with anything that doesn't come with paperwork or pretty solid provenance. From a technical perspective everything someone needs to fake a match shirt for modern players is available online.

I was looking through some past sales results, and I am very interested in some of the jerseys at the prices in the Graham Budd auctions. I will have to keep my eye out for the next one. However, there are not many pictures or much of a description for the items. Is it generally believed that their items fall into the genuine match worn jersey category or should I still do my homework and look for concrete provenance for their items?

[fen1kuk]

I was looking through some past sales results, and I am very interested in some of the jerseys at the prices in the Graham Budd auctions. I will have to keep my eye out for the next one. However, there are not many pictures or much of a description for the items. Is it generally believed that their items fall into the genuine match worn jersey category or should I still do my homework and look for concrete provenance for their items?

Compared to the main US auctioneers Graham Budd is more of a traditional auction house with viewing days, and an auction where a lot of major collectors attend in person. For this reason the online site doesn't carry more than one or two photos, but they will answer questions in advance of the sale and send you extra photos of a particular item if needed.

I can't think of anyone else in the UK who can match Graham's reputation in sports memorabilia including, his thorough checking of provenance. Quite often an auction will include full collections from ex players or team officials.

However, as with any auction you still need to do your homework as mistakes can be made. Even if its a players collection, they don't always remember the details correctly.

[MamaKin1999]

If you are interested in English shirts, there have been several respected dealers. I have been collecting Fulham match worn shirts for about 7 or 8 years. I have bought from Caine Pickering at urmyhero.co.uk. I believe he has a source at Aston villa and west game, he himself collects villa shirts. I used to buy from Greg coyne as well, his now defunct site matchwornshirts.com had a nice supply and he was well respected. I believe his source was in the Fulham kit room and occasionally he will sell on eBay now, mostly his own collection as "issued" the other big name is Simon shakeshaft I believe. He goes by "shakey" and collects arsenal shirts, he helped publish a book about it and used to be linked to the footballmatchshirts.co.uk, but they haven't updated their site in years. I am pretty sure they still get shirts though. Hopefully this helps if you are interested in epl shirts.

[Whammons1]

I am based in London and have only seen 2 rock solid Messi shirts in the last couple years. You have to be very careful as there are a ton of match issued shirts that are passed off as match worn. Links below are form the auctions. One is a Champions League shirt and the other is a pre-season shirt.

http://www.charitystars.com/product/MessiGamperL-en

http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/agon-sporting/catalogue-id-srag10004/lot-9dbec0e5-b4b1-4801-a771-a4a500f057dc

I have tried with Barcelona without any luck.

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www.whammons.com