Think it's expensive? It is now: Sir Geoff Hurst's 1966 World Cup Final football shirt has a security guard while it is on display at Harrods. It is no wonder as the item is on sale for £2.3millionWhen Sir Geoff Hurst sold the shirt he wore in the 1966 World Cup final, he was probably happy with the price tag.
But just ten years later, the prized item has a whopping £2.3million price tag - more than 25 times the amount he sold it for.
Property developer Andrew Leslau is selling the iconic red No 10 worn by Hurst when he scored his winning hat-trick and is hoping it will attract wealthy fans swept up by World Cup fever.
Sir Geoff sold the shirt in June 2000 in an auction at Christie's to a private collector for £91,750. It was then sold to an unnamed fan of West Ham.
In 2008 Leslau, 52, from Milton Common, Oxfordshire, bought it on behalf of foreign investors for an undisclosed sum, but took out insurance on the item for £1m.
If it is sold for the price tag, it would become the most expensive football shirt ever sold.
The previous record is £157,750 paid in 2002 for the one worn by Pele in Brazil’s 1970 World Cup triumph.
Mr Leslau said he originally planned to display the shirt at Harrods in London in the month running up to the South Africa World Cup.
It is currently on display there until June 14, but Mr Leslau said he will now sell it after receiving several inquiries.
The long-sleeved shirt was worn by Hurst during the England team’s most glorious moment, when they won a dramatic 4-2 win over Germany with a goal in the dying seconds of the game.
25 times cheaper: Sir Geoff Hurst sells the shirt at Christie's in London in 2000 for £91,750, along with the matching cap and Man of the Match trophy'The shirt is without equals or comparables,' he said. 'It is an iconic image of the greatest moment in this country’s football and sporting history.
'What’s more, no other player has scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final. Whatever happens in the future, Sir Geoff will always be the first.'
The most expensive piece of sporting memorabilia to date is the baseball struck by Mark McGwire, the Major League player, to complete his record-breaking 70th home run. It sold for more than $3m (£2.07million) in 1999.
The item of football memorabilia with the highest price tag so far was the oldest surviving FA Cup, bought for £478,000 in 2005 by David Gold, co-owner of West Ham.
Last week Jack Charlton, who played alongside Hurst in the 1966 final, said the price was excessive: 'I can’t believe how much it’s being sold for; that price is just silly. Honestly, if someone is prepared to pay that they must have money coming out of their head.
'I was at Geoff’s place a few days ago and he didn’t mention the sale, but I would think he is quite proud to see it going for so much. I would be. If anyone wants mine, I’ve still got it and would willingly sell it.'
David Convery, former associate director of Christie’s and a specialist in sporting memorabilia, told the Sunday Times the price was excessive.
'You need a Middle Eastern buyer with money to burn for a daft price like that,' he said, valuing it at £200,000.
The shirt worn by George Cohen, the England footballer in the 1966 World Cup final was sold at Christie’s for £38,400; Alan Ball’s 1966 World Cup winner’s medal sold for £164,800 and his cap for £43,200.
Winning goal: Geoff Hurst cracks a shot past German goalkeeper Hans Tilkowski to score the final goal of the World Cup Final against West Germany at Wembley source: dailymail
