Pelé’s personal keepsakes to go under the hammer

Leading items from a major auction of Pelé's personal possessions have gone on display at the Newbridge Silverware visitor centre in Co Kildare with the Brazilian star's three World Cup winners' medals and his own replica of the Jules Rimet trophy amongst the artefacts that can be seen between now and April 11th after which they will form part of a much larger exhibition New York and London.

In all, some 2,000 items including many shirts worn by the now 75-year-old in games as well as countless awards and mementoes presented to the Brazilian on his many travels are included in the sale which is due to take place in London on June 7th, 8th and 9th. The sale will be preceded there by a major exhibition of around 600 items that are likely to include a ball, reputed to be his first, made of rolled up socks that he played with when he was a young child and various boots and other deeply personal possessions.

The auction is expected to raise around €10 million with the Jules Rimet trophy and World Cup winner’s medals, amongst the 13 items on display in Newbridge, reckoned to be worth anything up to €2 million between them.

"He grew up in poor circumstances in Brazil and yet he has kept everything; I mean everything," says Martin Nolan, the executive director of Julien's Auctions who is organising the sale.

“We got something like 58 crates from Brazil. It was just unbelievable. He had some in his house, some of it in a museum; he has a place in New York and some of it had been there. It’s incredible. It seems that anything he got, he minded and minded very well.”

Nolan, who is based these days in Beverley Hills where Julien's are established major players in the music and movie memorabilia auction business but who was born in Roscommon and whose father, also Martin, captained Athone Town when he was a child, dismisses the idea that Pelé had his eye on a sale like this all the time. "No one would ever have thought it. There was no market for it. But now he realises that there is . . . there is a museum for it in Brazil but he likes the idea of something from his collection ending up in China, other things in South America or Europe.

As for the really prized possessions, he says that Pelé is typical of clients like Ringo Starr and Cher that the firm has worked with in having decided that, despite not needing the money, he simply wants to "downsize" and "let go".

“Pele is someone who is very secure in that respect but it’s like, ‘I’m 75. I’ve six kids, I’ve three World Cup medals, how do you divvy that up?’

The auction, which will take three days to complete, is expected to attract bidders ranging from museums to individual collectors and fans from around the world, many of them seeking to buy online. Entry level items for those wanting to own a little bit of the “world’s greatest player” but on a tight budget, include various certificates, awards and others mementoes presented to the star while on his travels. At the top end, the Jules Rimet trophy is expected to generate competition amongst the growing number of football museums and very high end collectors.

“It’s the pièce de résistance,” says Nolan. “It’s the most important item that we have in the auction. Pele won World Cups in 1958, 62 and 70 and after a country wins the World Cup three times they are allowed to keep the trophy so Brazil, the team, got the Jules Rimet trophy but then Mexico in conjunction with Fifa created a Jules Rimet trophy for Pelé because he is the only one to have won three and that’s the one we are selling. So that we estimate will go for $400,000 to $600,000 (roughly €350,000 to €525,000) but I think it should sell for a million . . . nobody else has one.”

For Nolan, who left Ireland for New York in 1989 on a Donnelly visa and who first worked as a doorman at the Hilton hotel in New York before a couple of career changes and chance meetings resulted in him ending up as part owner of Julien’s, the hope is that the auction will propel the company to prominence in the world of sports memorabilia.

The company, which once sold William Shatner’s kidney stone for charity for more than €65,000, fought off competition from more mainstream auction houses to stage this sale in part, he says, because Pelé and his people liked the brochures produced by Julien’s for previous events. The one they have produced for June runs to three volumes and costs €300 (nearly €270) or $1,000 (€880) for a limited edition signed copy.

Revenue from the brochure sales and a portion of the money raised by the auction itself will go to a children’s hospital Pelé helps to fund in Curtiba, Brazil. Prospective buyers can register to bid online (the entire event will be streamed live over the internet) at juliensauctions.com.

FIVE LOTS TO LOOK OUT FOR

Pelé's personal Jules Rimet Trophy
This is the star of the show. When Brazil won the World Cup for the third time in 1970, the federation got to keep the trophy but the Mexicans (who hosted the tournament) and Fifa got together to make a replica of the trophy for Pelé, the only player to feature in all three wins. No other player has one and the the original won't be up for grabs so this is expected to go to a museum where it could be a centrepiece of a permanent exhibition.
Estimate: €350,000 to €525,000

1970 World Cup winner's medal
The medals were a simple enough affair back then and even had the maker's name stamped on them front and back but they were rather beautiful and are obviously pretty rare. All three of Pelé's are included and so, if you are determined enough and have half aa million euro or so to hand, you could complete your own collection.
Estimate: €88,000 to €176,000

Ball with which he scored his 1,000th professional goal
When Pelé stepped up to take a penalty late on for Santos against Vasco da Gama in front of 65,000 spectators at the Maracana on Movember 19th, 1969 every knew they might be about to witness a bit of history and the opposing goalkeeper reckoned even his own fans wanted it to go in. It did and the commotion afterwards meant that the game took 25 minutes to restart.
Estimate: €26,400 to €35,200

1977 Cosmos jersey Jerseys tend to be a key part of football memorabilia sales and Pelé's from the 1970 World Cup final, which sold for £140,000 in 2002, still holds the record for the sport. This, a classic looking Cosmos one worn by the Brazilian during thee '77 NASL season,, is one a number in the auction and could potentially be yours for under 10 grand.
Estimate: €7,040 to €8,800

Silver platter presented to Pelé by the staff of the Royal Irish Academy
Just about everywhere Pelé went, people and organisations gave him something to remember them by and these mementoes tend to be the more affordable items in the sales. Sometimes organisations or those with a link to the city in question buy them back for display. June's sale includes quite a lot of items like this.
Estimate: €880 to €1,760