A PIECE Of Burnley FC history has been brought back to the heart of Turf Moor to kick start plans for a Clarets museum.
Chairman Barry Kilby has revealed that a claret and blue shirt from the 1914 FA Cup Final and two medals will begin a collection which will one day tell the club's history.
The memorabilia cost more than £9,000 when it went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London yesterday.
The jersey was worn for the first and only time by William Watson in the famous Burnley 1-0 victory over Liverpool at Crystal Palace.
On that day a crowd of nearly 73,000 watched Burnley's Bert Freeman score the winning goal and saw the medals being presented to the Burnley team by King George V.
Freeman's medal was bought by Burnley councillor Harry Brooks just over three years ago at auction for £3,800. At Sotheby's, Watson's shirt fetched £3,450 which was the same price paid for a 15-carat gold Cup Final medal which was presented to goalkeeper Walter Sewell.
The third lot was a gold engraved medal which was awarded to William Watson when Burnley won its first League championship in 1920-21 when the team finished on 59 points, five clear of runners-up Manchester City.
Mr Kilby said: "The club has bought the things to start off a collection. It's important because this is part of our heritage and something we have that some other clubs don't."
The chairman is also donating some of his own pieces of Burnley history, including a commemorative mug produced to mark Burnley's record run of 30 games unbeaten in their 1920-21 championship season. Club historian Ray Simpson also has items of memorabilia which will form part of the musuem's original collection and the club is appealing to other supporters for other pieces that can go on display.
It is intended that a musuem will be open at Turf Moor on match days and possibly form part of a ground tour. Goalkeeper Sewell's transfer from Gainsborough Trinity in 1913 caused such a stir because the entire defence followed his move to the Clarets for a combined fee of £1,800.
He made 27 League and Cup appearances for Burnley before moving to Blackburn Rovers in 1920 where he later won an England cap.
All three items were offered for sale by private collectors.
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