We’re back! And we’ve brought a friend.
The Great Save has been on a bit of a communication break while we’ve been completely revamping our website – do take a peek at the new look: www.thegreatsave.net
But we’ve not been idle. Of late, there have been three significant developments that impact favourably on our mission of saving football memorabilia.
Heritage groups, often supporter-led, continue to come to our attention – Wigan Athletic, Norwich City, Cardiff City, Carlisle United to name but a few – and you’ll find one featured in Club Corner.
The Independent Football Regulator has come into being and part of its mandate is the protection of club heritage. We will be working with Supporters Trusts and Fan Advisory Boards to help push heritage preservation as a formal agenda item with clubs.
And finally, we’ve seen – because we are part of it – the growth of the Football Club Museums WhatsApp (FCM WA) group, which shares expertise, contacts and some great stories of what’s already happening. Going forwards, the Great Save will be working with FCM WA to magnify the impact of its great saving stories, as well as providing a publicly accessible platform for the accumulated learning. The FCM WA currently has around 70 contacts. Let us know by email if you’d like to be added to the group and we’ll pass on your details.
What happens to your stuff if you suddenly pass away
It’s not much fun to think about, but if you’ve built up an extensive or valuable collection, have you made a succession plan? It’s a question that was aired recently in the FCM WA group and is at the heart of our mission at The Great Save.
As one member wrote: ‘A friend passed away with no will. He had a massive Lincoln City programme collection as well as other bits and pieces. His wife asked me if I wanted it or else it was going to the tip. I had to say yes of course, and I’ve managed to sell quite a lot of the duplicate programmes so at least they now have good homes, and raised a four-figure sum for her.’
Others have donated items already, or left instructions alongside a will, or have set out arrangements for other supporters or archivists to ensure their collections are looked after properly.
Beyond physical items, if you’re engaged in unique research you might want to think too about making sure that anything digital doesn’t get lost.
If you feel in need of any help or guidance, please get in touch with us at The Great Save thegreatsave@icloud.com
1960s Watford Fixture Posters – saved and put to good use
A Watford supporter recently contacted Great Saver Geoff about an ‘attic find’. He had opened an old suitcase to find about 90 match posters dating from 1966 to 1969. As a boy, he had displayed them in the window of his father’s estate agency premises in Harrow. They were supplied by the Watford chairman Jim Bonser, who had an office in the same building.
Some of the posters were donated to Watford Museum for its football collection. The supporter was keen for the rest to be sold to raise funds for the ‘Golden Memories’ dementia support programme initiative run by the Watford FC Community Trust. In total around £2,000 was raised from 70 or so fans who bought posters. This has funded two trips out for the group.
Greg Werner of The Great Save Australia reports on another find
In July 2025, the oldest known trophy for league competition in Sydney found its way out of the darkness and back home to football.
The Kerr Cup, donated to the NSW British Football Association by Sydney jeweller William Kerr, and played for by clubs in the Sydney metropolitan area, had been missing for almost 120 years. Last won in 1906 by Glebe, the trophy had been kept safe in private hands all these years, with the last guardian only recently realising its significance. It is not the oldest trophy known to still exist, but it is the first one to be played for in a league style competition. The trophy now joins the Nurse and Richardson Cups as the most significant prizes in Football NSW’s possession, and they will now be given the due treatment their significance deserves.
The big question now to be answered is where is the Gardiner Cup, which was last won by Thirroul in 1928? With the sudden and unexpected appearance of both the Soccer Ashes and now the Kerr Cup we can now live in hope that it too will appear from the mists of time.
Remember folks to check in those boxes under the bed, atop the wardrobe, out in the garage or up in the attic, you never know what you may find.
Time travel takes time in Hull
Nearly 18 months ago Hull City Supporters Trust (HCST) launched a plan to restore The Spion Kop, the UK’s last remaining example of an Edwardian terrace, part of the club’s original Anlaby Road ground. That was built in 1904, used for training and junior teams from 1946 when the Tigers moved to Boothferry Park, and effectively waste ground since the mid-1960s when it was bisected by a railway line. Two-thirds of an original terrace remains, but in such a poor state that machinery can’t be used to completely clear the invasive trees and brambles.
Nevertheless, plans advance to save the site and make good heritage use of it. With enthusiastic support from the council and the local MP, survey and planning work continue into spring 2026. Once tenure of the site is secured – it’s just 100 yards away from the new MKM stadium – a bid for National Lottery funding will be made.
The intention is to create a park in the shape of a pitch, surrounded by legend and history boards, featuring the old terrace, all to be used by the local community, schools’ history projects and as part of stadium tours.
From a simple idea this project has grown in duration, scope and partners but its essential beating heart is the preserving and revealing of an authentic football relic.
International Football History Conference, 12-13 June at Craven Cottage, Fulham FC
What gets saved and preserved has a crucial role in how football history develops. Every two years there’s an international football history conference held in the UK and in 2026 it’s in London, at Craven Cottage, Fulham. The Great Save will be attending, with Roger giving a paper on how the media presentation of football results has changed since Victorian times.
The conference is open to all interested in football history – of all codes and all genders. There’s a social event on the evening of 11 June, with a selection of papers presented over the next two days (12 and 13 June). For further information and tickets visit here or contact Gary James, via footycon@outlook.com .
Heritage now via e-zine
Derby County historian Andy Ellis has brought modern tech to showing the fruits of heritage preservation. It’s in the form of an occasional e-zine, made freely available, with Issue 2 at https://heyzine.com/flip-book/89c3712c66.html, and covers many aspects of the club’s history from documents to trophies and tickets to shirts. It looks a good template for any heritage group to consider.
Club Corner features Carlisle United
Simon Clarkson, Supporter Liaison Officer and member of the Carlisle United Heritage group, shares the story of the coming together of different groups in the Backing the Blues project to save and display the club’s heritage.
What was the Backing the Blues project?
Backing the Blues was a community heritage project that celebrated and preserved 120 years of Carlisle United’s history through exhibitions, storytelling, workshops, and collaborative activities.
How did it all begin?
A few fan volunteers (Carlisle United Heritage Group) met once a week to sort through fan donations. Covid really saw donations spike as fans had time to sort through cupboards and lofts. Once we started publicising the donations, more and more rolled in. Because the club had lost a lot of memorabilia in the 2005 and 2025 floods, very soon we could not cope with the volume. The club were successful with a National Lottery Heritage Fund bid of £95,000 in 2023 that changed everything.
Who did you create partnerships with?
Carlisle United FC, The University of Cumbria, Tullie Museum, Carlisle United Community Sports Trust, and the City Council.
The timing was perfect for Tullie Museum and they led in the early stages as we shaped the ideas for an exhibition. They were going through a major refurbishment and opened one gallery in July 2024 for Backing the Blues. The exhibition ran through to November and attracted almost 9000 visitors.
The project brought together fans, students, volunteers, and residents. Exhibitions, workshops, and heritage activities helped preserve and share 120 years of the club’s history. It shows what can be achieved when organisations with shared values, enthusiasm, and commitment come together for the benefit of their communities.
What’s the best / most unusual memorabilia find?
There were so many great donations that ranged from a 1950s turnstile from the ground to a 1960s rattle, lots of medals and rare programmes from the 1940s.
What role did the fan volunteers play during the exhibition?
Volunteers shared their knowledge with the exhibition curators and their memories helped shape the project. They acted as gallery guides to add significant value for visitors. Many families of former players were provided with material that they had not previously seen. Archive training was provided by experts, to empower the fans to catalogue, record and store the archive appropriately.
What happened after the exhibition?
We took parts of the exhibition around the city to community centres, the market, and the cathedral. After that, our focus has been on archiving but there have been lots of opportunities for us to showcase the archive with displays at events, on matchdays and a pop-up exhibition at the university campus where the archive is based.
What are the plans for the future?
The long-term plan is to have a museum at Brunton Park. Until then we have plenty of work to do in archiving and hosting visiting groups. Winning a Sporting Heritage Award recognised our efforts to preserve, celebrate, and share the UK’s rich sporting history within our community. It shows what we can achieve when people come together through sport to inspire, empower and make a difference.
And finally …
We’re very happy to take feedback, reader contributions and additional information through any of these three channels: via the Comments section below, by email to thegreatsave@icloud.com or via X/Twitter @TheGreatSave1
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