Norman Whiteside auctions off career memorabilia to fund pension

Despite being forced to retire at 26 with a knee injury, the Manchester United and Northern Ireland star had by 1992 accumulated an impressive medal haul and swapped shirts with some of the biggest names in world football.

The items put up for auction in England on Wednesday had a total pre-sale estimate of £85,000 - £141,000, however, the £30k bid for the 1985 FA Cup medal and a further £23k for the 9ct gold medal pushed the final sales total to just short of £195,000.

Whiteside said he wanted to cash from the sale of his collection to boost his retirement fund.

There was particular interest in a number of auction lots related to his record-breaking appearance at the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain.

Aged only 17 years and 41 days, the north Belfast teenager lined out for Northern Ireland’s first game against Yugoslavia and became the young player ever at a World Cup – taking that title from the great Pele of Brazil and holding it to this day.

Whiteside’s number 16 shirt from that match sold for £18,000.

The 1985 FA Cup final was a major highlight of his career as Whiteside scored the only goal in Manchester United’s 1-0 dramatic victory over Everton and that was reflected in the top prices for the medal and famous red shirt.

But there was also considerable interest in his winner’s medal from the 1983 FA Cup final replay success over Brighton.

That was another Whiteside record-breaking appearance when he became the youngest goal scorer in an FA Cup final aged 18. The medal eventually reached a hammer price of £24,000.

He would eventually score 68 goals in 278 top flight appearances for Manchester United and Everton.

Other notable items for sale included an iconic yellow Brazil jersey worn by the great Júlio César at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico (which sold for £3,000) and a Juventus shirt worn by French legend Michel Platini that almost doubled its pre-sale estimate selling for £7,500.

“No one’s pressurised me to do it, but now I’m 55 I want to make sure that all my pension provisions are in place,” Whiteside had said ahead of the auction.

“I get a small pension from my footballing days, but we didn’t earn much in those days before the Premiership, so I want...to secure the future.”

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