A Norwich City fan has agreed to donate three rare and valuable Canaries shirts to charity - even after learning their value.
City fan Alistair Rush, 52, grew up in Leiston, Suffolk, at a time when Ipswich Town were a real force in football - however, his father’s love of Norwich City made him a Canary.
He received his first shirt for Christmas in 1976 - having attended his first game at Carrow Road that year as a youngster - a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Sheffield United.
He would then regularly attend games with his father Don, before the pair would trudge up Rouen Road to meet his mother and visit Pilch on Gentleman’s Walk where he would marvel at the replica shirts.
Mr Rush, an accountant who now lives in Berkshire, said: “When I was growing up it was probably the worst possible time to be a Norwich fan in Suffolk, as it was a time when Ipswich were doing well. My grandfather did take me to Portman Road on occasion but it just never felt right. From the first time I went to Carrow Road I knew I would be a Canary for life.
“It was the one thing I shared with my dad more than anything.”
His next shirts were the Admiral kit from the following season and the rare Adidas jersey worn between 1981 and 1984.
Of it, he said: “Being a teenager at the time, if you wore Adidas you were cool, so for Norwich to have an Adidas shirt was just the coolest.”
Mr Rush held onto the shirts ever since, but while clearing out during lockdown decided he was finally ready to part ways with them and contacted charity memorabilia shop On The Stall, City - which raises funds for the Community Sports Foundation.
And even when Andy Bowles, who runs the stall with superfan son Jacob, informed him of their rarity and value, he insisted on going through with the donation.
“I thought they were probably worth about a tenner,” he said. “It never occurred to me they might be a collectible, but I had heard about what On The Stall, City was and what it was all about. I just hope they make as much from them for the CSF as they can.”
The shirts are for sale on the stall website priced at £300 for the Adidas shirt and £200 for the Umbro and Admiral shirts.
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