 Burnley lost 1-0 to Charlton in the 1947 cup final |
A Wales international's cup final football shirt has been sold at auction for �2,750 It was among seven items belonging to the late Burnley inside-right Billy Morris, from Llandulas, Denbighshire. He wore the shirt at Wembley, when Burnley lost the FA Cup in 1947 to Charlton 1-0. It was among a collection which made �7,812. Another 14 lots relating to former Wales and Chelsea right-back Gareth Hall sold for a total of �5,964. Morris was capped five times by Wales between 1947 and 1952, when he partnered Ivor Allchurch. Born in 1918, he played for Llandudno Town until 1939 when he moved to Burnley. He played 230 times for the Turf Moor club before retiring in 1953. He was manager of Wrexham for two brief periods.  He was just 5ft tall, but Morris's ball control was considered "excellent" |
Morris' football career had been interrupted by World War II. He enlisted with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, serving as a sergeant in India and Burma. He was only 5ft and known as an intelligent player with excellent ball control. Two of his Wales caps, dating from 1948-1949 and 1951-1952, fetched �3,060 between them. A Wales shirt from 1951, worn against the rest of the UK, fetched �384, while a Wales shirt from 1951-1952 against Scotland, sold for �1,020. A football rattle and a Northern Ireland shirt which Morris swapped with a player in 1952 raised another �588. Morris later ran a guest house in Llandudno and a shop in Colwyn Bay. He died in 2002, aged 84. However, one of the earliest Wales caps, awarded to Billy Lewis in 1891, was valued at up to �8,500, but failed to meet its reserve price and failed to sell.  The cap was considered the most valuable of several Welsh lots |
Lewis, from Bangor, Gwynedd, played for Wales 27 times. His green velvet cap is embroidered with a red dragon, as well as the years that Lewis - who died in 1935 - played for his country. Also included in the lot were a list of games he played for Wales, a photograph of the player with his trophies and a letter from the Football Association of Wales (FAW) in 1891. During his career Lewis played for Bangor City, Everton, Crewe Alexandra, Chester City and Manchester City. A spokeswoman for Bonhams' Sporting Legends at Chester said the cap, which belongs to a Lewis relative, could be put up for sale again. She added: "It's something that will be discussed. Quite often items can sell after a sale. "But it's possible it could be put up for auction again." In addition, 14 lots relating to former international Gareth Hall fetched �5,964. Hall played right-back for Chelsea, making 138 appearances and scoring four goals. He made nine appearances for Wales with his final cap in 1992 in a 1-1 draw against Austria.
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