I walked round to the auction rooms the following morning.
It was still cold, wet and windy, and the first thing that I noticed when I arrived was
that Burnley fans seemed to dominate the auction. There was, however, no representative of
the club, which I found to be rather sad.
Bidding began very briskly and prices were high. The medal went to an ardent Burnley
fan (not me) for a total including costs of £4,135. I purchased several medals, including
one for a Burnley v. Celtic game in 1914.
The jersey went for a staggering £3,129 including costs, and the purchaser was not
even a Clarets supporter! Apparently he collects memorabilia of the old Crystal Palace,
and wanted the jersey as it was worn by the man who scored the last goal there.
In addition to the medals I also obtained a collection of photographs, mainly referring
to Bert’s time with Burnley. Being somewhat lighter of pocket but very pleased, I
then received a pleasant surprise. A very charming lady approached the purchaser of the
Cup Winner’s medal and myself and introduced herself as Bert Freeman’s daughter.
He, although hailing from the Birmingham area, had married a Burnley girl whose father was
not only President of the club but was also twice Mayor of Burnley!
After Freeman’s retirement the family settled in the Birmingham area, where he ran
a successful business. Oddly enough, but like so many players, he lost all interest in
football and very rarely attended games. His wife and daughter were, however, great fans
and saw the Clarets whenever they were in the Birmingham area. For many years the club
always provided tickets, but this was stopped by Bob Lord. The lady was very disappointed
over this.
In addition to the Freeman items there was in the auction a 1991-92 Barclay’s
League Fourth Division Championship medal. This did not have the player’s name
inscribed on it, so it was impossible to say whose it was. It did however raise a total of
£433, over twice the estimate.
So ended my visit to Glasgow and I made my way back to the airport. Incidentally, it
was still cold, wet and windy.
