A RARE football programme in a Dinas Powys man’s collection of more than 2,500 is to be sold by leading South Wales auctioneers Rogers Jones Co.

The auction features a programme from Manchester United’s home tie against against Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia in 1958, which took place weeks before the away tie that led to the Munich air disaster where eight of United’s ‘Busby Babes’ lost their lives.

On Wednesday, February 5, it will be the 56th anniversary of the tragedy.

Programme collector Brynmor Stark, who lives in Dinas Powys, was taken to see his first football match by his grandfather in 1966. Brynmor was aged just 12 and his collection contains a large number of Cardiff City programmes from the 1940s to the 1980s. They are included in one of 10 lots, this one comprising 500 programmes estimated to sell for £150-200. The entire collection is expected to fetch more than £1,200.

The sale is at Rogers Jones Co’s saleroom in Penarth Road, Cardiff, on Friday, February 7.

Football historians will be most interested in a number of rare and sought-after programmes, notably the one for Manchester United’s European Cup home game against Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia (now Serbia) at Old Trafford on January 14, 1958. United won 2-1.

However, following the 3-3 draw in the February 5 away match, United’s plane crashed on its third attempt to take off after refuelling at Munich-Riem airport in West Germany. Eight United players, nicknamed “Busby’s Babes” for their youth in manager Matt Busby’s team, were among the 23 passengers who lost their lives.

The same lot of about 160 programmes also includes Liverpool v Reykjavik in 1964, Liverpool’s first competitive European match and Glasgow Rangers v Real Madrid a year earlier. It is estimated at £300-400.

The collection also includes several hundred rugby union programmes comprising many Wales homes tests; World Cup matches; tours and Welsh Cup games from the 1940s to the modern day.

Mr Stark, 58, a retired purchasing officer with a chemicals company, said his “fantastic hobby” had cost him a fortune over the years amassing so many programmes.

He said: “It is with a heavy heart that I am selling them but reality has kicked in. I’ve kept them safe for the last five years but they’ve hardly been looked at in that time, so I’ve decided they have to go.”

The collection will go on free public view alongside an eclectic range of antiques, fine art and collector’s items at Rogers Jones Co’s saleroom in Penarth Road, on Thursday February 6 (10am-7.30pm) and on the morning of the sale, which starts at 11am. For further information, please contact the auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones, telephone 02920 708125 or info@rogersjones.co.uk.