Lot 103 : Sold for £1,100 hammer

Estimate £1,000-£1,500

A 1970s 18ct gentleman's manual wind wrist watch presented by FC Juventus, square silvered dial with gilt baton markers marked FC Juventus, Swiss the 17 jewel Incabloc movement within a square case, textured finish bezel and integral strap with snap clasp, stamped, total weight 67g, cased. From the estate of the late Ken Russell Ken Burns was born in 1931 in Dudley and played football locally for Blowers Green Rangers whilst attending Dudley Grammar School. At 18 he was called up for national service and was stationed in Bishops Auckland where he continued to play. In his later teen years an injury forced his hand and he instead picked up refereeing. By the age of 31, he had made the Football League referees list. On 29th April 1967 he refereed the FA Cup semi-final between Leeds United and Chelsea at Villa Park. The London side won 1-0 after Burns had disallowed two late Leeds goals. Revenge for Leeds was to come six months later in an old First Division fixture at Elland Road on the 7th October 1967, when the two sides met again. Burns also refereed this and the Yorkshire team won 7 - 0. In 1969, he was the senior linesman for the FA Cup Final, assisting George McCabe and upon McCabe's retirement, in the summer of the same year, Burns took his place on the FIFA List. Perhaps his greatest 'domestic' honour came in 1973 when he refereed the FA Cup Final between Leeds and Sunderland at Wembley. It is a well remembered final, as Sunderland (of the then old Second Division) defeated Leeds, one of the top clubs in the country at that time by one goal to nil, aided by a crucial double-save by Sunderland goalkeeper Jimmy Montgomery. Some of his international highlights include taking charge of a European cup quarter final between Bayern Munich and Ajax in 1973 and of Club Brugge's win over Real Madrid in the same competition in 1976. Ken Burns retired in 1978 after 17 years of Football League refereeing and 9 years at International level. He died aged 85 in 2016. ''He (my brother) was a tremendous person who was dedicated to the game. He liked to see fair play, he always wanted to let sides play without the constant blowing of the whistle. He wanted the crowd to be entertained, but of course being a referee, there was sometimes controversy'' Peter Burns.

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