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Football has always been a very popular sport with young and old people alike. The sport inspires a sort of national pride in people and the players themselves receive almost god-like admiration from the fans. Football is also a rapidly growing segment of the sports memorabilia market with trading cards, shirts, programmes and footballs forming a large share of the collectors market. Although the focus is mainly on the premiership teams, fans of teams from lower leagues also collect memorabilia.
As with all sports there are the legends, the up and coming stars and the hot players of the moment. Memorabilia is available for all of these in varying degrees and it is up to the individual to choose the main focus of their collection. The value of a collection of football memorabilia can vary according to the success of the career of a player. For instance, if a player is doing well and scoring a lot of goals then memorabilia associated with them may increase in value but if a player is suffering from some negative press then this may lower the overall value of associated memorabilia.
Therefore, it is important to keep up to date with news in the world of football so that you can identify any up and coming stars and are aware of the popularity of certain players or teams. As well as having an in-depth knowledge of football it is important to know the history of the memorabilia you are collecting. You will need to know things such as how many similar or identical items are available and if the player you are collecting memorabilia of has signed a lot of merchandise in the past or are they the sort of athlete who rarely signs anything. If the latter is the case then it may be difficult for you to collect pieces for your collection, on the other hand if you are successful then the pieces are likely to be worth a considerable amount of money. In order to successfully collect football memorabilia you should be aware of any important events that may be a good opportunity to add items to your collection, such as book signings or auctions.
It is important to have a goal to your collection. It may be that you build up a collection primarily to make a profit or you may want to use collecting as a fun pastime that incorporates your love of the game. Whatever your reason it is important to establish it before beginning as your goal may have a direct influence on the sort of memorabilia you collect. You also need to decide on a focus for your collection. Do you want to collect one team, one player or from a sporting era? Consider the type of memorabilia you would like to collect as well. You may decide to collect signed footballs, signed photographs, football autographs, signed football shirts or any pieces of signed memorabilia.
You may want to attend book signings, matches and celebrity appearances in order to get signed memorabilia in person, but you should also make the most of the internet. There are plenty of online dealers, auction sites and established memorabilia stores that you can look through to find items that will be welcome additions to your collection. The most important thing to remember when buying sports memorabilia, signed photographs or any memorabilia online is to make sure that your item comes with a certificate of authenticity. You should also do some of your own background research on both the item and the seller. Look at other buyers reviews of the seller and his service in order to assess whether he is trustworthy or not. The seller should also be able to provide a full history of the item. Be aware of very low prices, if it seems to good to be true then it probably is!
If you are looking for a site that provides genuine items of memorabilia from all areas of fame, from sport to film to politics then why not visit the Genuine Memorabilia site. You can browse through the extensive online catalogue and you will be sure to find something of interest. To help boost your collection or to kick-start one then why not click here for more information!