A historic collection of Cardiff City memorabilia has been sold for £28,000 at auction.
After much speculation, around 40 items went under the hammer at Lockdales auctioneers on Saturday, with Cardiff snapping up 30 of the lots on sale, including a number of items from their FA Cup final win over Arsenal in 1927.
The matchday programme from that day at Wembley sold for £1,100, along with a pair of ticket stubs for £360.
Other items included a collection of ledgers, payment records, and wage books dating from between 1915 and 1972. They went for a combined total of £4,000.
Chris Elmy, of Lockdales, told the BBC: "I can tell you that Cardiff City were bidding strongly and they got the most important items.
"This was arguably the finest collection of football memorabilia we have dealt with.
"We've sold the first Arsenal programme when the club played at Highbury but this was a unique collection."
News of the auction was greeted with concern by a number of Cardiff fans, many of whom believed some of the items to be integral to chronicling the history of the club.
It's understood the board recognised the significance of the items once the catalogue was released, with owner Vincent Tan authorising funds to secure the purchase of the items so that they could be returned to the club.
Seller Richard Shepherd is believed to be pleased that the collection of items will remain largely intact, and has also agreed not to accept payment from the club for the sale of the ledgers or the original lease and contracts.
Mr Shepherd had initially tried to remove the collection from auction but was prevented from doing so due to the terms and conditions of the sale.
Cardiff will now press ahead with plans to have all the items catalogued and will seek out assistance from Glamorgan Records, before exploring a long-term solution that will allow them to display the memorabilia to supporters.
