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Sven-Goran Eriksson’s life memorabilia put up for auction in attempt to clear debts

Sven-Goran Eriksson on duty in England blazer
Sven-Goran Eriksson had major debts to HM Revenue and Customs when he died of pancreatic cancer aged 76

Bna AB

An extraordinary selection of memorabilia that belonged to Sven-Goran Eriksson, the former England manager, has gone up for auction after the Swede died millions pounds in debt.

Items from the sale include several of Eriksson’s Armani England blazers, as well as the Football Association match plaques from some of his most celebrated matches, including the 5-1 demolition of Germany in 2001.

Almost 100 items have been made available following Eriksson’s death in August. Intriguingly the lots also include four volumes of his and Tord Grip’s diaries when they were respectively England manager and assistant manager. The diaries, which are also FA-branded with the Three Lions badge on the front, have the years 2000-01, 2002, 2003 and 2005 on their covers.

Perhaps the most intriguing lot of all is No 14,185, Eriksson’s Armani England suit that he wore for the 2006 World Cup last-16 clash, not because of anything that happened during the match but because of what was found inside the suit jacket itself. As well as having Eriksson’s name embroidered into the jacket lining, the items found include Steve McClaren’s Lufthansa boarding pass, the tactics mastersheet that reveals England’s line-up, strategy and how Ecuador will attack them, and Eriksson’s hotel room key from the Welcome Hotel in Essen.

The auction site displays an initial list price of 100 Swedish krona (£7.40) for each of the 98 items which are initially being put up for sale until March 25. At the top of the site, a tagline reads: “Awards, prizes and personal items from Sven-Goran Eriksson’s incredible career. More items will be published before bidding starts.”

Many of the main medals or prizes from Eriksson’s managerial career are also available, including the Serie A championship medal he won with Lazio and the BBC’s coach of the year trophy that he won at the 2001 ceremony following England’s qualification for the 2002 World Cup.

Despite earning huge sums of money in his career, including at least £7 million in pay-offs from England, Manchester City and Mexico, Eriksson had major debts to HM Revenue and Customs when he died of pancreatic cancer aged 76.

Citing information released by the Swedish Tax Agency, reports in Eriksson’s homeland earlier this month have stated that the former England manager owed 118 million Swedish krona (£8.7 million), almost 100 million krona (£7.4 million) of it to HMRC.

Eriksson was further said to have had assets of 66 million krona (£4.9 million), leaving his estate with a deficit of 51 million krona (£3.7 million).

It has also emerged that the luxury lake-side house where he spent the final years of his life had been put up for sale at a price of £1.8 million.

Eriksson as England manager
Eriksson died in a huge amount of debt - Getty Images/Simon M Bruty

In 2013, Eriksson told The Telegraph of his regret at giving his financial responsibilities over to former adviser Samir Khan, who he took to court.

Eriksson’s damages claim against Khan – who had denied defrauding him – ended when the latter was made bankrupt earlier that year. The former England manager later accepted an apology from Khan after the former adviser admitted breaching a money-freezing court order made during the litigation.

Eriksson’s lawyer Anders Runebjer had said last month that the family planned to auction his memorabilia and that the debts were not a surprise. “They have a lot of memorabilia that will be sold at an auction,” he told The Mirror. “There are a lot of items that they kept. It will be announced and the auction will be internet-based.

“It is no surprise at all for those involved. It was expected. Sven even said that ‘I will not leave any money behind me’. And that was the case. It is the debt to the English tax authorities that is the background to the large total of debts. If it were not for that then there would have been no danger.”

Eriksson became a Telegraph Sport columnist in the final months of his life, signing off with a poignant and moving message: “Writing a piece about death of course makes you reflective,” he wrote. “Everything went too quickly! Where did life go?

“But one thought always comes to the front of my mind: It has been a dream. My message to everyone would be: don’t give up. Never give up. And please don’t forget this: life is always, always to be celebrated.”