Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2025
Widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all-time and among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century, his 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes friendlies, is recognized as a Guinness World Record. Named "Athlete of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee in 1999, Pele was named one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century, sharing the honour alongside Diego Maradona. Helping Brazil to World Cup titles in 1958, 1962 and 1970, the legend would take his talents to the North American Soccer League beginning with the 1975 NASL season, immediately putting football (soccer) on the map in North America. Offered here, we present this collection of New York Cosmos memorabilia pertaining to Pele's time with the club between 1975 and 1977 as well as after that hails directly from the personal collection of legendary reporter, Frank Brown. Including copy's of Kick Magazine - The Official Magazine of the North American Soccer League from league matches played between New York and Rochester, Detroit and Chicago, Colorado and Los Angeles and Minnesota against Tampa Bay, all the matches were played between May 24th and 28th of 1978 and feature an image of George Best while an article written by Brown is found on the interior. In terms of condition, all the programs display in overall good to excellent condition with just light handling wear observed throughout the group though it is worth noting that the cover of the Colorado vs Los Angeles match has a fold line. Additionally, a letter sent to Brown by the league thanking him for the contribution of his article is tucked inside the one program, is typed out on a regular sized piece of paper and shows some folding/wear to the right and bottom edges. Additionally, also included with the lot is a VIP pass from Pele's first game with the Cosmos that shows light wear to the edges and corners as well as a small tear at the top, a pair of locker room passes that each display the Cosmos logo and measure out to roughly 2 1/2" x 4", Brown's 1978 Cosmos press box pass that lists his name and "Associated Press" typed over it, a press box pass from Pele's final career game, an exhibition match between the Cosmos and Santos that was played on October 1st, 1977 at a sold out Giants Stadium which shows a long crease through the bottom portion of it and finally, a press box pass and pinback "media" button from "Soccer Bowl 78" which was contested between New York and Tampa Bay at a sold out Giants Stadium before a crowd of 74,901. All found to be in overall excellent condition overall with just light handling wear seen throughout the group unless otherwise noted, the lot is accompanied by a Classic Auctions LOA.
Publishing his first paid hockey article in a New York Rangers game program in 1970 that earned him a total of fifty ($50) dollars, from there, Frank Brown began his career as a journalist for The Associated Press, typically covering the Montreal Canadiens. Under the leadership of Stan Fischler, Brown stated he learned the "courage of my convictions" after being handed Gordie Howe's phone number. Moving on to the New York Daily News in 1980, where he would remain until 1998, when he joined the National Hockey League as a communication executive, a position he would hold with the league until his retirement in 2018. He was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.
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