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Readers of The Square Ball magazine might recognise Chris Toft from issue three of last season. Over many years, Chris has built surely the best and weirdest collection of Leeds United shirts on the planet.
When I was interviewing him at his house it didn’t take long before my head started spinning at the sheer range of it all:
“When I first started thinking, ‘I’m going to start collecting these now,’ it wasn’t even with the names on or anything. I was just thinking, ‘Get the home and away of each season.’ Which is harder than you think actually, because some shirts they use as the away kit for one season, and then the third kit for the next season. Sometimes they have a different — this is how tapped I am — they have a different sponsor on the sleeve or something.”
Which explains why Chris has multiples of the same shirt. Not only does he buy short and long-sleeved versions, but “also being a collector, I have to get one with the font in the club style and one with the Premier League style.” That includes any sleeve sponsors that need to be added. “It’s got to be the full everything.”
…
He pulls out a charcoal and pink away kit that Leeds wore in the famous win at Swansea, with Hernandez 19 on the back.“It depends on what your definition of completion is,” he says, picking out a Paul Rachubka shirt
“Don’t get me wrong, I have got good players as well. I’ve either got ones that are terrible, they’re normally done afterwards because you don’t know they’re going to be terrible players, or sort of great moment ones like Raphinha at Brentford and Billy Paynter that time he did score.”
We’re starting to get on a roll as we browse through the shirts and the names get more and more baffling. Lasogga. Milosevic. Kandol. Stone. Nunez. Pedraza. Two Tore Andre Flo shirts (8 and 19). Match-worn George McCartney and Tommaso Bianchi kits, both signed. A match-worn Souleymane Doukara shirt, signed by four other players but not Doukara. Ian Moore! Alex Bruce!! Cameron Borthwick-Jackson!!!
But now Chris has come to a huge decision. Aside from a couple of shirts with of sentimental value, he’s putting it all up for sale. While he is open about wanting to recoup some of the thousands of pounds he has spent amassing such a collection, 40% of the proceeds will be split between two excellent causes close to Leeds fans’ hearts — Andy’s Man Club, and the Rob Burrow Centre For Motor Neurone Disease.
Over the next few weeks, Chris will be posting images of shirts for sale on Twitter and Instagram, and you can then DM him any bids for them. We’ll be sharing them from The Square Ball’s accounts, but make sure you’re following Chris on Twitter (@tofty_pops) and Instagram (@chris_tofty). I’ve just visited Chris once more and bagged myself some beautiful David Batty, Pablo Hernandez and Mateusz Klich shirts as a Christmas present to myself, happily justifying it knowing some of the money will be going to two brilliant charities, so keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks, get involved and treat yourself. ⬢
