THE NATIONWIDE league began last weekend, and this weekend sees the beginning of the Premiership - but for some people, simply watching football is not enough.

True devoted fans need something extra, whether it's a tattoo of Ruud van Nistelrooy diving gracefully across one buttock or the shirt worn by Dennis Wise when he received his last ever red card for Chelsea.

Graham Budd is a sporting memorabilia specialist for London autioneers Sotheby's. He said: "Football memorabilia remains quite a young market. Sports memorabilia has been going for over 20 years but that tended to be golf and cricket whereas the market for football grew during the 1990s.

"It's on an upward curve. There's a lot of demand for everything from items associated with great players to collecting of programmes, which is immensely popular.

"We find that pre-1960s memorabilia is scarcer - the older the better, so if you've got something handed down from your father or grandfather you might have hit the jackpot.

"The Manchester United name does seem to make more money than any other club but every team has a hardcore of collectors. "Newport County are ex-football league, which is a collectable area in its own right.

"The signatures and signed photographs that are making the big money are the 1966 World Cup-winning England team, the Busby Babes, and the Treble-winning Manchester United side.

"We held the world record, which was for the replica of the Jules Rimet trophy made as a replacement when the original went missing in 1966. "After Brazil won the World Cup three times they were given the trophy permanently but then it was nicked, so this replica is the closest there is to the real thing.

"It sold for £240,000 to FIFA, and I think it's in the National Football Museum in Preston now.

"Pele's 1970 World Cup shirt sold for £150,000, as well, but the nice thing about this market is that it's quite inclusive.

"With a fairly small budget you can build up a good collection, so there's something for everybody."

Sotheby's next auction of football memorabilia, on September 11, features some Welsh football memorabilia including a championship medal from when Swansea Town topped the third division in the 1930s, and jerseys worn by Welsh footballers Jack Kelsey, Cliff Jones and Ian Rush. For more details visit www.sothebys.com. Tom Whiteley