Oxford United may not have any Beckhams or Keanes, but the good old club shirts are the most popular choice at the clubshop on London Road in Headington.

According to Trevor Bax, shop manager, this is the busiest time of the year and replica shirts are in great demand.

He says the shop plays a vital part in the Oxford United business: "It's a very important part of any football club."

But he admits that the profits depend on Oxford United's performance. When the team is playing badly sales fall. So at the moment things are booming because Oxford United have been undefeated in their last nine matches. "If you won the lottery you'd be feeling good and would probably go out and spend some money. It's the same for the fans. When we win they are on a high and want to buy goods from the shop."

Of course only loyal local fans buy merchandise, but there are enough of them to make the shop profitable.

The United Experience is open late on Thursday night in the run up to Christmas, when fans can meet the players for a chat or to get an autograph.

It may be the beautiful game for fans on the terraces but the booming trade in football memorabilia is proving pretty beautiful too. Among the items on sale at Sotheby's earlier this week was Geoff Hurst's white England number 10 jersey, with a photo of Sir Geoff presenting it to the owner, which was sold to an anonymous bidder for £2,875.

Also included among the items were historic medals, jerseys and posters from Uruguay's World Cup competitions stretching as far back as the first World Cup in 1930.

One official programme for the World Cup final between Uruguay and Argentina fetched £6,325 and a collection of 23 vintage Chelsea matchday programmes sold for £3,910.

In all, the collection raised a staggering total of £362,756. The popularity of football memorabilia is a recent phenomenon, according to Sotheby's football expert Graham Budd. Sales began nine or ten years ago and have really taken off in the late 1990s.

"In comparison with other memorabilia markets it is quite a young market, but we are seeing quite a lot of growth.

"British collectors are the main customers and the collecting habit hasn't spread to the rest of the world. The British are great fans of the game and collections relate to the clubs they support. In this country, memorabilia goes back to the Victorian era so there is plenty to collect. "What we tend to find is that the shirts that make the most money are connected to historical figures like Bobby Moore or players who are in vogue at the moment. Their fortunes can fluctuate but Michael Owen, for instance, was all the rage after he burst on to the scene.

"He and Beckham and Cantona, who has lots of charisma, are still popular. Their shirts can virtually make as much as vintage shirts."

Manchester United memorabilia is a guaranteed winner at a sale, simply because of the number of fans the club has. And anything connected to the 1966 World Cup is popular. Budd says: "As it gets more and more unlikely that we win again the prices go up and up." Programmes are popular collectors' items too but pre-1960 programmes are the real money-spinners. Cup final programmes make the most money but a programme from the pre-Wembley era, before 1923, would cost £1,000 plus at auction.

Shirts are popular keepsakes because they can be easily displayed.

"The problem in the modern era is that things have changed - players now have four shirts for every match," says Budd. "In days gone past, one shirt managed to last a player a season. It is difficult now to establish which was the one shirt that was worn and which was the spare." A shirt with a story behind it will always be popular. Sotheby's is selling a black and white Newcastle United shirt worn by one of the first foreign players to be imported to Britain in 1952 called George Robledo. It is estimated at £1,500.

Modern shirts are more modestly priced. Ruud Gullit's are popular and could fetch £300 to £400 and Tony Adams's shirts could command £500 to £700. Boots and footballs themselves don't attract large amounts of money, but they are one of the attractions of collecting football memorabilia. "It means that a father could buy a Christmas present for his son of an autographed football for about £150. There's something quite nice about the market - it's accessible." Collectors who are used to the high prices of rock'n'roll memorabilia being amazed by the low prices football keepsakes fetch. Having said that, one of the most expensive items at the Sotheby's sale was the official poster for the first World Cup in 1930, which was held in Uruguay. It sold for £13,800.

So what are Budd's tips for building up a valuable collection?

"Just collect what you really like," he says. "It doesn't matter what happens then, even if it is not valuable.

"But as an investment, you've got to take a long term view. The people I know who hold the most spectacular collections have been doing it for 20 to 25 years. "There are opportunities for a quick speculation where you guess a player will be massive and you get something connected to them early on in his career.

"There can't be many households in Britain that don't have an interest in football, even if it's just having a few programmes or autographs.

"A lot of it must be scarce but it may take a generation to mature in value."

Story date: Thursday 09 December

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.