Posted on 15th Feb 2012 @ 3:49 PM

If you hang around sports long enough, you’re bound to cross paths with a collector.

Just in our office we have folks who collect Chelsea kits, University of Washington memorabilia and player jerseys of various sports. Never mind the non-sports related stuff they seek to acquire.

I confess: I’m a collector as well. The soccer stuff alone is almost enough to fill an attic. It began with game programs in my youth. However the accumulated tonnage proved to be an issue, so when Seattle pro soccer went on hiatus in the early Nineties it was a mixed blessing.

I’m not sure when worldwide pin collecting became all the rage, but I first encountered it firsthand at the 1994 World Cup. A friend who served on the host committee gave me a handful of pins. No sooner did I wear a BBC Sport pin badge and I began fielding trade offers in the media compound.

By the time I left Pasadena I probably had two dozen pins. That sum has since swelled. Thankfully, pins are relatively small and my entire collection can fit in the space of, say, 30 programs.

Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention collectors of soccer scarves. Online I found an American collector [http://kennysfootballscarves.yolasite.com/] with more than 600, along with an impressive page dedicated to Ruffneck Scarves, and a Dutch fan whose trove exceeds a thousand scarves. [http://www.footballscarves.nl/welcome.php]

A photo of his collection (which appears to be housed in an attic, no less) could easily be confused for a snapshot of the Ruffneck inventory. More impressive is the fact that this individual, Utrecht supporter Rob Vonk, explains his addiction and his methodology. With regard to ‘Why scarves?’ he rightly cites the accessory’s roots in soccer history.

I would add that the best fringe benefit to collecting is the stories and people associated with each piece. Those World Cup pins sparked conversations with fans and journalists from all over the world, and Vonk has friends and acquaintances who bring him scarves from wherever they go. As the saying goes, you can never have enough friends.   

I will leave you with one of my favorite comedic quotes. Says Steven Wright, “I have the world’s largest seashell collection. You may have seen it; I keep it spread out on beaches all over the world.”

by Frank MacDonald