Surprise over football robes found at coffin makers

May 10 2007 By Paul Bradley, Birmingham Mail

CONSERVATION experts made a bizarre find as they cleared out the rooms at a former Birmingham coffin making firm.

There, amongst the gothic brass handles and dust covered tools, lay a set of Villa and Blues shrouds in immaculate condition.

Hidden beneath the handles once made for the caskets of Princess Diana and the Queen Mother, were the coloured robes of football rivals Aston Villa and Birmingham City.

According to tradition the pristine clothes, similar to the football shirts worn in the 1950s, would be used to dress up a loved one as they made their final journey six feet under.

Who made them, or when, remains a mystery.

Director of the Birmingham Conservation Trust, Elizabeth Perkins, said: "I was absolutely gobsmacked when I found the shrouds.

"The factory was left just like it was when the workers up and left eight years ago so there was lots for us to catalogue.

"I certainly did not expect to find Villa and Blues shrouds. There are a few of them around here but we don't know very much about them at all so we will have to do a bit of investigating."

The unusual find, at Newman Brothers coffin factory in the Jewellery Quarter, came when a group of history boffins were conducting research at the 100-year-old building after workers abandoned it in 1999.

Busy staff were sifting through tools and paperwork at the warehouse, labelled a "mercantile Marie Celeste" by conservationists, when the astonishing artefacts were found.

Die-hard fans were stunned by the revelation with some claiming it put a completely new complexion on the chant "I'm Villa 'til I die".

Others believed the deathly discovery may have some connection to the early days of former Villa chairman Doug Ellis.

One Aston Villa fan, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "This find is almost as big as the news that the Blues have won promotion. It is fitting really, I always thought the games against the Bluenoses were like playing against a load of stiffs."

A cheeky Blues fan, who also wished to keep his identity a secret, said: "The clothes are probably the same kit the Villa wore when they last won the FA Cup. I'd be surprised if there is anyone alive who can remember that far back."