Bristol City supporter loses 70 years of football memorabilia in shed fire
A Bristol City fan has lost 70 years of football memorabilia after his shed caught fire.
Ben Grice, 22, from Huntley, Gloucestershire, was devastated when he was called home on 13 April to find most of his collection destroyed by a suspected electrical fire.
His grandfather had passed down the memorabilia ten years ago, with Ben adding his own finds to the collection of shirts, programmes, team sheets and signed pictures.
Just 500 of the 50,000 programmes, dating back to the 1950s, survived the blaze.
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Ben, a highway worker, said: "I got a call from my dad saying everything was gone.
"I was devastated. That's so many memories passed down the family, it's all gone now.
"But it feels so good that people have been getting in touch to donate - it's very surreal.
"There are a lot of good people out there."
Ben shared his story and to his amazement, kind strangers stepped in.
In the past week, he has received more than 25-30 emails from people offering him their memorabilia.
Bristol City legend Scott Murray even donated a match shirt to help build his collection back up.
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The shed was also full of countless signed t-shirts, posters, pictures, tickets and team sheets.
Ben added: "I want to get back what I have lost.
"It feels so good when people get in touch offering to donate things.
"It's very surreal at the moment.
"There are a lot of good people out there."
Ben has made a GoFundMe to help replace his collection.
