Madrid to auction old Bernabéu lockers for $13k
Real Madrid are auctioning off the old home dressing room at the Bernabéu after the stadium’s redevelopment, the auction house Sotheby’s has announced.
The stadium works — ongoing since 2020, with a total cost of just over €1 billion ($1.09bn) — are now nearing completion, and have included an overhaul of the first-team dressing rooms previously used by stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane.
London-based Sotheby’s said on Monday that bidding for each of the 24 individual lockers, which include a player’s name and photo, will start at £10,000 ($12,967).
The dressing rooms were in use from 2001 until 2022, and the lockers will be auctioned as they were during the 2021-2022 season, when Madrid won a LaLiga and Champions League double with a squad including Karim Benzema, Vinícius Júnior, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale.
The lockers will include a certificate of authenticity, and a list of which players used them over two decades.
Sotheby’s said that during that period, a total of 544 home matches were played at the Bernabéu and 20 trophies were won, including six Champions Leagues and six LaLiga titles.
Some of the proceeds of the auction will go to the club’s charitable partner, the Real Madrid Foundation.
A 10-foot wide mosaic of the Real Madrid badge, which previously stood at the entrance to the locker room, is also being auctioned, with bidding starting at £12,000 ($15,561).
The items are being exhibited in London from Nov. 20 until Nov. 26, while bidding will begin on Nov. 12, and run for two weeks.
