A football shirt thought to be one of the first in red to be worn by a Wales player has been found during a house move after being lost for nearly 40 years.

Wales played in other colours before 1900, and this is believed to be from 1901-02.

Officials say it went missing from the Football Association of Wales (FAW) collection in 1985, and is expected to be among the most important items in the Welsh Football Museum (WFM) Wrexham, which is due to open in 2026.

The shirt – with slightly faded red on white cuffs and Wales crest – was donated among a number of items by the widow of Alun Evans, the FAW head between 1982 and 1995.

“There was a red shirt in a frame in the old headquarters in Wrexham, with a description dating it to 1901-1902,” said the museum’s Sion Lewis.

“But the shirt didn’t make it to the collection that arrived in the south. It had gone missing somewhere.

“We can date the shirt to the pre-1915 period due to its style, and Wales played in different colors other than red before 1900.

“There are also traces – caused by sunlight – suggesting that this shirt was once kept in a frame.”

Wales played their first international match against Scotland in 1876, but did not start wearing the red shirt until the beginning of the 1900s.

“The shirts were made of wool or cotton and then dyed,” said Mr Lewis.

“It must have been a tough game considering today’s conditions. The boots were also heavy, not to mention having to head or kick an old leather ball filled with water.”

Mr Evans died in 2011, and his widow Jane contacted the museum as she was about to move house.

“She reached out of her own accord, she was moving house and wanted to get rid of some stuff.

“The impression I got was that she wasn’t particularly interested in football and was downsizing and wanted to clear things out.

““The majority were books he had collected and stored in the attic, including several football books like When Pele broke our Hearts and King John about the giant John Charles, along with a few shirts from various international teams.

“Fair play, his widow had put all the items in boxes.”

He said he spotted the red shirt while looking through one of the boxes in a car park.

“I had seen pictures of the old red shirt, and this one was exactly the same style. The only difference was that this one wasn’t in a frame.

“If this is the one that went missing, it has found its way home via the A483 after all these years, and so close to the old football association headquarters on Fairy Road [in Cardiff].”

The football museum is expected to open its doors for the first time in 2026.

The WFM said it will house the largest publicly-owned collection of Welsh football memorabilia in Wales, with work ongoing to refurbish an old barracks and law courts in Wrexham.