Ticket for NUFC play-off that never was up for sale
Oct 28 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
A BIZARRE memento of Newcastle United’s battle with Manchester United for the Premiership title is to be sold at auction.
In 1995-96 Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle, having held a 12 point lead at the top of the table, were overhauled at the last gasp by Alex Ferguson’s side.
And at a London auction on November 11 will be evidence that the Premier League authorities had made preparations for a title play-off game at Wembley.
In what was a neck-and-neck race in the final stages of the season, precautions were taken in case both clubs finished with identical points and goals difference.
A ticket for the play-off match, pasted to the protective covering of the 1995-96 Premier League annual report and accounts, is being sold by Graham Budd auctions in association with Sothebys.
It is valued at £200-£300. Newcastle United club historian Paul Joannou said yesterday: “There was still an outside chance in the final days of the season that the two clubs could finish with the same records.
“It obviously didn’t happen, but it resulted in what is a unusual item.
“If the Wembley title play-off had gone ahead it would have been some match and I doubt if I could have lived through it.”
Also on offer is an early 20th Century poster advertising match coverage in the Football Mail (price one halfpenny) and which features players in Newcastle and Sunderland kits. It is priced at £400-£600.
Up to £2,000 is expected for a Newcastle home programme for game against Woolwich Arsenal on New Year’s Day in 1901.
The programmer carries an advert for Harris’s Trading Menagerie in Clayton Street, Newcastle, which offered “bears, wolves, leopards, monkeys, hyenas, parrots, and thousands of foreign birds. Give us a call.”
A collection of Newcastle items from United’s 1924 FA Cup Final against Aston Villa is set to fetch up to £6,000.
It includes a £2,000 match programme, a Royal Box edition of the same programme in a blue leather cover, rated at up to £2,500, tickets for the fixture, and a travel itinerary booklet for the game confirming train, accommodation and meal arrangements.
A programme and ticket stub from Newcastle’s 1932 FA Cup Final against Arsenal are set to fetch over £1,000.
A shirt worn by Newcastle 1970s favourite Terry Hibbett is priced at £200.
