Sporting auction set to be gripping
For sale: One of football’s most famous pictures as Vinnie Jones got to grips with Gazza. Tony Henderson winces
It is a photograph which has become part of football folklore.
On February 6, 1988 Newcastle United played the Wimbledon ‘Crazy Gang’ at their Plough Lane ground in a First Division match.
It pitted Wimbledon hard man Vinnie Jones against one of the game’s rising stars, a young Paul Gascoigne.
The match ended 0-0 but will always be remembered for the picture captured by newspaper photographer Monte Fresco.
As Gazza waited for an incoming Newcastle free kick, Jones took matters into his own hands by grabbing Gascogne’s nether regions.
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Jones later said: “As a Newcastle free-kick was being taken, I didn’t want Gazza to move forward towards the ball. As we’re jostling, he suddenly said to me: 'You’re earning your £100 today’.
“It was meant as an insult, so I just grabbed him by the you-know-whats and it was spot on. There was no messing. It was straight on the button and I didn’t let go.”
Now a framed copy of the picture, signed by both players, will be sold by Graham Budd Auctions on Tuesday (March 4) with an estimate of £120-£150.
Gazza is said to have later sent Jones a rose, with the Wimbledon player responding with a toilet brush.
The sale, which continues until March 6, also features the shirt worn by another Newcastle attacker who was a tough prospect for any defender.
Inside forward Robert Clark, 6ft tall and weighing over14 stone, made 17 appearances in Newcastle’s 1927 First Division championship side, forging a little and large partnership with prolific centre forward Hughie Gallacher.
According to United historian Pal Joannou: “Defenders didn’t relish a meeting with this giant of a man.”
Clark’s black and white long-sleeved shirt and embroidered with a cloth badge inscribed LEAGUE CHAMPIONS DIVISION 1 1926-27, is being sold with a letter from the player’s grandson. The shirt is estimated at £3,500-£5,000.
Clark was born in Newburn and played for local works side Spencers Welfare and Hebburn’s Hawthorn Leslie shipyard then Newburn teams and Prudhoe Castle before joining United in 1923.
He later became player-coach of the Newburn team, and died on Tyneside in 1977.
Also in the sale is a rare 1932 FA Cup final souvenir LP by Regal Records of Newcastle’s 2-1 win over Arsenal, priced at £100-£150 and a 1921 gold medal marking the natch between the Central League- the reserve teams of professional clubs – and the North East Football League. Estimate £300-£500.
Two of Jackie Charlton’s England caps are on offer, both at £1,200 - £1,500. They are for the games v Wales 1967-68 and Romania 1968-69.
A crib sheet prepared by the late commentator John Motson, listing facts and figures for Liverpool and Sunderland for the 1992 FA.Cup Final is £100-£150.
A rare silk square promoting the Sunderland v Preston 1937 FA Cup final is rated at £159-£200.
A series of Newcastle United shirts is also for sale, including those of George Robledo who played in the club’s 1952 FA Cup final; Stewart Barrowclough League Cup final 1976; Alexander Isak worn in the match v Spurs last season and Terry McDermott 1982-83.
Visit the auction website for details.