By Donated by Gary Hutchinson.
Gary writes, It was presented to the club by IJsselmeervogels, the club we purchased Gijs Bos from. As you can see, it was a gift given to us ahead of the game in which Alan Shearer made his debut for Newcastle, the friendly in 1996.
How did it come to end up in my possession? For many years it hung in the washroom which is just to the left as you walk down the tunnel. I think it is a boot room or something now, but back then it was where I got changed as Poacher, and where Mo washed the kit and made tea.
One season, as the final game approached, I was told there was to be a remodelling of the room, a bit of decorating and I think a stud wall put up to make it into two smaller rooms. I might be wrong, but I think this was around the summer of 2008. This was in a pile of stuff on the side, and I asked whether it was going to be kept or thrown. I was told ‘take it if you want’, and so I did! It’s been in one of my boxes ever since, but as the RICT museum has got me going through things, I’ve hauled it out and decided to hang it in the office.
By