Page 32 - 368603 LP250721 AWY AWY AWY Book (238pp A5)

number of autographs before he gave it to me as a Christmas present in the dim mists of time.
Alarmingly the first signature in my autograph book is that of Dave Hollins, the Newcastle goalie who once in a fit of fashion consciousness sported black tassels on the arms of his green jersey. The page is more than balanced out by the entries of two Sunderland stalwarts of the Sixties - winger Harry Hooper and inside forward George Herd. George’s signature looks rather like he did; short and stocky. Things reach an early peak with that of Jimmy Montgomery and I remember getting that one myself outside the players’ entrance at Roker Park around 1963. The very young Monty was with his girlfriend and she beamed with pleasure as she watched him sign. A number of other regulars of our promotion-winning side of 1964 are there including Cec (Irwin) and Len (Ashurst) our seemingly perennial full backs, George Mulhall, Jimmy McNab and of course Charlie Hurley. There’s one semi-complete entry, that of winger Allan Gauden (‘Sunderland Reserves’ as I’ve labelled him) which looks like ‘All G_______’. I remember his taxi showed up at the crucial moment.
Along with a lot of other kids I’d hang around after matches in the hope of getting a few signatures and sometimes we’d race like lemmings if we saw other kids chasing after some unidentified figure only to discover it was a player we weren’t interested in for some reason and we'd turn away moaning. Most players would be happy to stop and
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