5:01pm Saturday 26th January 2008
By Staff Reporter
A RARE 1923 FA Cup final dinner menu signed by Bolton Wanderers players is set to go under the hammer.
The card was signed by every Bolton player taking part in the 1923 FA Cup final, the first to be staged at the newly built Wembley Stadium.
It is being auctioned at The Freight House in Rochford, Essex, on Tuesday, February 19, where it is expected to sell for between £1,500 and £2,000.
The card was also signed by West Ham players in the final.
The menu was originally owned by the West Ham trainer of the day.
It was signed at a cup final celebration dinner at the Abercorn Rooms in London on December 8, 1923.
Among the names are: England goalkeeper Dick Pym, Bob Haworth, Alex Finney, Harry Nuttall, Jimmy Seddon, Billy Jennings, Billy Butler, Ted Vizard, John Reid Smith, Bolton captain Joe Smith, and David Jack - who made history by scoring the first cup final goal at Wembley.
The 1923 final remains one of the most famous.
It became known as the White Horse Final after the valiant, and successful, efforts of PC George Scorey and his white horse, Billy, to control the reportedly 126,000-strong crowd who had spilled on to the pitch before the kick-off.
Mark Stacey, of Stacey's Auctioneers, said: "We believe this to be a unique piece of football history."
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