Football signed by Tottenham legends to be auctioned for veterans’ charity

A football signed by Tottenham Hotspur players including Pat Jennings and Steve Perryman, is to be auctioned to raise money for Royal Star & Garter.

The charity provides loving compassionate care to veterans and their partners living with disability or dementia. It is being sold on eBay by Billy Stanley, whose mother is cared for at the Surbiton Home.

The football has been signed by the North London club’s 1976-77 squad, and has more than a dozen signatures. They include Perryman, who made a club record 854 first team appearances for Spurs, and legendary Northern Ireland keeper Jennings. The ball also bears the signatures of England internationals Cyril Knowles and Ralph Coates, as well as manager Keith Burkinshaw, who would go on to lead the club to back-to-back FA Cup successes and UEFA Cup glory.

Fulham fan Billy said he was given the ball shortly after it was signed by a friend who was a relative of Perryman, and plans to sell it on eBay.

He said:

“I have friends that are chomping at the bit for the ball, but I don’t want it going for nothing. I’d like to sell it and raise money for Royal Star & Garter. My mum moved in at the beginning of March, just before the first lockdown, so we haven’t seen very much of the Home. But my cousin is an audiologist who visits the Home and says how good it is. My Mum is very happy there, and if she’s happy, we’re happy too. I think it would be great to auction off the ball and raise some money for the charity.”

Billy’s auction will begin at 11.45pm on 21 December, running for 10 days, and ending at 11.45pm on New Year’s Eve. You can watch the auction and bid on the football by clicking on https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tottenham-Hotspurs-1976-Signed-Football-14-autographs-from-Keith-Burkinshaw-era/164584243960

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