Preston's National Football Museum has lined up a bumper bonanza of ex football legends for visitors to meet over the next two weeks - and it's all completely free of charge.
Kicking off on Friday 15th August, from 1pm to 3pm, visitors can meet ex players from PNE, Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool. Names confirmed so far include Les Dagger, who played for North End alongside Sir Tom Finney in the 1950s; Fred Pickering and Alan Ainscow, both ex Blackpool, Blackburn and Everton; Derek Spence, who turned out for clubs such as Blackpool and Bury; and Glyn James of Blackpool and Wales. It's also hoped that Ronnie Clayton - the former Blackburn midfielder and England captain - will join the line up alongside further names from Preston.
The following day (Saturday 16th August), ex Manchester United legends Alex Stepney and Arthur Albiston, will be visiting the museum shop between 12pm and 2pm to sign copies of the new book 'Champions of Europe - The Road to Moscow'. The book tells the story of the teams amazing 2007/08 season.
Then, in a real coup, 'The Lisbon Lions' will be at the museum on Friday 22nd August. The Celtic European Cup winners will be signing autographs and posing for photos between 2pm and 4pm. The renowned Celtic side became the first British team to win the Cup, beating Inter Milan 2-1 in 1967.
The line up includes captain Billy McNeil and goalscorers Tommy Gemmill and Stevie Charlmers. This rare opportunity to meet the Lisbon Lions has kindly been organised by EPS signings.
Museum Director Kevin Moore said:
"We started the signing sessions earlier this year with some of the ex PNE players. They proved so popular with our visitors we decided to approach some other clubs.
"As we're the National Football Museum, we try and appeal to as many football fans as possible and we hope that this will attract some new visitors as well as our regulars. It's really great of all the ex players involved to give up their time and we hope that they realise how much of an impact they still have on the fans today.
"We would also like to thank Ian Rigby from Preston North End ex Players Association, Les Read of EPS Signings and At Heart Publishers, all of whom have helped with organising the signing sessions."
