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Dodgy goal guilt sees 1972 Wirral schools match replayed

SWNS Graeme JonesSWNS
Graeme Jones said he "always knew it was a foul" and a player would "never get away with it in today's game"

A schoolboy footballer who scored a controversial equaliser in a derby 50 years ago has said replaying the match "has put a lot of demons to rest".

Graeme Jones bundled the ball and the opposition goalkeeper into the net to level for Gayton Primary against St Peter's CofE Primary in Wirral in 1972.

He said he decided a replay was needed in the first Covid lockdown and spent a year finding his former teammates.

The rematch saw St Peter's CofE gain their revenge, running out 6-2 winners.

Mr Jones said he was spurred into action when he came across a local newspaper cutting about the game, which he shared on Facebook.

SWNS Newspaper cutting about the game in 1972SWNS
Mr Jones started trying to find his former teammates after coming across a newspaper cutting during lockdown

He said he "thought nothing more of it", but his neighbour Craig Allen, who scored St Peter's goal in 1972, then commented that "everyone remembers your dodgy goal".

Mr Jones said he "always knew it was a foul".

"The keeper jumped to catch the ball from a corner and I decided [he] and the ball were all going over the line," he said.

"You'd never get away with it in today's game, but I said [to Craig] 'listen, you can't change history'.

"I said 'we're all 60 now, it's not as if we're going to play the game again, is it?'"

However, he said that comment was a "lightbulb moment" and "curiosity got the better of me", so he set about finding "the original other 10 guys" and arranging a rematch.

SWNS Gayton Primary players warming up before a rematch with St Peter's CofESWNS
The players went through a much more rigorous warm-up than they did in 1972

He said some of them "were actually abroad at the time", but all agreed to take part and faced a St Peter's CofE Legends XI, made up of players who played for that school at around the same time, at Heswall FC's ground on Sunday.

He said the pace of the game was not quite as fast as the original fixture, but it was no less competitive.

"A couple of the guys, including myself, went into the game with injuries... but we weren't going to let anybody down," he said.

SWNS Gayton Primary players during a rematch with St Peter's CofESWNS
Mr Jones said the pace of the rematch was not quite as fast as the original fixture, but it was no less competitive

Mr Allen was also on hand to net a brace in the rematch.

He said he remembered Mr Jones's controversial goal and how he "knocked the keeper into the net", but he was more than willing to let bygones be bygones.

"I'm happy I scored two in the rematch, so I've scored in both games," he added.

Mr Jones said the match had raised almost £2,000, which would be used to buy sports equipment for both schools.

He added that it had also righted a wrong.

"It has put a lot of demons to rest and 50 years of guilt and shame for myself," he said.

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