SUNDAY will see another football season wrapped up with mixed fortunes for the North-East’s teams.

But now is the time for fans eagerly awaiting the start of the World Cup to whet their appetites for success by watching the comedy, Alf Ramsey Knew my Grandfather, which runs at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal from next Tuesday until Saturday.

This is a non-partisan story about a magnificent North-East triumph – when a team of miners from West Auckland, County Durham, won the first World Cup in 1909.

It’s a story of fairytale proportions when the “West”

lads, supported by their wives and families, went to Turin, Italy, and won the cup by beating the best professional teams from Italy, Germany and Switzerland.

It’s a show about characters (men and women) who have pride in their community and their region.

West returned to Turin in 1911 and beat the mighty Juventus 6-1 in the final to keep the beautiful Sir Thomas Lipton trophy in perpetuity.

Whether England win the World Cup in South Africa or not, we know for definite that an English team will lift the World Cup this summer, even if it’s just on stage. Don’t miss Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather – it’s an emotional, inspiring and brilliant story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood, Playwrights, South Shields, South Tyneside.