The West Ham legend fights back tears as legendary football memorabilia from the heyday is restored – and even the hosts are gushing
Former West Ham goalkeeper Peter Grotier fought back tears as he saw his most prized piece of football memorabilia after it was restored at The Repair Shop.
The football legend became emotional during his appearance on last week’s episode of the BBC show as he received a 50-year-old memento of his heyday.
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Peter, 72, played for West Ham United from 1969 to 1974. During this time he played one of the biggest games of his career.
In 1970, right after Brazil won the World Cup, Peter and his West Ham teammates flew to New York for a friendly against Brazilian football club Santos FC and he was surrounded by football legends.
He played alongside his hero Sir Bobby Moore and they competed against his other football hero Pelé.
Peter remembered the time fondly. He revealed: “I’m 19 years old and I’m flying to New York in a jumbo jet and I’m going to play against the greatest goalscorer of all time.”
During the game, Peter defended the net for the entire first half and the first minute of the second half and was thrilled to see his hero in action. It didn’t even bother him when Pelé let two goals past him.
The game ended in a 2-2 draw and a special meeting between Peter and his hero. And at the end he received a special souvenir as a reminder of the saying – a program from that game that Pelé had signed for him.
Unfortunately, over the years, the memento had faded and become more fragile and unstable, so he decided to take it to the repair shop.
On the show, Peter admitted: “The reason it was in such bad shape was because my family, we moved into eight different houses, so it was packed away and folded up, which I should never have done.”
Fortunately, The Repair Shop’s paper restorer, Angelina Bakalarou, was able to restore the program to its former glory.
The transformation made Peter very emotional.
“Oh wow! Oh wow!” He reacted when he saw the restored program.
“Yeah, that’s incredible. “I actually feel like I can open it without it now – fantastic,” he said, taking a closer look at the program.
After examining it closely, he said, “The signature is not damaged at all.” This looks really good, really good.
“Of all the things I kept, this one means the most to me,” Peter added.
The former footballer’s tears welled up and he fought back tears as he recalled the “good memories” the show brought back.
“As I was just recording this, I could picture myself standing on the sidelines before we went to play.”
“It was a big thing in my life to play in this game and now it’s all coming back. So thank you very much.”
Angelina appeared equally emotional at Peter’s words and was touched when the former West Ham star told of his plans to leave his treasured keepsake to his 17-year-old grandson Joseph, who has promised never to sell it.
Joseph has followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and captained the U18 side of Essex team Wivenhoe Town FC.
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