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World's Greatest Autographs is an autograph collection located on Penrith Road in Park End, Middlesbrough in the county of North Yorkshire, England. Established on 16 August 1996 by Gerard Angioy owner and president. It all started when Gerard Angioy worked for Middlesbrough Football Club as a volunteer, dressing-up as the club mascot Roary The Lion.

History

World's Greatest Autographs founder Gerard Angioy first established his collection on 16 August 1996 when he requested his first ever autograph which was obtained when he went to a school function next to Middlesbrough Football Club stadium, Ayresome Park with the PR manager and the most expensive player for Middlesbrough Football Club at that time… Neil Cox. Yes, he asked him to sign his autograph book his first ever autograph.

World Stars

Middlesbrough started to become a very good side and Gerard Angioy was truly thrilled when the club bought some world star players like Fabrizio Ravanelli who won the European Cup with Juventus the previous season and was bought for £7 million. He made an immediate positive impact when he scored a hat-trick on his league debut against Liverpool on the opening day of the 1996–97 season. Despite Ravanelli being one of the league's top scorers, Middlesbrough were relegated in the year that he joined. He did, however, help them to the final of both domestic cup competitions that season. He started both finals, as Middlesbrough lost 2–0 against Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, and Leicester City 1–0 in the replay of the League Cup Final, he scored the first goal in the final of the first meeting, only for Emile Heskey to equalise and send the game to a replay, which Leicester subsequently won. He alienated himself from teammates and fans, with his constant complaints and criticisms of the club's training regime and facilities, as well as the town itself, despite being the highest paid footballer in the Premiership at the time. Whilst at the club, he resided in the local small North Yorkshire village of Hutton Rudby, where Middlesbrough football associates, such as Paul Merson, Gordon McQueen and several other notable individuals have had residences.

Juninho signed for Middlesbrough for £4.75 million in October 1995, just months after they had been promoted to the English top-flight FA Premier League. Then aged 22, Juninho had been tracked by numerous European top clubs, and it was a major surprise when he signed for "the Teessiders". Juninho became known as TLF (The Little Fella) by Boro fans, after local radio broadcaster Dave Roberts nicknamed the player on his football talk show. The nickname alludes to his height: only 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in). During his time with Middlesbrough, Juninho lived in Levendale and Ingleby Barwick with his parents. He was known for playing football with school children on the streets and is still considered one of the greatest players to have played for Middlesbrough in the modern era. Juninho made his debut on 4 November 1995 at home to Leeds United, setting up the opening goal for Jan Åge Fjørtoft in a 1-1 draw. Juninho was extremely effective in the attacking midfielder position, where his skills helped the club reach the FA Cup and League Cup finals in 1997, although they lost both. At the end of the 1997 season, a three-point deduction in the FA Premier League condemned Middlesbrough to relegation to the secondary Division One. He came runner up to Gianfranco Zola for the FWA Player of the Year award. Following Middlesbrough's 1–1 draw at Leeds United on the final day of the 96/97 season which confirmed their relegation, Juninho was reduced to tears. He eventually left the club to pursue his chances of making Brazil's 1998 World Cup squad.

Emerson signed for Middlesbrough, in a £4 million move. It is alleged that the deal was done without manager Bryan Robson's knowledge, the manager only finding out after it was unwittingly mentioned by chief scout Ray Train; Emerson's cousin Fábio was also acquired, but played just one game in his 14-month spell.

Mikkel Beck moved to Middlesbrough for £500,000. Despite reaching the 1997 FA Cup final in his first season with Middlesbrough, the club were relegated to the English First Division at the end of the season after a three-point deduction for failing to play a fixture. Beck stayed with the club and was an important part of the squad which won promotion to the Premier League the very next year. After 24 goals in 91 league matches for Middlesbrough.

First Edition Poster Magazine

I was given the first ever copy of the Boro Poster Magazine by the PR Manager and got it signed by Fabrizio Ravanelli, Juninho, Emerson and Mikkel Beck at the Cellnet Riverside Stadium.

Middlesbrough Football Club Generosity

Gerard Angioy was in a very nice position to have the opportunity to meet some of these great sporting figures and not only that the club and PR manager were also very generous with him by giving him shirts, books, programmes all signed and the chance to watch all the games for free.

Devistation

Gerard Angioy played the role of Roary The Lion until the 28 March 1998… When he collapsed at his home in Cheadle Walk, Middlesbrough and was taken to James Cook University Hospital where he was diagnosed with a tumour (atrial myxoma) inside his heart. This was devastating for Gerard because he had his beautiful little family who he loved so much and thought he was going to be leaving them forever. Gerard was also due to entertain the crowd at Wembley Stadium for the 1998 Football League Cup Final the next day for Middlesbrough FC vs Chelsea FC... Then the good the bad and the ugly; 8.00am, he was taken down for a six hour operation... then, Gerard was told that the tumour, an atrial myxoma was successfully removed and the operation went very well; 5.30pm, result in, Middlesbrough 0-2 Chelsea... and then my wife give me the Sunday Sun newspaper and on the front page and pages two and three, there were pictures of Gerard's ugly mush. Gerard;s retirement from Roary The Lion followed shortly after.

Branching Out

Gerard started to branch out further a field and started collecting nationally and collected some very nice signed items. He wrote to many football clubs in the UK with much success. In 2004 he received a huge Invincibles Poster from Arsenal fully signed by the squad and manager. He started to write to European clubs and in 2008 the received a poster from AC Milan Football Club fully signed by the whole squad... these posters are two of his most prized in his collection.

This prompted Gerard to write further letters to many high profile people like Nobel Laureates and Heads of State with a very good success rate. Some of the Heads of State, Presidents and Prime Ministers he has in his collection range from Hillary Rodham Clinton to the 14th Dalai Lama to Tony Blair and Polish President Lech Aleksander Kaczyński and his wife Maria Mackiewicz which I received one week before they were killed in a plane crash.

Database

In 2008 Gerard created a database to catalogue all his autographed items and has also created a website World's Greatest Autographs to share with other autograph enthusiasts.

Goal

So as you can see... Gerard's goal is to create the "Worlds Greatest Autographs" collection. obviously there are many more collectors out there with excellent sites and brilliant collections no doubt about it... but it is a goal he has set himself, and as long as he has that, it gives him something to focus on, and something to look forward to.

Staff Members

Owner President: Gerard Angioy

Vice President: Anthony Angioy

Purpose of the Collection

Is to build an historical reference for the future.

Authenticity of Autographs

All autographs are collected in person, or by writing directly to the people concerned, or from reputable collectors. Whenever possible, materials will be uploaded with the autographs... for example, envelopes, letters. Certificates will not be included as these do not mean anything whatsoever. In most cases there will be an envelope included or a letter, especially in the case of high profile figures like Heads of State and Laureates as they will usually include these items. Signature maps of multi-signed items like posters or shirts will be included whenever possible.

Autographs for Sale

NO ITEMS on the website of World's Greatest Autographs are for sale... so please DO NOT ASK, as the answer will be NO!

Autographs for Exchange

ANY ITEMS on the website of World's Greatest Autographs where there are two of the same name can be swapped... so please SEND AN EMAIL, and arrangements can be made. Their have been many successful exchanges with Sanjay Joshi Kumar from India and Tanja Dettmers from Germany and the longest exchange partner is Dieter Zoll from Germany.

Contributors

Gerard Angioy the President thanks all the individuals, teams, company's and sponsors who have generously contributed to his collection... he is truly very grateful for all who have chosen to be added to his collection... and is very proud and honoured.

Copyright Information

All items on the website of World's Greatest Autographs are the property of Gerard Angioy - Worlds Greatest Autographs... However, please understand that the images and photographs are the copyright of the individuals, teams, company's or sponsors of those people and any copying of those items should be approved by those individuals, teams, company's or sponsors.

External Links

World's Greatest Autograhs