John McClaren explains how he managed to enjoy thirteen Cup Finals at Wembley, though he never had a ticket....

Wembley's famous twin towers

When John McClaren was in the RAF he joined the local Referees Association because he was a junior referee. That's where he met Alf. When Cup Final time came round in 1962 it turned out that Alf went to the final every year, and would certainly be going to the Leicester City v Spurs final that year and suggested John went with him. As they arrived at Wembley John thought to ask Alf about tickets, which was when he discovered that Alf didn't have any.

Alf had refereed a schoolboys game there before, and knew the gate by which all the officials and programme-sellers entered, so that's where they headed. John and Alf looked the part, mingled with the genuine officials, looked confident and breezed in. John was very keen to see Jimmy Greaves, who'd recently returned from playing in Italy, so was very pleased to have got in (Greaves scored in the first few minutes).

After half-time the gates are opened so John and Alf could move around quite freely. Alf found them a spot to stand near the Royal Box, so they'd be able to see the presentation at the end. They even managed to walk down the tunnel after the players and went into the dressing-rooms! John managed to talk to Jimmy Greaves, and they got all the players' autographs. Alf had apparently managed, on a previous trip to a World Cup fixture, to wangle his way on to the team coach back to the Dorchester.

The following year was just as successful, and John even came away with a piece of Wembley turf which his son in Australia now has. In 1964 John took his father, who had never been to Wembley, so he took him to the West Ham v Preston final. Alf apparently made his way into the Oval and Lords the same way, without paying. "He used to think 'well, I'm a junior referee, I go out in all wind and weather all the year and this is my perk'. I suppose you could sympathise with that".

John was posted to Singapore after that, but then in 1968 he decided to go and see the Everton v West Brom game. Having been turned away at the gate on this occasion, he was walking dejectedly down Wembley Way when he bumped into Alf who got them straight through. They saw the game, though it was very dull, and many finals after that. Alf went to a good number of World Cup games too, and when he died John decided he didn't want to push his luck and stopped going. His son now has all the signed programmes, as well as the Wembley turf, in Australia.