After last week’s appeal for people’s memories of David Ginola’s appearance at Newtown, the man who wore the armband of the Robins that night got in touch.
Colin Sinclair was the skipper as Newtown took on an Aston Villa reserve side with household names in its ranks – and as one newspaper clipping that he sent us shows, he was on the winning side as the home side managed to secure a 1-0 win.
Despite the game taking place on a wet night in Mid Wales, a crowd of 1,200 were drawn to Latham Park to catch a glimpse of the flair-filled Frenchman at his flying best.
“I played that night, I was captain,” said Colin.
“There was a great buzz around the ground that night when we knew David Ginola was playing.”
Julian Joachim was also part of the Villa team, as were two youngsters who went on to forge careers in the Premier League – goalkeeper Boaz Myhill and German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.
Ginola tested Newtown goalkeeper Mark Jones at one point, but Newtown carved out the better openings and eventually Andrew Whitticase forced home the winner in the second half.
Speaking afterwards, Robins chairman Keith Harding said: “David Ginola was superb, he signed every autograph that was asked of him and couldn’t have done anything more to make it a night to remember.”
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