Wednesday 26th April 2000 : Rare memorabilia to benefit Wanless appeal

Paul Wanless presented a cheque for £2,000 to the Special Care Baby Unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital on the pitch before Saturday's victory against champions Preston, but United's skipper could soon be able to present another substantial amount to the hospital who cared for his new-born daughter when she arrived prematurely in January.

Several items have been donated to raise money for the appeal, including a signed Sunderland shirt from their former U's defender Jody Craddock, a signed Tottenham shirt from United's former Spurs defender Clive Wilson, a collection of match programmes from our first season in the Football League, and John Taylor's match ball from the Cardiff game.

The U's legend (right) scored a hat-trick in the 4-0 win and in the process recorded his 99th, 100th and 101st goal for the U's. The ball is signed and Taylor modestly admitted last week that he doesn't have a trophy cabinet and thought the match ball would be better used to raise money for the baby unit.

Another item will be Wanless' own shirt from this season, signed by the team, and United's PR Manager Graham Eales will run an auction for the items, the progress of which you can follow on U's Net. More details and photographs of the items will be added to the site in the next fortnight.