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Footy fan great-grandad John Knott has broken a 10-year silence to admit . . . “I stuffed Boro shirts into the Wembley Arch.”

Rumours had been doing the rounds for a decade that a little bit of Boro is forever contained within the new Wembley Stadium.

Legend has it that, when Cleveland Bridge built the famous arch for the stadium, workers left a toast to Teesside sealed permanently within the steel structure.

And now Boro born-and-bred great-grandad John, 72, has come clean about who was behind the cheeky dedication to his favourite football club.

John, now retired, was working as a plater with Cleveland Bridge in 2004 when he was made responsible for the construction of the highest section of the arch.

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John, from Coulby Newham, said: “I worked for Cleveland Bridge for about two-and-a-half years.

“I usually worked in Darlington but when we got the Wembley job they hired the Linthorpe Dinsdale facility in Middlesbrough to put together the centre sections of the arch.

“The way it was built, there were these boxed sections that would be welded shut.

“I think one of the lads said it might be a long time before the Boro get chance to play at Wembley. So I said, ‘well at least the Boro’s colours will be the first at the new Wembley.’

“And whilst I was fabricating the centre section, I placed two Boro shirts, a pair of shorts and three Fly Me To The Moon magazines inside.

“I said to the lad I was working with that they would melt when the sections got welded together so we wrapped them in fire blankets.

“The only other person who would have known about is would have been the welder who tacked the box lid in position.”

John’s love affair with MFC began at a young age and he played for North Ormesby Boys.

John’s wife, Anne, 71, said: “He’s what you call a true football fan. When we won the Carling Cup he cried his eyes out with joy.”

John said: “As far as I know, I was the only one who put a Boro shirt in the arch. Nobody’s ever going to find them unless they go up there.

“After I told her, our lass started calling me Archie.”