Walls and Bridges Cover Art

Mystery of John Lennon's soccer sketch solved
Dec 30 2009 by Dan Warburton
Evening Chronicle


IT’S John Lennon’s youthful sketch that baffled a generation of Beatles fans.

Penned when he was just a schoolboy, the image gained iconic status after being used for the album cover of his 1974 record Walls & Bridges.

But now researchers in Chile are claiming the childlike etching shows Toon legend George Robledo heading home the winner in Newcastle’s 1951 FA Cup final with Arsenal.

Author Nestor Flores was in the middle of researching the mystery of George’s late brother, Ted Robledo, when he discovered the famous photograph.

Unaware of how he recognised the scene, he lay in bed at night racking his brains in a bid to jog his memory.

And at 2am he awoke with a start in his South American home and the striking resemblance hit home – it was the artwork for Lennon’s fifth album.

In the foreground of the sketch, which was originally thought to be a self-portrait, is a Newcastle player wearing the number nine shirt, which was worn by the legendary Jackie Milburn, who scored 177 goals for the club between 1943 and 1957.

George Robledo is seen nodding in the winner as the Gunners’ keeper dives from his goals to keep the ball out.

Mr Nestor said: “In 1951 when John Lennon was 11, he drew the Chilean footballer George Robledo, whose brother I am currently writing a book about.

“Lennon kept that picture for over two decades and in 1974 it became the album cover.

“By reviewing hundreds of records and after rummaging through old photographs I found a picture of Robledo scoring the goal.

“When I saw the photo, I immediately knew I had seen that image before, but I couldn’t remember where.

“After writing a few pages more, and after a good night’s sleep, I realised the picture of the goal was almost identical to the cover of John Lennon’s album.

“That photo was taken on May 3 1952, and Lennon’s drawing is dated June of that year.”

George’s late goal in the 1952 FA Cup final proved to be the difference between the two teams.

The Magpies won the clash 1-0 and became the first team in the 20th Century to clinch the FA Cup in successive seasons. George eventually retired to his native Chile in Vina del Mar, with his wife Gladys, now 83, where he died of a heart attack in 1989, aged 62.

But today his daughter, Elizabeth, 48, who now lives in Sydney, Australia, said she was lost for words at the discovery.

She said: “Mum and I wanted to share this incredible story about Dad. We couldn’t believe a young writer from Valparaiso discovered that Dad was drawn by John Lennon when he only 11 years old.

“It’s incredible that he used his drawing 22 years later for the cover of his album called Walls & Bridges. It’s incredible and I can’t describe how I’m feeling.

“My mum still has a strong interest in the club – and any English news. I keep her up to date with Newcastle news and I think she even manages to see some English games in Chile.”

It is 29 years since Mark David Chapman gunned down Lennon in New York when he was just 40 years old.

When he released the Walls & Bridges album, it reached number one in the USA and number six in England in 1974.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-evening-chronicle/2009/12/30/mystery-of-john-lennon-s-soccer-sketch-solved-72703-25494933/