Richie Barker etched his name into Rotherham United folklore when he headed home in the last minute at Hillsborough in 2002 to join an elite group of ex-Millers who have netted winners against our South Yorkshire rivals and now, thanks to the kindness of supporter Rob Harrison, you have a chance to get your hands on the shirt that was worn by Richie on that day.
Millers fan Rob was the successful bidder on Richie’s shirt around the time that Paul Hurst had his testimonial with the club and paid just shy of £500 to get his hands on this piece of Rotherham United history.
Rob is currently working closely with the supermarkets playing such a vital role in our community at present as a commercial refrigeration engineer, and alongside his partner, a Cancer Specialist Nurse in Doncaster, is witnessing first-hand the effect that the COVID-19 outbreak is having on our country.
It is with that in mind that he has incredibly selflessly decided to put the shirt up for auction with all proceeds going to the NHS.
The auction will run as a post on the club’s official Facebook page, where supporters will be able to register their bids in the comments section.
We would like to emphasise that this auction is for charity, so please only bid if you are serious about winning the item.*
The auction will run from 1pm on Friday 3rd April to 7pm on Sunday 5th April 20202. Any bids made outside of this time will not be counted.
To view the auction post when it is live, click on our Facebook page here. (There will be no link live here until around midday on Friday 3rd April)
In keeping with Government advice concerning staying at home and only making trips out where necessary, collection of this item will be after the lockdown has come to an end. This also allows time for Richie, who has promised to hand sign and/or personalise the item for the winner, to do so before it is collected.
The winner will be contacted to arrange payment at an appropriate time.
Everyone at Rotherham United would like to wholeheartedly thank Rob for this incredibly kind gesture and for his efforts in fundraising for our fantastic NHS.
*Should the winning bid be from someone who isn’t a serious bidder, the item will automatically go to the person who had the second highest bid at the time of the auction end.