Woman steals Jermaine Beckford's match-worn shirt from young boy, tries to sell it online

The woman in pink grabbed the shirt from the young boy and reportedly tried to sell it online for £1,500

In a disturbing turn of events, a woman has been labelled a thief after she took Jermaine Beckford’s match worn shirt from a young boy at Wembley on Sunday. Preston North End had won the League One Playoff final after beating Swindon 4-0 and Beckford was the man of the match with a hat-trick.

The forward had been substituted in the 68th minute with the game all but won. And when he took his seat on the bench, a bunch of young fans in the aisle next to the bench pleaded with him to give them his shirt.

Beckford immediately took off his shirt and tossed it onto the waiting arms of the young boys. As they fought with each other, one boy was finally able to prise it away from the others. But what was shocking to see was a woman (wearing a pink shirt) then entering the fray and attempting to grab the shirt away from him. Even a steward tried to intervene to ensure there was no trouble.

As the boy pleaded with her to let him have the shirt, another man stepped in and helped her take the shirt away from the boy. She eventually managed to take it and looked pleased as punch.

To make things worse, an advertisement for Beckford’s match-worn shirt went up for sale online claiming: “Beckford threw his shirt into the crowd and my lad was lucky enough to catch it, comes with programme for the game and my match ticket”. The ad has since been removed as fans on social media urged her to come forward and return the shirt.

Update: The young fan has since been identified as Ted Dockray, aged 8, according to The Mirror and members of his family through social media have hit out at the woman identified as 31-year-old Vickie Timbrell. Beckford himself has also commented on the matter, stating, “It was intended as a goodwill gesture - hopefully, it will find its way back to the kid who caught it.”

The club also publicly stated: “If the young man makes himself known to the club, we'll get Jermaine to present his second Wembley shirt to him.”

While the woman has been slammed on social media, she has since responded saying the whole incident has been a ‘misunderstanding’.

“I will be speaking to the family, I actually know them, they’re friends,” she added.