ON Friday, Donald Trump will almost certainly be present as USA hosts the draw for the Fifa World Cup.
The expanded tournament kicks off next summer and will also be held in Canada and Mexico.
Trump will no doubt be front and centre – and is set to be there at the Kennedy Center, Washington as 48 nations learn their fate.
But it won’t be his first experience of a live ‘soccer’ draw.
That’s because, back to 1992, he was the star of the League Cup draw on ITV – pulling out the likes of Southampton, Norwich… and even setting up a clash between Leeds vs Manchester United.
Appearing on Saint and Greavsie, the popular football show which was cancelled later that year, a much younger looking Trump smiled away as cubes (not balls) were pulled from a hat.
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Jimmy Greaves, moustache and all, pulled out the numbers from a green bag as football league secretary David Dent, decked out in a full suit, read out the teams for what was then the Rumbelows Cup.
In footage posted by ITV Football online, Dent turns to Trump to draw an opponent for Swindon or Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals as Ian St John watches on out of shot.
The now 79-year-old would have been continuing to build his real estate portfolio at the time.
Here, he pulled out the number three, held it to the camera, and left St John to confirmed that it was Nottingham Forest or Southampton.
Pleased with his work, a happy Trump grinned and was later given a Saint and Greavsie mug which has the words “It’s a funny old game” written on it, as pointed out by Greaves.
Trump accepts the cup with Greaves adding: “President [George] Bush or Frank Sinatra haven’t got one of those.”
St John, telling The Guardian in 2016, recalled the moment, saying: “Jimmy’s the biggest p*** taker I’ve ever met and Donald wouldn’t know a p*** taker if he tripped over one!
“But he took it all in good spirits and afterwards shook our hands and thanked us for coming.
“We appreciated him giving over his time so willingly, even if it was all about getting on television and promoting himself.”
Taking place at Trump Tower, New York, where St John and Greaves were for the 1994 World Cup qualifying draw, St John remembers how it came about.
“The plan was to do an interview but then Bob [Patience, producer] had another great idea – let’s ask Donald if he wants to get involved with the draw.
“He agreed, even though he clearly knew nothing about football.
“I think the appeal for Donald was being on a TV show that had a large audience in Britain.
“He saw it as an opportunity to promote himself and his company.
“To be fair to Donald, he was really good with us.
“He respected the fact Jimmy and I were former pros and asked about that as the crew set up to film the draw.
“We also had a good chat about golf as he was really into that and we played a bit.
“But, as I say, he had no idea about football and certainly no idea what Rumbelows was. We didn’t bother explaining it to him.”
In one of the many boardrooms in the 68-storey building, Greaves can be heard saying “I haven’t seen a boardroom like this since I was in Doug Ellis’s at Aston Villa!”
Trump laughs along with everyone else, in fact going above and beyond at the gag.
In the full draw, Trump takes out Norwich (pitted against Greaves’ former club Tottenham, a game they would lose 2-1) before the Forest or Southampton pull.
Middlesbrough vs Peterborough United followed before the big ‘un.
Leeds United and Manchester United, with St John (still not visible) saying: “Ooh, Donald! You don’t realise what you’ve done there!”
It was the only tie left so had to be that way, but Trump replied: “That’s a biggy.
“That sounds like the type of game I want to go to.”
Greaves jumps in: “I tell you what Donald, are you thinking of opening a store in England? Take my advice, you can open one in Leeds but don’t go to Manchester!”
When then asked by the ex-Chelsea and England forward if he had played football, Trump adds: “I used to play.
“It’s a great game, I love soccer, I played actually in high school.”
Asked about the World Cup, he said: “It’ll be interesting to see how it catches on in the United States.”
It’s back in America and Trump will have a much more public part to play this time.
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