Full Monty Sheffield: Gleadless man loans film crews his 90s Blades shirt for Robert Carlyle scenes

A Gleadless man has loaned his 90s Sheffield United shirt to the film crew for The Full Monty television series so Robert Carlyle can look the part.
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Whatever vision Disney+ has for the revival of the 1997 comedy hit, it is apparently crucial to stress that main character Gaz has been wearing the same shirt for 25 years.

This could have caused some trouble when the team behind the series, Little Island Productions, couldn’t find an authentic set of Blades colours from the 1990s ahead of filming.

Thankfully, a lifelong supporter came to the rescue.

Robert Carlyle will be wearing the loaned shirt of a lifelong Blades fan from Gleadless during the 20 week shoot for The Full Monty. PIC BY MARK CAMPBELL/MCPIX.Robert Carlyle will be wearing the loaned shirt of a lifelong Blades fan from Gleadless during the 20 week shoot for The Full Monty. PIC BY MARK CAMPBELL/MCPIX.
Robert Carlyle will be wearing the loaned shirt of a lifelong Blades fan from Gleadless during the 20 week shoot for The Full Monty. PIC BY MARK CAMPBELL/MCPIX.
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When the series debuts next year, Robert Carlyle will be wearing the Sheffield United shirt of Fred Wright, 67, from Gleadless Valley.

His niece, Lindsey Grayson, of Spotswood Close, told The Star how when she heard the crew was looking for the costume piece, she knew just who to call.

“When the team came knocking in Spotswood Close in February for location scouting, I had some banter with the production manager about him being a Barnsley fan,” said Lindsey, who says upping the Blades runs in the family.

Robert Carlyle wearing Fred Wright's shirt on the set of The Full Monty Disney + miniseries while filming in Manchester. PIC BY MARK CAMPBELL/MCPIXRobert Carlyle wearing Fred Wright's shirt on the set of The Full Monty Disney + miniseries while filming in Manchester. PIC BY MARK CAMPBELL/MCPIX
Robert Carlyle wearing Fred Wright's shirt on the set of The Full Monty Disney + miniseries while filming in Manchester. PIC BY MARK CAMPBELL/MCPIX

“They were very hush-hush about it – they said they were filming ‘a revival series’ for ‘a 90s comedy set in Sheffield’. I thought maybe it was ‘When Saturday Comes’ with Sean Bean, until they told me it was about stripping.

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“They told me they had actually just come from Bramall Lane because they were looking for a 90s Blades shirt for Robert Carlyle to wear on set, like he did in the film.

“I told them, ‘I know who’ll have one’, and took their number.”

Luckily for the production staff, Lindsey’s uncle Fred has every Blades shirt from his lifelong love of the team.

Lyndsey Grayson, pictured with her son Ronnie, who is already representing with Blades colours.Lyndsey Grayson, pictured with her son Ronnie, who is already representing with Blades colours.
Lyndsey Grayson, pictured with her son Ronnie, who is already representing with Blades colours.

“He’s got all the shirts from across the years,” said Lindsey.

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“I called him and asked if I could borrow his shirt, but I didn’t mention what for yet. 10 minutes later, he had it down from the loft and was washing it in the sink.”

Now, the iconic red-and-white shirt is in the hands of the production staff to give the shoot the genuine article.

Lindsey said: “A week later, Fred asked me what I did with his shirt, and I let the cat out the bag. He said, ‘are you joking?’

Lyndsey Grayson, of Spotswood Close, knew to go to her uncle Fred Wright when film crew Little Island Productions asked where they could find a 90s Sheffield United shirt for the shoot.Lyndsey Grayson, of Spotswood Close, knew to go to her uncle Fred Wright when film crew Little Island Productions asked where they could find a 90s Sheffield United shirt for the shoot.
Lyndsey Grayson, of Spotswood Close, knew to go to her uncle Fred Wright when film crew Little Island Productions asked where they could find a 90s Sheffield United shirt for the shoot.

“I’ve asked if Rob will sign it before he gives it back.”

Already, the shirt is enjoying its minute in the limelight. Production photos taken in Manchester show Mr Carlyle in Fred’s shirt and a denim jacket.

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It comes as Spotswood Close has been taken over by crews this week for on-location filming, including inside Gleadless Valley Parish church and one resident’s home.

“We actually used the shirt to play a prank on Rob,” location manager for Little Island Productions Alex Tridmas told The Star on set.

“We put the shirt in a drawer and said to him, ‘now Rob, this shirt’s on loan from a very nice man, don’t go losing it’.

“When he wasn’t in the room we moved the shirt to another drawer. When he came looking for it he went mad trying to find it, he thought he’d lost it already.”

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The series will reunite The Full Monty cast 25 years after the Sheffield-based comedy became a Box Office smash hit.

The 1997 film followed a group of unemployed former steelworkers who became strippers for a night to earn cash.

The week of filming in Gleadless comes after shooting took place in Manchester in early May.

Makers of the spin-off TV series, announced in March, said it will follow the original characters as they ‘navigate the post-industrial city of Sheffield and society’s crumbling healthcare, education and employment sectors’.

Four days of filming are planned, and they are expected to wrap up by the end of Thursday. The house in Spotswood Close will be used for exterior shots on Wednesday, while the path outside will be used for another scene on Friday.

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