BEATLEMANIA had yet to reach its peak when the Fab Four played in Urmston in 1963.

Now a rare opportunity to buy an entry ticket to that show has arisen.

John, Paul, George and Ringo were booked to play The Urmston Show at Abbotsfield Park on August 5, when they were well on the way to becoming the biggest band of all time.

The Beatles’ appearance in Urmston came just two days after they made their final appearance at the legendary Cavern Club in Liverpool.

The Fab Four weren’t the only future stars perfoming at Abbotsfield Park that year. The Tremeloes, who had ten top 10 UK hits also performed, as did Emmerdale actor the late Clive Hornby, as part of The Dennisons.

Show compere David Hamilton remembers the scramble by fans to see a glimpse of the band.

He said: “The boys were smuggled in in a van. Screaming girls rushed the stage, trying to get hold of their idols. It was certainly a hard day's night!”

The ticket is expected to bring between £700 and £1,000 when it is put up for sale at Omega Auctions’ next sale.

However, there is also an accompanying programme that is even rarer than the ticket, and the auctioneers are keen to stress how valuable this would be if it were to be unearthed and sold.

Omega believe the programme would bring in around £1,500 to £2,000, and if a programme can be found, a bidding war to own both items would smash their estimates.

Auctioneer Paul Fairweather said: “The programme for the Urmston show is incredibly rare, so much so that in our research we have not been able to find one being sold at auction anywhere in the last 20 years.”

“It’s rarity together with the fact that it is from before the Beatles were very famous significantly adds to the interest from collectors. If we could unearth a copy of the programme to go into the same sale, then we would undoubtedly have worldwide interest with bidders fiercely competing to obtain them both.”

The auction will be held at Omega Auctions, Unit 3.5 Meadow Mill, Water St, Stockport, SK1 2BX on May 19 at 10.30am. Contact Omega on 0161 865 0838 for more information.