Medal

A football medal sold at a Cheshire auction house was so early in date that it was only the 13th time the FA Cup final had been contested, the game was played at Kennington Oval and the opposition was a Scottish team.

While the achievement of Manchester City players in winning three titles in consecutive seasons – with a treble – is certainly admirable, spare a thought for Tom Wilson, a footballer of a much earlier era.

In one way, Johnny Berry (1926-94) was luckier than many of Manchester United’s Busby Babes: he survived the Munich air disaster on February 6, 1958, that killed many of his teammates.

Gold has become the standard to aspire to at the Olympics but for the first version of the modern summer Games it was silver.

The soaring demand for sport memorabilia is evident from the result for the shirt of a player who did not even make it on to the pitch for a famous game.

A hat-trick of six-figure prices was achieved for England 1966 World Cup hero Alan Ball’s (1945-2007) winner’s medal, cup final shirt and World Cup cap.

Murray Rose (1939-2012) became the youngest Olympian to win three gold medals during one Games, aged just 17 in 1956.

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including the 1966 World Cup winner’s medal won by England’s Alan Ball being offered next month.

The sale at The Auction Centre (20% buyer’s premium) in Runcorn, Cheshire, on September 30 included this rare George III Scottish silver member’s badge for The Edinburgh Skating Club – the world’s first figure skating organisation.

The game between Arsenal v Manchester United in 1979 provided one of the greatest finishes in FA Cup final history.

Two sporting ‘firsts’ are being marked by lots coming up in separate auctions this month.

This 18ct gold and enamel medal was awarded to Reginald Arthur Whitcombe (1898-1957) for winning the 1936 Open Golf Championship of Ireland.

This silver medal sold for £3250 at Fellows (23% buyer’s premium) is one of a relatively small number awarded at the Intercalated Games in Athens in 1906.

Perhaps established as early as 1735, the Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh holds claim to be the oldest golfing society in the world.

If you ever encounter the pub quiz question ‘who is the smallest footballer ever to represent England at a senior level’ just remember an FA Cup winner’s medal sold at sporting specialist auction house Knights (20% buyer’s premium).

Not all football memorabilia has to be Manchester United or early FA Cup, say, to catch the eye of buyers.

The highlight of an impressive range of football memorabilia offered by specialist Graham Budd (20.5% buyer’s premium) was the earliest Manchester United medal sold at auction.

In the mid 1930s players making an England debut could receive a gold commemorative medal instead of their normal match fee.

Despite the near absence of face-to-face trading, 2020 was a record year for London’s coins and medals auction houses with combined total sales just shy of £53m.