Gold 1908 FA Cup director’s medal due to be auctioned in Ludlow
Today the sums spent by Premier League football clubs regularly make the headlines but back in 1908 players were not so well rewarded.
However the directors of Wolverhampton Wanderers were given a personal 18-carat medal for a cup win, with one of them due to go under the hammer in Shropshire in the coming weeks.
The gold medal is up for sale at Mullock’s football and rugby memorabilia auction at Ludlow Racecourse on August 31, with a guide price of £4,000 to £4,200.
A spokesman for Mullock’s said: “The 1908 FA Cup final Wolverhampton Wanderers gold winners medal was produced by Vaughtons of Birmingham and was awarded to E Barker, a director of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“It comes complete with gold link chain and is presented in a frame measuring 27cm to 21cm approximately.”
Wolves’ 1908 FA Cup final success was against the odds, with opponents Newcastle United having appeared in three of the past four finals, although they were yet to win.
The Magpies had finished fourth in the first division that season, after being champions in 1906 to 1907, while Wolves had ended up in an underwhelming ninth position in the second division.
Wolves won 3-1 in the final held at Crystal Palace Park, their second FA Cup.
Early FA Cup memorabilia is highly sought after by collectors.
In May 2013 auctioneer Graham Budd set an auction record at Sotheby’s for a football programme, as the earliest known surviving FA Cup final programme for Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers, played at Kennington Oval on March 25, 1882 reached £30,000.
The previous record, which Budd set in May the year before, was £20,000 paid for an official one penny match card from the 1909 FA Cup Final between Manchester United and Bristol City.
The first FA Cup tournament was held from 1871 to 1872, though the modern cup was not established until the 1888 to 89 season, when qualifying rounds were introduced.
