Medal

The 1908 Olympic Games in London included duels with wax bullets, tug of war and the world’s oldest Olympic champion.

An FA Cup winner’s medal belonging to a Newcastle United goalkeeper who won the trophy with the Magpies 100 years ago sold for £7800 on June 27.

News that Celtic and Rangers no longer automatically qualify for the Champions League next season put a bit of a dampener on Scottish football.

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.

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.

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.

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.