Express & Star

Former Baggies captain's medals sell for more than £30k

A rare and precious gold medal awarded to West Bromwich Albion captain Jesse Pennington sold for £24,000 – treble the sum expected.

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The West Bromwich born left back, affectionately known as ‘Peerless Pennington’, was 36 when he led the Baggies to their historic first league title in 1920.

Before the sale, at Graham Budd Auctions, Mr Pennington’s Football League title medal had been expected to sell for between £6,000 and £8,000. It was the most valuable item among 50 of his mementoes, including medals, caps,gold pocket watch which sold for £82,870 at the auction.

The 1920 FA Charity Shield medal Mr Pennington won with Albion sold for £6,500, six times the expected price, while the 1911-1912 FA Cup runners up medal Mr Pennington won with Albion sold for £7,000.

The medals were part of one of the finest Albion collections ever to come up for sale at an auction.

Jesse Pennington’s £24,000 medal is engraved : 'The Football League Champions Division 1,West Bromwich Albion F.C.1919-20, J.Pennington,captain.'

Albion didn’t simply win the league title that season, they won it in record-breaking fashion.Their 104 goals in 42 league matches and their points total of 60 set new records.

In 1919-1920 there were only 44 teams in the Football League – 22 teams in the First Division and 22 teams in the Second Division. Wolves were in the Second Division that season.

Jesse Pennington made 455 league appearances for Albion and he also played 25 times for England. In his final international, in 1920,he captained England when he was 36 and 231 days making him,at that time, England’s oldest capped outfield player.

In a poll conducted in 2004 , to mark Albion’s 125th anniversary, Jesse Pennington was named as one of the club's 16 greatest players.

Jesse Pennington was born at West Bromwich on August 23,1883,and died in 1970, aged 87. His parents, William and Mary Ann Pennington, were also born at West Bromwich. William Pennington was an iron worker. In the 1901 Census,Jesse is described as “a hammer driver.”