£8k price tag put on Billy Wooldridge's medal from Wolves FA Cup win
A rare piece of Wolves' history from the club's 1908 FA Cup Final win is being sold at auction.
The 15-carat gold winner's medal was presented to Billy Wooldridge, the then-Wolves' captain, following the 3-1 victory over Newcastle United.
More than a century later it is expected to fetch between £6,000 and £8,000 when it goes under the hammer next month.
The victory was the club's second in the FA Cup and came 46 years before Wolves were first crowned First Division champions.
The medal is in a good condition and an engraving on the back features the skipper's name.
It currently belongs to Shirley Burn, from Lichfield, who said she bought it from Wooldridge's grandson in 1979.
"My late husband and I had a shop in Birmingham and one day Billy Wooldridge's grandson came and said 'do you want it, I have decided to sell it,'" she explained.
"It was quite sad really. My late husband was a lifelong fan and he tried to talk the guy out of it.
"He told him it was such an important piece of history.
After Mrs Burn's husband died in 1994 she loaned it to Wolves and for 21 years it held pride of place in the club's museum.
But now the 57 year old has decided to sell the medal, which comes complete with its original box.
Billy Wooldridge was born in Netherton in 1878 and went on to make 356 appearances for Wolves, scoring 90 goals in 12 years at Molineux.
An entry in 'The Wolves' encyclopaedia published in 1989, reads: "Billy was a wonderful servant to Wolves – a player who was never flurried, never overawed, and one who never gave less than 100 per cent effort out on the park, whether performing in defence or attack.
"He played centre-half between Hunt and Bishop in the 1908 FA Cup Final, skippering Wolves to a memorable victory. With his thick black moustache, 'Wooly' was a commanding figure in the team."
When Wolves won the FA Cup in 1908 there were only two divisions in English football, each with 20 teams.
Cup favourites Newcastle finished fourth in the First Division and Wolves finished ninth in Division Two.
The club had first lifted the trophy in 1893 and have won the competition on a total of four occasions with further success in 1949 and 1960.
Billy Wooldridge's winner's medal will go under the hammer through Graham Budd Auctions at Sotheby's in London on May 16.
Mr Budd, said: "It is a very rare medal and hopefully it will make a good price for the seller."
