Earlier this year we featured a story about an old football medal from Workington being up for sale on eBay for £475.
It was presented to a member of the Workington Reds team which won the Workington Town Championship at the end of the 19th century.
The Reds beat the Black Diamonds 8-1 at home and 2-0 away and followed-up beating Moss Bay Exchange away 2-1 and drawing the return at home 3-3.
Well we have heard of another Workington medal which has turned up in a charity shop in South Wales.
Pete Anning contacted Cumbria Crack to say his partner Rachel Wallbank is from Cockermouth and he was very interested in the medal from her part of the country.
This time, the medal appears to have been presented to a Robert Graham in 1892/93 season when he was playing for the Black Diamonds.
That was a very significant season for the club as it was the first time they had been accepted into the county league. The medal is for finishing runners-up in the Shield competition.
Pete said: “It was found in a charity shop in Penarth and my interest was piqued when I could see the Cumberland FA inscription on the front and back.
“When I had a close look at the medal and saw the inscription I just had to buy it for £20. Once upon a time it would have been greatly cherished and it would be nife if we could track down the Graham family and have it returned.
“Rachel says Graham is a very common West Cumbrian name so that might prove a bit difficult.
“Rachel is Cumbrian born and bred and people might remember her father Andrew Wallbank who ran Allerdale council for years, but is sadly no longer with us.”
Details of the Black Diamonds were found in John Norman’s excellent book Pioneers which traces the early days of the first Workington club from 1884 until 1911.
Now how the medal came to end up in a Penarth charity shop is sure to be an interesting tale.
