Rare sterling silver & enamel Northern Irish football medal won by N. McKillen playing for Crusaders FC of Belfast as they finished runners-up to Derry City in the Final of the prestigious Gold Cup in the season 1964 - 65.
This was Crusaders first appearance in the Final of the Gold Cup and although they lost 5 - 2 on this occasion they would go on to win the trophy twice in 1985 - 86 & 1995 - 96. They were also runners-up on two more occasions in 1966 - 67 & 1994 - 95.
The front of the medal is embossed:
"IRISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE ESTABLISHED 1890. GOLD CUP"
The obverse is engraved:
"CRUSADERS F.C. RUNNERS UP. N. McKILLEN. 1964 - 65"
Included with the medal is a printout of the Wikipedia page relating to the history of the Gold Cup competition.
Sterling Silver Medal: Weight: 11.6 gm. Diameter: 32 mm. Hall Mark: Birmingham 1964. Maker's Mark: John H. Lunn of Belfast.
Gold Cup (Northern Ireland): Now a defunct competition, it involved competitors from Ireland from 1911 to 1920 and from 1921 onwards, competitors were just from Northern Ireland. The last season that the Gold Cup was competed for was the season 2000 - 01.
Linfield won the competition the most times with 33 titles followed by Glentoran with 14 & Portadown & Belfast Celtic with 6 each.
Crusaders FC: A semi-professional Northern Irish football club currently playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1898 and is based in north Belfast with its home matches being played at Seaview.
They played as a junior level team until 1931 then played intermediate level football until 1949 and after Belfast Celtic withdrew, Crusaders were elected to the top level in their place in time for the 1949 - 50 season.
Since then they have won 32 senior trophies: 7 league titles, 6 Irish Cups, 2 League Cups, 8 County Antrim Shields, 1 Sentana Sports Cup, 2 Charity Shields, 2 Gold Cups,3 Ulster Cups & 1 Carlsberg Cup.
Summary: As can be seen from the photos & history (above) this is a rare medal in the long history of Crusaders FC, a runners-up medal from their first appearance in a Gold Cup Final. Good luck!