CANNY footballer in his day, David Copland. He was in the Reeth team which proved Wensleydale League invincibles, scored eight in a match for Richmond in the 15-1 win against Catterick Military Hospital – “people said it must have been the patients” – and in 1982 was in the Richmond team which won the Darlington Charity Cup.

Memorabilia the medal might have been; memorable it wasn’t.

“It was wood or plastic or something,” he almost recalls. “It’s in the attic somewhere but I looked a while ago and I’m afraid I couldn’t find it.”

When not winning medals, he deals in them – and has just acquired a set of Darlington Charity Cup medals, pre-World War II, of a completely different lustre.

They’re sold gold, awarded to teams like Rise Carr, Forge Albion, Wire Mills and Albert Hill United. The runners-up got gold medals, too.

Folk still find them at the back of drawers, awarded by all manner of local cups and leagues, might even wonder what stories they tell. In those days, all that glistered was probably gold after all.

“They were from an age of craftsmanship and care, when goldsmiths competed with one another to make a better medal,” says David, who lives in the North Yorkshire dales and is a senior manager with Darlington Building Society.

He pulls from his current collection a gold medal awarded by the Consett Ironworks Ambulance League, another – made locally by Sol Isaacs – from the Sunderland and District Combination, a third awarded to West Hartlepool Expansion who (he has discovered) appeared five times in the FA Cup.

“The fascination is in finding out the story behind the medal. Most of these competitions are long forgotten but in the early 20th century when times were supposed to be hard, they were giving away gold medals like confetti, 15 or so to each team.

“The real tragedy is that people find them and then melt them down for a few pounds rather than try to find out their history. I’d rather anything happened to them than they were melted down.

Though local competitions have long since found gold to be well out of their league, the Premiership and Football League still award gold medals to their winners. David also holds a Division 4 winner’s medal – previous owner unknown – from Darlington’s triumph in 1991.

It’s rarely a case of giving the man a medal: usually he has to scour auction houses and cash-for-gold shops or keep an eagle eye on eBay.

Gold prices are rising. A world record £222,000 was realised a few weeks ago for Stan Matthews’s 1953 FA Cup winner’s medal – bought a decade earlier by Sky Sports commentator Nick Hancock for a tenth of the price. Ray Wilson’s World Cup winner’s medal realised £138,000.

“It’s usually the case that the more famous the club or the player, the more valuable the medal,” says David. “I particularly enjoy what you might call repatriating a medal, getting it back to an area or a family where its story will be appreciated.”

It can become addictive and it’s competitive, too. The Russians are said to have become particularly interested. “The more you explore, the more you want to know and the more medals you want through your hands,” he says.

David’s willing to value, and to try to discover more about, any medals which Backtrack readers may have at the back of the cupboard. We’ll pass on details.

Ends

Tony Stainthorp in Durham confirms that the South Marine Park miniature railway in South Shields (Backtrack, November 27) is indeed still about its summer dutiea, as is the railway through Roker Park in Sunderland. All that worried Tony was that that the driver and crew looked so miserable as they went their rounds – “I blame health and safety” – but the other day he emailed again. The railway’s back in operation for the festive season and the drivers seem positively jollified. “It’s Christmas,” says Tony. “Amazing what it can do, isn’t it?”

ends

….so finally, Alex Campbell was first with the answer to last week’s question – the former Ireland international who has played in World Cup, UEFA Cup, Champions League, Intertoto Cup, and the top five levels of English football is Steve Finnan.

Martin Birtle today seeks the identity of the only person to have been both BBC Sports Personality of the Year and Young Sports Personality of the Year.

The answer must wait. Since Christmas Day falls on a Thursday and New Year’s Day falls on a week off, the column returns on January 8.

Thanks to all who’ve helped sustain the Backtrack column through another year. A very happy Christmas.

ends