A rare 131-year-old winner’s medal earned by the legendary keeper who became Arbroath FC’s only Scotland cap is going under the hammer.
John ‘Ned’ Doig’s gold and enamel English Division One championship honour from the 1892/93 season could fetch £5,000 at auction.
Doig’s name was one of the first to grace the Gayfield Hall of Fame.
But it is Sunderland fans who may lead the chase for the prized piece of sporting memorabilia.
Doig was a member of the Black Cats’ famous ‘Team of All Talents’ – the greatest club outfit in the world at its height.
And the ‘Prince of Goalkeepers’ holds records in Angus and Wearside which stand to this day.
Letham lad
Doig is also likely the greatest – be it perhaps least known – sporting son of the Angus village of Letham, where he was born in October 1866.
In a career spanning 25 seasons, Doig played at least 1,055 games of football.
His talent was charted by Arbroath FC historian Fraser Clyne in a book of famous Red Lichties.
And Doig was one of the inaugural inductees in the club’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
The keeper remains one of Gayfield’s most colourful characters.
His illustrious career with the Angus side had an unusual start.
He was plucked from the terraces for a reserve team game after shouts of “let Doig play” from the crowd.
In 1887 he was selected to play for Scotland against Ireland at Hampden, the first of his six caps.
His final game for the Lichties was an Angus derby against Montrose in November 1889, a year before the Scottish League was formed.
When he joined Sunderland in 1890 he received a £75 signing-on fee, club house and a job in the North Sands shipyard.
And over 14 seasons as part of the ‘Team of All the Talents, Ned notched up a club record seven consecutive clean sheets.
Leading English side of its era
Doig made a record 422 league appearances and played 35 FA Cup ties for the English side between 1890 and 1904.
It was a period which reaped four First Division titles.
And Doig boasts a 19th-century world record by not conceding any goals in 87 of his 290 – 30% – top division appearances.
He then signed for Liverpool for £150. On his first game, 33 days before his 38th birthday, Doig became the oldest player to debut for the club.
The Reds won the Second Division championship in his first season. Ever-present Doig conceded just 25 goals in 34 games.
His Anfield career was ended by a postcard delivered to his door which stated: “Your services are no longer required.”
Doig eventually retired from football in 1910 after a spell with amateur club St Helens Recreationals.
He died in November 1919 from Spanish flu at the age of 53. Doig’s gravestone is in Anfield cemetery in Liverpool.
Graham Budd Auctions is offering the 9ct gold an enamel medal in a sale on June 18/19.
It is inscribed 1892-3 League Champions Sunderland, with J E Doig on the reverse.
An opening bid of £2,400 has been set and the auctioneer’s estimate for the rarity is £4,000-£5,000.
Conversation