British Historical Medals from Various Properties

Sold by order of the recipient ‘Our strength at Chelsea came from the spirit of our nights out. We pulled for each other. We never knew when we were beaten. We wouldn’t lie down. Great character. Never give in. Never give up.’ (Alan Hudson talking to Jeff Powell, Daily Mail) Blue is the colour, football is the game We're all together, and winning is our aim So cheer us on through the sun and rain 'Cause Chelsea, Chelsea is our name Here at the Bridge whether rain or fine We can shine all the time Home or away, come and see us play You're welcome any day Blue is the colour, football is the game We're all together, and winning is our aim So cheer us on through the sun and rain 'Cause Chelsea, Chelsea is our name Come to the Shed and we'll welcome you Wear your blue and see us through Sing loud and clear until the game is done Sing Chelsea everyone Blue is the colour, football is the game We're all together, and winning is our aim So cheer us on through the sun and rain 'Cause Chelsea, Chelsea is our name The unique 1970 FA Cup Final Winners’ medal awarded to Alan Hudson, who made 145 first-team appearances for Chelsea FC betwen 1969 and 1974, sang on the original ‘Blue is the colour’ Chelsea anthem and who broke the English football transfer record when he joined Stoke City: The Football Association Challenge Cup, a gold award medal by Fattorini & Sons, three footballers, one preparing to head the ball, facing a goalkeeper, second goalkeeper in background, rev. wreath, named (The Football Association Challenge Cup, 1970, A. Hudson), 34mm, hallmarked Birmingham 1970, 9ct, 28.35g. An additional award of a unique design, made by the Football Association and given to Chelsea to be presented to Mr Hudson, very fine; fitted with a loop for suspension and worn as part of a necklace by Mr Hudson’s mother; an iconic and exceptional award to one of Chelsea’s finest midfield players £20,000-£30,000 --- Alan Anthony Hudson (b June 1951), raised in West London, supported Fulham FC as a boy but was rejected by them before signing schoolboy terms with Chelsea. Injury denied him the chance of becoming Chelsea’s youngest-ever first-team player at the age of 16, but he made his senior debut nine months later, on 1 February 1969, when Tommy Docherty’s Blues lost 5-0 to Southampton. His flamboyant team-mates, who included Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke, John Hollins and the coin collector Ian Hutchinson, welcomed Hudson as the team’s creative playmaker in a midfield 4-2-4, helping Chelsea to finish third in the First Division in the 1969-70 season when, in 29 appearances, he scored three goals. Hudson played in every match in Chelsea’s run to the FA Cup Final against Leeds United at Wembley in 1970, but missed the final itself due to a recurrence of an ankle injury; 2-2 at full time, it took a replay at Old Trafford to settle the score 2-1 in Chelsea’s favour. The 1970-1 season culminated with his playing a major role in the club defeating Real Madrid to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup Final in Athens. Hudson’s most prolific season with the Blues, 1971-2, saw him make 52 appearances for the club and score six goals, but Chelsea lost the 1972 League Cup Final 2-1 to Stoke City. Little more than 18 months later, with the fortunes of Chelsea at a low ebb because of the club’s debt burden and because of a falling-out with manager Dave Sexton, Hudson signed for Tony Waddington’s Stoke City for £240,000 and, in his debut for the Potters against Bill Shankly’s Liverpool in January 1974 put in a mesmerising performance, after which Shankly visited the home side’s dressing room, shook his hand and said “That’s one of the best performances I’ve seen. Fantastic...well done, son”. In the form of his career at Stoke, he missed only one game out of 162 in his first two seasons at the Victoria Ground, and the team finished second in the league in 1974-5. Financial troubles at Stoke, exacerbated by extensive damage to the club’s Victoria Ground wreaked by a storm in January 1976, meant that the club had to sell players, and Arsenal swooped for Hudson, still then only 25 years old and with bounteous talent, by offering £200,000. Paired with Liam Brady in central midfield, the partnership looked destined for great things and he helped the team reach the final of the 1978 FA Cup, when they lost 1-0 to Ipswich Town, but fitness issues and personal differences with manager Terry Neill meant that over two seasons Hudson only made 36 appearances for the Gunners. Aged 27, he signed for Seattle Sounders in the North American Super League and, in 94 appearances for them between 1979 and 1983, scored 20 goals. Before the demise of the NASL in 1984 Hudson played briefly for Chelsea Reserves and was then re-signed by Stoke City, helping the latter survive a relegation battle in 1984, but the Potters went down to Division 2 the following year and a knee injury forced his retirement from the game in September 1985. Internationally, Hudson won nine caps for the under-23s, the first of which was against Scotland at Sunderland’s Roker Park in March 1970, a match abandoned two-thirds the way through because of a blizzard. But refusing to tour with the U23s led to a ban from international football until his performances at Stoke earned him two call ups from England manager Don Revie in 1975, when his team beat West Germany 2-0 and then Cyprus 5-0. Since retirement Hudson has overcome a series of personal setbacks, including multiple injuries caused by being run over by a car. But in overcoming these difficulties he took up writing, with The Working Man’s Ballet, a title taken from Tony Waddington’s description of Stoke City’s style of play in that 1974-5 season, receiving critical acclaim in 1998. Since then he has worked as a columnist on the Stoke Evening Sentinel and as a radio commentator on the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In retirement he continues to live in Chelsea