Fan cashes in on Jose's £17k medal

A PREMIER League winner's medal thrown into the crowd by Jose Mourinho after Chelsea won the 2005-2006 title has fetched £16,800 at auction.

He was presented with it moments after he hurled another winner's medal and his jacket to delighted fans celebrating Chelsea's 3-0 win over Manchester United. At the time Mourinho said: "The medal was for everybody but I think the person in the crowd who got the medal is a lucky guy who goes home with a fantastic memory or goes to eBay and makes a fortune."

In 2008 Bonhams marked the manager's words, selling the first medal for 21,600 on behalf of a Chelsea fan.

But yesterday's auction saw Mourinho left in the shade by another footballing great, Stanley Matthews.

The boots he wore in the 1953 FA Cup Final, where the Blackpool winger's performance was so outstanding the game became known as the "Matthews Final", sold for 38,400. That was well above an estimate of between 6,000 and 8,000 at Bonhams Sporting and Golf Memorabilia sale in Chester.

The 1953 final saw Stan Mortensen grab Wembley's first FA Cup final hat-trick as Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3.