A MEDAL awarded to Hexham’s cup winning goalkeeper in 1949 has been returned to his family.

The late Maurice Edgar was a safe pair of hands for Hexham Hearts as they lifted the Northumberland Senior Cup.

The underdogs ran out 3-0 winners against Blyth Spartans after Stevie Howdon scored a memorable hat-trick in front of a crowd of 14,000 at Newcastle United’s iconic St James’s Park.

All 11 Hexham players received medals, including manager George Hall, and his young son David, who was team mascot.

But the engraved medal awarded to Maurice was unearthed this summer by Yorkshire man David Copland, who searches for and restores football memorabilia.

The medal was initially put up for sale, but after reading about it in the Courant, the footballer’s family reached an agreement with Mr Copland for the medal’s return.

Sandra McNally, the daughter of Mr Edgar, who died in 2004 at the age of 83, said: “We’re absolutely over the moon to have it back, and we’ll treasure it forever.

“We’re not sure how the medal left us in the first place. My mother would sometimes give things to charity, and perhaps that’s how it got away, but that definitely won’t happen again.”

Mr Edgar, who had earlier played for Newcastle United during the Second World War, was from Acomb.

Sandra now lives in Gateshead, while her brother Barry, who played football for Acomb, has lived in Texas, USA, for the past 30 years.

“I’ve had a lot of really positive feedback from Acomb,” said Sandra.

“People in the village were very keen for the medal to be returned to us. It is with my daughter in Maidenhead now, but Barry is a really big football fan, so at some point soon it will be joining him in Texas.”