A 9ct. gold & enamel Glasgow F.A. Cup winner's medal awarded to John Neilson of Third Lanark in season 1903-04, inscribed GLASGOW FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

A 9ct. gold & enamel Glasgow F.A. Cup winner's medal awarded to John Neilson of Third Lanark in season 1903-04, inscribed GLASGOW FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, CUP WINNERS, 1903-4, THIRD LANARK ATHLETIC CLUB LTD., WON BY JOHN NEILSON, 3RD. John Neilson had played a single SFL match for Celtic in 1897 before joining Third Lanark at the start of the 1899-1900 season. Then after two seasons in England at Bristol Rovers, Neilson returned to Third Lanark and was part of the team during the club's most successful era, helping them win their one and only Scottish Championship title in 1903-04 and the Scottish Cup in 1904-05, a competition in which they also finished runners-up the following season. The present winner's medal is for the Glasgow Cup of 1903-04 when they beat Celtic 1-0 in a replay. They were the Cup's reigning holders and would reach two further finals in 1905-06 and 1906-07, although on both these occasions they had to settle for the runners-up spot. John Neilson made a total of 140 League & Cup appearance for Third Lanark between 1899-1900 and 1906-07 and scored Third's goal in the first match 1-1 draw in the 1904 Glasgow Cup final. He appears to have been Third's penalty taker.