A bronze medal presented to John Downie of Manchester United in 1952, the reverse inscribed GAZET VAN ANTWERPEN, DANKT U, IN HERINNERING, AAN DE ONTMO

A bronze medal presented to John Downie of Manchester United in 1952, the reverse inscribed GAZET VAN ANTWERPEN, DANKT U, IN HERINNERING, AAN DE ONTMOETING, AUSTRIA WIEN F.K., MANCHESTER UNITED F.C.; sold with a signed and hand written letter of authenticity from John Downie (2) The Austria Wien v Manchester United freindly match was played in Antwerp on 11th November 1952. United won 1-0 through a goal by Pearson. United were reigning champions of England and Wien were champions of Austria. John Downie was a Scottish player born at Lanark 19th July 1925. He began his senior career at Bradford Park Avenue before signing for Manchester United in 1949, as a direct replacement for Johnny Morris, for a then record club fee of ?18,000.The inside forward made a total of 116 League & Cup appearances for United before transferring to Luton Town for ?10,000 in 1953. Johnny Downie then had spells at several League & non-League clubs before retiring in 1962. Post-career he worked as a newsagent in Bradford before moving to Tynemouth where he followed local football with a keen interest and was a regular at North Shields and Whitley Bay. He died in Tynemouth 19th February 2013 aged 87.