FA Cup final referee's medal to go under the hammer

Referee Frank Coultas, right, pictured alongside Manchester United captain Roger Byrne

A medal awarded to the referee at the 1957 FA Cup Final is to be sold at auction.

Frank Coultas, from Hull, was in charge when Aston Villa triumphed over Manchester United's hotly tipped Busby Babes at Wembley.

The game was marred by controversy when United's goalkeeper Ray Wood was forced off injured after just six minutes following a collision with Peter McParland, who went on to score twice in a 2-1 victory.

Alongside the medal, Coultas' matchday kit, a number of programmes and a collection of press photos from the day will also be put up for sale at an auction in Scarborough later.

The collection include his kit from the day, medals and programmes

Following the collision, Coultas' decision not to send off McParland caused uproar among fans when Wood was taken off, leaving United down to 10 players as there were no substitutions allowed at the time.

"Frank Coultas said of the incident that it was not a malicious foul. McParland had just been ‘a bit too enthusiastic in playing the traditional British game of getting stuck in’,” Dominic Cox, of auctioneers David Duggleby, said.

"McParland was booed every time he touched the ball for the rest of the game, found a pile of hate mail waiting for him when he reported for training at the start of the next season and was given security when Villa played United in the Charity Shield at Old Trafford."

Goalkeeper Ray Wood was treated for a broken collarbone after the collision

The collection set to go under the hammer in Scarborough also includes other memorabilia from Coultas's career.

A pre-sale estimate puts the collection at £2,500 to £3,500, according to auctioneers David Duggleby.

Other sporting lots in the auction include gold medallions for Northern Rugby League from the 1920s, Hull Bicycle Club, Bridlington Billiard League in 1927, plus a large collection of tokens, checks and coins of Yorkshire interest.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.