A GOLD medal presented to the man who trained the Blackburn Rovers championship-winning team of 1912 has sold for £3360 at Christie's in London.

Before the auction, experts reckoned the medal, won by Robert Holmes, might sell for between £600 and £800.

But the bidding was so enthusiastic that the medal sold for four times its value on the 50th anniversary of Holmes' death.

Explaining the importance of the medal a Christie's spokesman said: "That season, 1911-1912, was an important and special year in Blackburn Rovers' history because it was the first time the club won the Football League title.

"Robert Holmes, already a football legend in East Lancashire after his trail-blazing exploits with Preston North End, was the man who helped mastermind the title win because Rovers had no manager."

Holmes was one of the so-called Invinc-ibles, the legendary Preston North End team that won the Football League and FA Cup Double of 1889 without losing a game.

Born in Preston on June 23,1867, he was also one of Lancashire's and England's first professional players when organised football was still in its infancy.

Preston were involved in a row about employing professional players after an FA Cup tie between them and Upton Park at Deepdale in 1884. It was the beginning of the end of amateurs in the Football League. Robert Holmes went on to to win seven England caps and was Bradford City's trainer before becoming Blackburn's trainer in January 1909. He stayed until November 1913, when he was 46. He died in 1955.