FA Cup winners' medals stolen
Two members of Portsmouth's FA Cup winning squad have had their medals stolen while they stayed at a hotel, the club said yesterday.
The goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown, 27, and defender Glen Johnson, 23, reported the medals missing when they returned to Oakley Court hotel, near Windsor, after the victory parade through the streets of Portsmouth on Sunday, which attracted crowds of more than 150,000 people.
"I put my medal in my washbag after the game at Wembley," said Johnson. "When we got back to the hotel, I put my washbag in my room before packing it into my main bag on Sunday morning before the parade. We checked out of the room on Sunday morning and left our bags in a safe place to collect them after the parade.
"But when I got back to the hotel and checked to look at my winner's medal, it was gone. I'm so disappointed. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed someone's going to give it back."
Ashdown, who was an unused substitute in the final, said he was devastated. "The medal was in its box in one of my jacket pockets. The jacket was hanging on the back of a chair while I enjoyed a drink at the hotel with some of the other players and their families."
Portsmouth's chief executive, Peter Storrie, said: "The medals appear to have been taken from the hotel, which is unfortunate because the hotel looked after us so well for the three days we were there."
Gretna have made their entire staff redundant. The club, relegated from the Scottish Premier League, could be rescued before going into liquidation - a consortium, led by Glasgow businessman Paul Davies, is said to be interested - but it said it now "has no funds to carry on".