The search is on to find people who have any details about a former Manchester City player who started his career off with Sandbach's The Ramblers.

A medal from the 1934 FA Cup final, belonging to ex-Manchester City player Bill Dale, who started the FA Cup-winning game for The Sky Blues 88 years ago, is going under the hammer next month.

Macclesfield's well-known auction house Adam Partridge Auctioneers & Valuers will be flogging the piece of FA Cup history expected to be sold for thousands of pounds.

But little is known about the legendary player and his earlier career with The Ramblers in Sandbach.

The Withyfold Drive auctioneers description for the item is as follows: "Manchester City fans take note! We have an important 15ct yellow gold FA Cup Winner's medal on offer in our first sale at Macclesfield this year.

"[The medal was] awarded to William 'Bill' Dale, Manchester City beat Portsmouth 2-1 in front of 93,258 fans at Wembley."

The 15 ct gold medal comes with a photo of the Manchester-born defender.

Niall Williams of Adam Partridge Auctioneers & Valuers was able to provide further information about the vintage piece of football history.

"The item was part of a large collection of exhibition items consigned but the vendor was a big Manchester City fan and that is why the medal was in his possession," he said.

"The medal was originally purchased from Christies Scotland on 8th November 1995. The medal is made from 15ct (carat) yellow gold.

"The auction estimate for the medal is £2000/3000."

"Bill Dale played for both Manchester clubs and featured for City in the silverware-winning 1933-34 season 31 times in the league and eight times in the FA Cup."

The 59th FA Cup final took place on 28 April 1934 at the Old Wembley Stadium. It kicked off at 15:00 BST. (Image - Wikipedia)

A by-the-books defender, the full-back was clearly integral to the cup victory from his sheer number of tournament appearances.

Born in Manchester in 1905, he started his career with Sandbach Ramblers and Marple before joining Manchester United as an amateur in April 1925.

He turned professional in May 1926 and made his debut on 25 August 1928, and made 64 appearances for the other big club in Manchester.

He joined rivals Manchester City in December 1931 and he had a six-year career in the blue of Manchester City, appearing 236 times, also winning the 1937 FA Charity Shield alongside his big FA Cup win three years earlier.

He later played for Ipswich Town before the Second World War brought his career to a halt. Bill died in 1987, aged 82.

The Macclesfield lot can be viewed online from Wednesday February 16th from 10:00am to 5:30pm.

It will go under the hammer on Thursday 17th February 2022 or Friday 18th February 2022 from 10.00am. Exact date TBC.

In the meantime Sandbach Nub News would like to hear from anyone who has any information about Bill Dale or photographs of him during his days at The Ramblers.

Just click the here.'Nub it' button here and send your details to The Editor.