A Swindon Town Anglo-Italian Cup winners medal has fetched way more than expected after going under the hammer.

Interest in the rare piece of memorabilia was thought to be high so it was given an estimate of £1,500 to £2,000 ahead of auction on Wednesday. 

Swindon Town Official Supporters' Club and Trust STFC had prepared a joint bid to try and bring it back to the club and preserve a part of its history. 

But, they were unable to do so after a fierce bidding war at Dominic Winter Auctioneers took the final price for the item to £3,200 plus fees.

STFC Trust vice-chair Alex Pollock said: "Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in our attempts to acquire it. It went for £3,200 (+ fees) in the end, which is above what the OSC and Trust had jointly agreed as an overall budget for this."

Paul Rasti, the auction cataloguer who catalogued the medal, said the auction house was happy with the amount it finished on and indicated that there'd been a lot of interest prior to bidding.

"It sold for £3,200 which we're delighted about, obviously," he said. 

"It's just a rare thing, one has never come up for sale anywhere else as far as I'm aware. There were a few different ones given to the manager and a couple of the directors, but as far as I know, there are only 12 that were issued to the players themselves.

"There were a few enquiries before the auction, many from Swindon Town fans. On the day we had telephone bidders, some internet bidding and some commission bidders, so there was interest across the board. "

The medal was issued to the players who triumphed against Napoli in the inaugural 1970s Anglo-Italian Cup after violent supporters forced the match to be abandoned when Swindon were 3-0 up. 

It is not known which player from the cup-winning squad it originally belonged to. 

Paul also couldn't say who had won the medal, but indicated that he hoped they were a fan and that one day it might go on display somewhere. 

"I do not know who won it," he said. "I assume it was a private buyer and hopefully a fan because that’s who ought to have bought it.

"Hopefully they want it for their own collection or one day it might make its way back to the club to be put on display in a museum because it's a really interesting historical thing."