Blues legend Mick Lambert’s FA Cup winner’s medal has been stolen in a burglary at his home in Ipswich.
The 68-year-old (pictured above right with Roger Osborne) had stayed overnight on Thursday at Potters Resort at Hopton with his wife Margaret, 65, where they were watching the World Bowls Championship.
When they returned to their home in Sandringham Close the following evening they discovered the back door had been kicked in and the house ransacked.
In addition to the medal Lambert won having come on as a sub at Wembley as the Blues beat Arsenal 1-0 in May 1978, a 47-flat screen TV, jewellery, cash, passports and a Ford Fiesta were among the items taken.
"I just feel empty, but I suppose that burglars aren’t considering how other people feel when they steal from them,” Lambert told the Ipswich Star.
Police appeal for witnesses to a burglary in #Ipswich a property on Sandringham Close on Friday 18 January at some point between 6pm and 7.45pm. Read more here> https://t.co/M1s9Rdh8so
— Suffolk Police (@SuffolkPolice) January 21, 2019
"Our neighbour was out on the street at 6pm on Friday evening. We got back at 7.45pm on Friday night, so whoever did this must have been in and out very quickly.
"We knew we were in trouble the moment we got back because the car was missing from the drive.”
He added: "My wife is more upset about the car, I’m more upset about the medals. We were meant to be going on a holiday to the Caribbean. It was planned and booked, but without our passports we don’t know if we can go.”
Balsham-born Lambert, who was inducted into the Town Hall of Fame in 215, replaced winning-goalscorer Roger Osborne in the final shortly after the midfielder had scored the goal which won the Blues the FA Cup for the only time in their history.
Lambert, who was also once a 12th man for the England cricket team in a Test match, made a total of 219 starts and 44 sub appearances for Town between 1967 and 1979, scoring 45 times.
Newmarket Town, Peterborough United, Vancouver Whitecaps and Chelmsford City were among his other clubs.