THE MOUNTFORDS were a model Darlington family. They had a tailor's shop in Bondgate for 140 years, one of their members was a councillor who co-founded the Darlington Harriers 130 years ago, and another of their members won a bronze Olympic medal - for Denmark.

The Northern Echo: Reg Mountford when he was playing for Huddersfield

The first of the Mountfords was James, who arrived from Bishop Auckland in 1790 and set up as a breeches maker in Tubwell Row. His grandson, Charles, was born in 1864, and as well as running the tailor's, he co-founded Darlington Harriers in 1890, held extremely senior positions with Darlington's cricket, rugby and football clubs, was president of the North Yorks and South Durham cricket league, vice-president of Cockerton Cricket Club, district chairman of the Northern Counties Athletics Association etc etc etc. . .

Naturally, his son, Reg, followed in his sporting shoes. Reg was born in 1908 at 1, Cliffe Terrace, Woodland Road, and had no interest in tailoring so became a miner, working somewhere in south Durham - a physical job that built up his muscles.

The Northern Echo: Reg Mountford when he was playing for Huddersfield

His footballing talent caught the eye of the Quakers, and he made his debut as a 20-year-old defender at Feethams in a victorious FA Cup replay against Scarborough at the end of 1928. His proudest Quaker moment came the following February when, turned into a striker, he scored three goals in a 5-3 win over Rochdale.

"Mountford, Quakers' handyman, does the hattrick, " said the Evening Despatch's headline.

The Despatch was The Northern Echo's sister paper. The Echo made a sober assessment of the new star: "Mountford created a good impression. He wasn't faced with strong opposition but he made good use of all his chances and once in possession took a lot of shaking off. He must realise, however, that it is a very dangerous practice to argue with the referee, even if he disagrees with his decisions."

Little did the Echo's writer - Darneton by name - nor the 2,452 crowd realise how much potential Reg had. Others did. At the end of the 1928-29 season - 14 appearances, three goals - Mountford was transferred to Huddersfield Town, who had had a disappointing season by their standards. They had finished 16th in the First Division, but a few years earlier had become the first club to win the title in three successive seasons. The Terriers were the big time, and Reg helped them claw their way back to the top.

However, one day in 1931, he got terrible news from Darlington that his 67-year-old father, Charles, had tumbled out of a crowded trolley bus in Bondgate, smashed his head on the ground and was knocked unconscious. Reg rushed up from Huddersfield. "I was informed of the accident about 12 midnight and arrived at Darlington at 5am," he later told the inquest. "I saw my father at the General Hospital and was with him for the last ten minutes."

The coroner paid tribute to "a very great sportsman" but as there was no one to follow Charles in the tailoring business, it closed after 140 years. It had been at No 80, Bondgate, and it was soon demolished along with neighbouring buildings and replaced with the Majestic cinema which opened on Boxing Day 1932.

Playing as a defender, Reg made 236 appearances for Huddersfield over the next decade, scoring seven times. Town rarely finished outside the top ten, but Reg's biggest moment was probably his appearance in the 1938 FA Cup final in front of a Wembley crowd of 93,497, plus a small television audience - this was the first televised Cup final. But Huddersfield lost in the last minute of extra time to a Preston North End side which included Bill Shankly.

Then came the war. Reg was selected to play one wartime international for England - a 3-2 defeat to Scotland at St James' Park - and then he retired. He made the unusual career step of emigrating to Denmark to try his hand at management, taking control of a Copenhagen side called Boldklubben Frem.

The 1948 "Austerity" Olympics were to be held in London and Reg was asked to manage the Danish team. Denmark beat Egypt in the first round at Selhurst Park, and created a major upset by overcoming Italy 5-3 in the quarter-finals. They lost the semi-final at Wembley to Sweden, who were managed by a fellow Brit, George Raynor. This defeat plunged them into the bronze medal play-off against a Great Britain side managed by Matt Busby and captained by Bob Hardisty.

Hardisty was one of the greatest amateurs of his era - a time when amateur football was practically as popular as the professional game. He was born in Chester-le-Street but played for 20 years for Bishop Auckland, one of the greatest amateur sides in the land. He won 15 amateur England caps, three FA Amateur Cups and represented GB at three Olympics.

The Northern Echo: Reg Mountford, when playing for Darlington FC

Yet he never won an Olympic medal. In fact, the closest he came to one was in that bronze play-off at Wembley on August 13, 1948, where he was thwarted by Reg from Darlo.

Hardisty put GB 2-1 up in the 58th minute, but Mountford's Danes took the match into extra time. They had an unassailable lead when GB's Harold McIlvenny - who also played for Bishop Auckland in the 1950s - scored the final goal in the 111th minute. On the whistle, the score was 5-3 to the Danes who therefore won the bronze medal.

After this success, Reg seems to have stayed in Copenhagen for at least another four years. He later returned to England, and settled near Brighton, where he died in 1994 - Darlington's Danish Olympian.