Workington

Long folk history

Football in Workington has a very long history. Close by and adjacent to the home of Workington A.F.C. the folk game of "Uppies and Downies" is still an annual event. There are records about the game from 20 April 1775 in the Cumbrian Pacquet which is one of the earliest written reports of a match anywhere in the world. This report says the match on which it is reporting is "long contended".

Formation of the club

Association football was introduced to Workington in the 1860s and further popularised when a group of steel workers migrated to the town from Dronfield, Derbyshire. They were workers of the Charles Cammel and Co steel works that arrived in the town in 1884. It is estimated that 1,500 townspeople moved to Workington. 'Dronnies', as the people of Workington called the newcomers, joined the 1883-founded Workington in 1888. This is also confirmed in a short history of the club which was produced as part of 16 page brochure in the club's application to the Football League in 1951.

The original Workington A.F.C. were one of the founder members of the Cumberland Association League in 1888 and played at the Ashfield Ground before moving to Lonsdale Park for the 1909–1910 season.

In 1894, they moved to the Cumberland Senior League, and in 1901, joined the Lancashire League. However, the league closed two seasons later, and they returned to the Cumberland Senior League. In 1904, the club were admitted to the Lancashire Combination, but in 1910, they decided to economise and join the North Eastern League. However, after only one season, the club folded.

The new Workington A.F.C. was born in 1921 and immediately joined the North Eastern League. During the 1933–34 season, the club managed its best-ever FA Cup performance, reaching the 4th round, before losing to Preston North End. Later, in 1937, the club moved to its present home, Borough Park, after being forced out of Lonsdale Park following a lease to a Scottish greyhound and speedway company.

In 1951, the club was voted into the Third Division North of the Football League, replacing New Brighton.

The Football League years (1951-1977)

The early Football League years of Workington Reds are chronicled in a series of books entitled So Sad So Very Sad – The League History of Workington AFC: part 1 (1951–58), part 2 (1958–64) and part 3 (1964–65).

The history of the club as a member of the Football League was one of almost constant struggle. Their first season in the League was a sign of things to come: the club finished rock bottom, and only improved by one place the following season.

From 6 January 1954 to 15 November 1955, the club was managed by Bill Shankly, who would later go on to achieve great fame through his success as manager of Liverpool.

During the 1957–58 season, they played the great Manchester United team known as the Busby Babes at home in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, attracting a record crowd of 21,000. This was just a month before eight of the United players lost their lives in the Munich air disaster. At the end of that season, the club dropped into the newly formed Fourth Division after a reorganisation of the Football League which saw the abolition of the two regionalised Third Divisions.

In 1964, player-manager Ken Furphy led them to 3rd position, earning promotion to the Third Division. During both the 1963–64 and 1964–65 season, they made it to the quarter-finals of the League Cup, where they lost to West Ham United and Chelsea (in a replay) respectively. During the latter cup run, the club beat neighbours Barrow 9–1, a record which remained until the mid-1980s. The club's proudest night was at Blackburn Rovers on 22 October 1964 in a Football League Cup 3rd round replay. A Workington team of seasoned professionals such as Keith Burkinshaw, Dave Carr, Ken Furphy and Kit Napier and a few youngsters, like John Ogilvie who went on to have a long career at the club that reached 430 appearances, beat the Blackburn team 5–1 at Ewood Park. The Blackburn team that night were full of internationals, such as Ronnie Clayton, Mike England, Newton, Byrom etc. This was reported in one newspaper as "Incredible Fantastic Workington rubbed Rovers elegant noses in the mud of Ewood Park to produce the finest result in their 80 year history"

On 3 April 1965, Workington gave a debut to one of the youngest players ever to play in the Football League, Tony Geidmintis, who was only 15 years 247 days old. Geidmintis went on to play 328 games for Workington.

The mid-1960s also saw Workington give a debut to one of the earliest black professional footballers in the Football League. This was Peter Foley, who played over 80 games for Workington as a forward and scored some 16 goals for the club, before moving on to Scunthorpe where he kept a young Kevin Keegan out of the team for a couple of years. Later, Foley became an ambassador for racial equality in football, being awarded an O.B.E. from the Queen for his work.

In 1966, Workington had their best ever season in the Football League, finishing 5th in the Third Division and narrowly missing out on promotion to the Second Division. However, the next year they finished bottom and were relegated back to the Fourth Division. Manager Ken Furphy had moved on to Watford, taking some of Workington's key players such as Dave Carr and Dixie Hale with him. This marked the start of Workington's painful downward spiral back to non-league status.

In the 1968–69 season, Workington gave a Football League debut to one of the game's legendary goalkeepers, John Burridge. Burridge, born locally, made his debut against Newport County on the last day of the 1968/69 season; in an inauspicious debut, one of his very first touches saw him punch the ball into his own net from a Newport corner.

In the late '60s and early '70s, Workington had "Johnny Martin on the wing", a statement that became the most popular chant for Workington supporters. A cult hero at the club, Martin was often dubbed the "poor man's George Best", but to older supporters with longer memories, his tricks were reminiscent of the Clown Prince of Football Len Shackleton. Martin would, for example, dribble past two or three opponents, then sit on the ball and ask who wanted it next. Martin played 224 league and cup games for Workington, scoring 33 goals. He joined the club in 1969 and was transferred to Southport in 1974.