Bishop Auckland

Formation and early years

Football in Bishop Auckland can be traced back to 1882 when theological students from Cambridge and Oxford Universities studying at Auckland Castle, home to the Bishop of Durham in Bishop Auckland, formed a team known as Bishop Auckland Church Institute. The founding students chose Cambridge and Oxford Blue as the club's colours to reflect the origins of the new team.

A later dispute caused a breakaway team called Auckland Town in 1886 and it was from this upheaval that Bishop Auckland Football Club was eventually born. Eight days after its formation, the club initially chose royal blue with white facings for the playing kit and subsequently changed to the more familiar light (Cambridge) and dark (Oxford) blue colours of the original Church Institute later, representing the colours of Oxbridge, and the origins of football in Bishop Auckland.

In 1889 Auckland Town were one of the 10 founding members of the World's second-oldest football league – the Northern League. The inaugural season was largely uneventful with the team finishing 8th with the league's first winners being St. Augustine's (Darlington).

Between the years of 1891 and 1893 the team never participated in league football but it was during this time that the club won its first silverware – the Durham County Challenge Cup – in 1892.

The team name was changed in 1893 to Bishop Auckland and it was under this name that the football club rejoined the Northern League. The following two seasons under the new name were again uneventful as the club finished third bottom on both occasions.

During the 1895–96 season Bishop Auckland won their first silverware on a national scale – the Amateur Cup – defeating Royal Artillery Portsmouth 8–0 in the final. Over the following few seasons the team steadily improved their league position and in 1898–99 won the Northern League championship for the first time. It was also during 1899 that Bishop Auckland picked up their second Durham County Challenge Cup.

It was clear that Bishop Auckland was an appealing prospect for the region's talented footballers as the Northern League was won a further five times (and shared with Sunderland 'A' in 1905–06) and the Amateur Cup final was reached a further six times (beating Lowestoft Town 5–1 in 1900 and Northern Nomads 1–0 in 1914) before football was suspended due to World War I.

After the war, Bishop Auckland picked up where they left off finishing as league runners-up to South Bank in 1919–20, winning the following season and runners-up again the following two seasons.

During this time the Amateur Cup was added twice more with wins over Swindon Victoria (4–2, 1921) and South Bank (5–2 (aet), 1922).

The next honour was won nearly a decade later when the league championship was added in 1931 along the Durham County Challenge Cup. In 1935 the Amateur Cup final was reached again with Wimbledon being defeated 2–1 in a replay after the original tie finished goalless after extra time.

The Bishops had perhaps their best-ever season in 1938–39 when they completed a treble. Future Liverpool player and manager Bob Paisley played at right-back in the team which won the Northern League title, the Durham County Challenge Cup and the FA Amateur Cup. The Amateur Cup final was played in Durham at Roker Park where the Bishops defeated Wellington 3–0 after extra time.

Following World War II Bishop Auckland reached the Amateur Cup final for the eleventh time but went down 3–2 against Barnet.

The following season, 1946–47, another Northern League title was added with Crook Colliery Welfare runners-up. The team were runners-up the following two seasons (1948–49), to Ferryhill Athletic and Evenwood Town respectively.

Glory days

The 1950s were to be Bishop Auckland's best with the Northern League title won in the first three seasons with Billingham Synthonia being the runners-up on each occasion. Bishop and Willington both reached the final of the Amateur Cup in 1950, Willington producing a shock to triumph 4–0 over their more glamorous neighbours and take the Cup back to County Durham. The following season the Amateur Cup final was reached again. The opponents were Pegasus and again Bishops had to settle for a runners-up medal as Pegasus were the victors after a 2–1 win. In '53 Bishop were runners-up to Crook Town in the league but added the title another three times over the next three seasons ('54, '55 and '56), with Crook Town being runners-up on each occasion. In '54 the Amateur Cup final was again reached, this time Crook Town were the opponents and it was the Black and Ambers that triumphed after a narrow 1–0 win.

The next three seasons were unprecedented in Amateur Cup history. Not only did Bishops reach the final on each occasion, but also finished the victors on each occasion. The opponents being; '55 Hendon (2–0), '56 Corinthian-Casuals (1–1 (aet), 4–1) and '57 Wycombe Wanderers (3–1). The latter being Bishops last appearance in the Amateur Cup final.

That wasn't the last of the silverware in the 1950s, however. The Durham County Challenge Cup was again added in 1956.

Bishop Auckland FC's best footballing performance was arguably played in the 1954–55 season in which they won the Northern League Division One, the Northern League Cup, the FA Amateur Cup and reached the fourth round in the FA Cup losing only to York City who then went on to lose to the FA cup Winners, Newcastle United in the semi-final.

Their path to reach this stage included a historic victory over Second Division Ipswich Town. This victory made Bishop Auckland the first "Northern League side" to defeat a Second Division club and the first to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Bishop Auckland were a successful football team in this era, they have played at Wembley on numerous occasions and attracting large crowds. The 1954–55 FA Amateur Cup final saw the crowd reach 100,000 – the last occasion an amateur match recorded a crowd of that size.

The Bishops team of this era contained a number of players that eventually found their way into the professional game. Seamus O'Connell, a forward, went on to play for Chelsea in the 1954–55 season, other players – Derek Lewin, Bob Hardisty and Warren Bradley – went on to play for Manchester United following the Munich air disaster and earned international caps at both amateur and professional level, most notably Warren Bradley who is the only English player to have done this in the same season.