On this day – 19 November
Reflecting on an eventful 19th November over recent years, highlighting the highs and lows of Workington Football Club…………
Considering what had happened in the build-up to our NPL First Division fixture at Accrington Stanley in 1988, a thrilling 3-3 draw was considered a great result.
Reds were again finding life tough and had already suffered eleven league defeats, not to mention early exits from both Cup and the Trophy. That poor return culminated in the sacking of manager Ian Hall and his assistant, Kenny Wallace, just forty eight hours before the game at Accrington.
Loyal club servant, Jimmy Irving (inset), was handed control of team affairs and, coupled with a professional approach from the squad, Reds stopped the rot of five consecutive defeats with a commendable draw.
Graeme Nicholson had opened the scoring but Stanley levelled matters before half time then lead 2-1 and 3-2. But Peter Harbach twice equalised, the second as late as the 89th minute, to salvage a deserved point
Before the game, the directors had met Mick Heaton, the former Everton coach, to offer him the manager’s job – he accepted and was appointed the following day with Irving becoming his assistant.
By coincidence, Reds had been involved in ‘six goal’ matches quite often on this corresponding day.
In 1955, we inflicted a 4-2 defeat upon Scarborough in the FA Cup, then lost by the same score at Crystal Palace in 1960, Northwich Victoria in 1977 and, at home, v. Rossendale United in 2002.
There was a home victory to report from 2011with the lads recording a 2-1 Blue Square Bet North success over Vauxhall Motors, completing a league double in the process.
We had to rely on two unfamiliar scorers to secure the points – defenders Paul Johnson (pictured above) and Lee Andrews finding the target in the first half. Motors replied soon after the restart with a penalty but our scorers did their bit defensively to ensure a third home win on the trot.
