ON THIS DAY: 26 February – Last ever Football League victory & mainly 2-0’s
Not much cheer for Workington supporters on the 26 February in bygone years when there has been an abundance of 2-0 score lines…….
2019 Warrington Town (home) 0-2 Town arrived as league leaders for this Evo-Stik Premier Division clash but, despite hurtling towards relegation, Reds were their equal for much of the game.
But they survived all what we had to offer and hit us with a couple of goals in the final quarter of an hour.
Our misfortune included a Brad Carroll shot hitting the crossbar and a goal-bound Dav Symington shot pole-axing Jason Walker instead of finding the net!
Town eventually finished 3rd, Reds (with 55 points fewer) were rock-bottom!
2011 Solihull Moors (away) 0-2 Reds were in a better place at this point in 2011, mid-table mediocrity in Blue Square Bet North! However, a defeat is always hard to take – regardless of where you are in the league and this was no exception.
Two scruffy goals in the second half contributed to our downfall leaving us bemoaning a rejected penalty appeal and an ‘offside’ Jonny Wright goal, correctly disallowed.
2005 Hyde United (home) 0-2 Not for the first time, Reds ‘choked’ on the big occasion when title rivals Hyde scored in each half to the disappointment of the home support in a crowd of 899.
We had been winning away in style but this was a third successive reverse on home soil to seriously dent out championship aspirations.
2000 Kettering Town (home) 0-1 Pre-match preparation was thrown into chaos when a serious accident closed the M6, resulting in the late arrival of both assistant referees. The match kicked-off with two replacements on the line.
The first half of the FA Trophy 5th Round tie was quite even, with Reds performing well against Conference opposition, but the visitors took control and just about deserved their 70th minute winner. They eventually reached the Wembley final only to lose to Kingstonian.
A minute of silence was observed before kick-off to mark the passing of former Reds player, Danny McDowall and national hero, Stanley Matthews.
Attendance that day was 1,643.
1994 Congleton Town (away) 0-2 Congleton’s Booth Street stadium was still proving an unhappy hunting ground and this was a sixth defeat in seven visits. We did finish above them in the NPL First Division table, however.
1983 Chorley (home) 2-0 Club chairman Arthur McCullough sadly passed away the day before the match so we stood in silence before kick-off in his memory. Arthur joined the Board in February 1977 and was in his fourth season as chairman.
At least the team provided a winning send-off and two second half goals from Graham Gill secured the win on an emotional day.
Graham was one of our travelling players and actually lived within walking distance of the Chorley ground.
1977 Scunthorpe United (home) 1-0 This was an historic win in a sense but obviously not recognised as such at the time. It proved to be our last ever home win in the Football League and it was achieved thanks to a first half strike from Mick Higgins – his maiden goal for the club.
Our eight remaining games at Borough Park resulted in two draws and six defeats!
1972 Southend United (away) 0-2 Trips to Roots Hall were always previewed with trepidation because we never won there! In eight visits we obtained just one point.
1965 Mansfield Town (home) 1-5 Having caused a shock by winning 5-3 at Field Mill earlier in the season, Reds fans were hoping to see the team complete a league double in the return.
It didn’t quite go to plan and the Stags took their revenge in style, inflicting upon us our heaviest home defeat in three seasons of Third Division football
Barry Lowes, who had scored in the away match, netted our consolation.
1955 Crewe Alexandra (home) 3-3 Six goals were also scored at Borough Park ten years earlier with Reds grateful for a point against an Alex side struggling near the foot of the table.
Rex Dunlop netted two of the goals that day, including one from the penalty spot, with Ken Rose netting the other.
- With so few wins to celebrate on this day, it should be mentioned that Workington were in with a chance of victory in two of their North Eastern League fixtures. In 1937, Reds were 3-1 up at City of Durham but the match was abandoned because of snow after fifty minutes and, in 1924, Reds were 2-0 ahead at Chester-le-Street when the referee called a halt because of storm conditions.
