BOROUGH PARK MEMORIES: The FA Cup
- Paul Armstrong
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Every Workington supporter worth his salt could give you chapter and verse on the 1958 cup tie versus Manchester United but that is just one of ninety-three FA Cup matches we have played in the competition at Borough Park.
From the day we moved into our new ground in 1937 until that disappointing home defeat by Stalybridge Celtic last August, we have dreamed of achieving FA Cup glory. Generally, though, we have rarely repeated the headlines that made the front and back pages the day Manchester United came to town.
Including the Busby Babes, Reds have faced seventy different teams at the soon to be demolished Borough Park with our Kendal neighbours, Netherfield, the very first visitors.
That was just over eighty-eight years ago.
It was a Fourth Qualifying Round replay, following a 2-2 draw the previous Saturday, with the crowd of 4,213 treated to 120 minutes of thrills and spills.
Workington emerged as 7-3 winners, but only after extra time. The scores were level (3-3) after ninety minutes but Reds took control thereafter. Tommy Carruthers had the satisfaction of scoring the first FA Cup goal at Workington’s new home but the afternoon (the match was played on a Thursday) belonged to Alec Fisher who helped himself to four goals.
And just as a matter of interest the gate receipts for the inaugural cup-tie amounted to a little over £184.
It would be another twenty-five years, 1962 in fact, before Fisher’s feat would be repeated.
Again, it was a replay, now under the lights of course, with Reds inflicting a 7-2 knock-out blow to North Shields and Dave Carr leaving his mark on the competition with a four-goal blast.
The next hat-trick hero would be John Smith who bagged a threesome two years running back in the early eighties. Each time it was in the Fourth Qualifying Round with Bishop Auckland and Buxton on the receiving end in 1980 and 1981 respectively.
Jonny Wright enjoyed his finest hour in the FA Cup early in the 2008-09 campaign with his first hat-trick for the club helping us get the better of Cammell Laird in a Qualifying Round.
There was unique piece of club history in 2015 when Scott Allison netted his maiden hat-trick in the competition against, the only Welsh team to play at Borough Park, Colwyn Bay.
Scott’s little bit of magic was a hat-trick of penalties, two in the first half and the historic one three minutes before time.
And Kirkby Stephen’s finest bagged another hat-trick in the Prestwich Heys tie in 2023 without a spot-kick in sight. His second half cameo helping us to a 6-0 ticket to the next round.
We could debate for days, maybe weeks, about who scored the best FA Cup goal for Reds at Borough Park and still get a couple of dozen contenders.
Clive Colbridge’s opener against Manchester United would have to be on any short list purely because of the prestige, many in my age bracket would probably go for the Johnny Martin solo effort against Rochdale in 1969 whilst some of our younger supporters may remember Adam Telfer’s superb goal, with his weaker right foot, on his full debut against Consett over eleven years ago and Max Brown’s wonderful swivel volley in a high-scoring 5-3 replay win over Newcastle Benfield more recently.
Cup derbies have included matches against Netherfield and Penrith but nothing to match the visit of our real rivals, Carlisle United, on a November afternoon in 1980. The First Round tie attracted a crowd of 7,300 and they witnessed a goalless draw with a young Peter Bearsley turning out for the Blues and the wonderful George McVitie getting on a as a late substitute.
A special day for our Carlisle resident, Gerard Fisher, who treasured his clean sheet against his hometown club.
That wasn’t United’s only Borough Park appearance in the FA Cup with their second visit the following season in more unusual circumstances. Due to the frozen condition of Brunton Park, they hosted Bishop Auckland in Workington and, despite Reds fans in the crowd cheering for the underdogs, United won, 1-0.
And a bizarre situation cropped up in 1950 when Cleator Moor Celtic caused a big Borough Park shock by knocking Reds out in the Fourth Qualifying Round, their reward for reaching the First Round proper, for the first time, was a home tie against Tranmere Rovers.
Their own ground wasn’t suitable to stage such a big game and, despite on offer to play on Rovers patch, they kept the tie in the area by accepting Reds’ suggestion to play at Borough Park. Celtic lost 5-0 but a crowd of 11,541 watched a gallant effort against the professionals.
Crook Town have played cup ties on the ground four times, to become the most regular visitors, whilst Gateshead, Mansfield Town, Rochdale, West Auckland Town and Stalybridge Celtic have all visited on three occasions.
Reaching the Third Round is always the dream and once there the ‘draw’ is eagerly anticipated.
It certainly was the draw of the round when we were paired with Manchester United in the ’57-58 competition and a home draw against Nottingham Forest a few years later was not too shabby.
But imagine the disappointment, with all due respect, when we got our Fourth Division rivals Brentford, at home, in the Third Round of the 1970-71 competition. Reds lost 0-1 before a sub 6,000 crowd and our final appearance at that stage was one big anti-climax.
Mention was made of Reds scoring seven on a couple of occasions but we also managed to net eight goals a couple of times. Crook Town lost 8-1 here in 1957 and Hebburn suffered the same fate when we wore our ‘Big Breakfast’ kit in 1995.
Our overall record at the stadium reads: won 45, drew 16 and lost 32 with 171 goals scored and 111 conceded.
There have been memories created for individuals, in the team and on the terraces, and we all have many FA Cup stories to tell, but we have fallen short many, many times so only ourselves to blame that we haven’t had more ‘glamour ties’ played here over the years.
Nevertheless, we are proud of our efforts in the greatest of all knock-out tournaments - from Tommy Carruthers scoring Workington’s first goal in the competition to Steven Rigg netting the last – and will continue to dream about a bit of ‘giant-killing’, wherever our next FA Cup match will be played!
