MATCH PREVIEW: Queens are kings

The UEFA U21s competition has still to be completed, the Women’s Euros have yet to start, FIFA’s Club World Cup is ongoing, I think, the Wimbledon tennis gets underway next week, the Open golf is over a fortnight away, England and India have completed one of five test matches in the cricket, the British Lions will be down under for the next few weeks and June has delivered some very wet ‘Glastonbury-type’ weather.

It must be mid-summer!

Yet, for Reds, the start of a ten-month slog which will become known as the 2025-26 season is about to get underway.  Yes, the football is back and Darren Edmondson will take his ‘far from ready’ Workington squad to Dumfries on Saturday for the opening pre-season game against Queen of the South.

It is one of their earliest ever-starts to a pre-season programme which, hopefully, will prepare them for the serious stuff commencing in August.  Long gone are the days when teams squeezed a couple of friendlies into the schedule before embarking on their respective league programme.

The Scottish football season gets underway earlier than their counterparts south of the border, but the lower levels of the English non-league pyramid will be playing competitively in July.

It makes life difficult for clubs at our level to arrange a competitive programme of matches before the real business gets underway on 9 August.

With just sixty-seven miles between Palmerston and Borough Park, it is no surprise that Queens and Reds have played each other quite frequently in summer friendlies, but the Doonhamers have visited Cumbria far more often than we have crossed the border in the other direction.

Indeed, of the eleven friendlies played between the clubs at first team level, Workington have only played at Palmerston on two occasions whilst Queens have pieced together an excellent record in eight visits to west Cumbria.

Ken Furphy’s team won 5-1 at Palmerston back in 1964 and we obtained a goalless draw there on our most recent visit forty-three years ago!  Our only other match in Dumfries, Peter Hampton’s first game as manager coincidentally, was back in 1998 and, although the players changed at the stadium, the kick-about was played at Maxwelltown School.

We first welcomed QotS to Borough Park in 1977, Gordon Livsey’s first game as Reds boss, with a 2-2 draw the outcome.  Neil McDonald netted his maiden first team goal that day but Peter Dickson’s brace ensured it finished all square.

Reds recorded a rare Borough Park victory in 1988 with Colin Woodburn and Gordon Dick on target in a 2-0 success.

Since then, Queens have dominated the cross-border rivalry and have won on their last six visits to Borough Park.

Their 1994 success was an emphatic 3-1 win and saw Tommy Bryce net a hat-trick before being sent off just minutes before the end.  Reds’ scorer that day was Keith Glover who headed our consolation.

Two years later, Queens repeated the 3-1 score line with Rowan Alexander and future Red, Derek Townsley, amongst the goals with Graham Caton responding for the hosts.

The Scots returned in 1999 and 2001 and won both without conceding and their line-up for the latter included former Workington duo, Alan Gray and Paddy Atkinson.

They won again in 2012 and legendary goalkeeper Allan Ball, who had played here in 1977, was representing Queens as a director that day.  Two sublime goals from Nicky Clark and Kevin Smith separated the sides.

We did manage to score on their last visit, eight years ago, with Tom Kilifin easing the ball past Jim Atkinson for the opening goal.  Steven Rigg scored his first Borough Park goal that night, too, but it was for Queens.  And another player with connections to both clubs, Dean Brotherston, netted as Gavin Skelton’s Blues got the win on a particularly wet summer evening.

In more recent years, and since Palmerston laid the 3G pitch, our Development Squad have played there five times (won once, drew twice and lost twice) and the RITC teams have been regular visitors of late.

Jack Dickinson, one of over two dozen players who have links to both clubs, scored for Queens in one of those games.  Two others, skipper Matty Douglas and Taylor Charters, will be expected to feature against us on Saturday.

Former Carlisle United player and Annan Athletic manager, Peter Murphy, guided Queens to a 3rd place finish in Scottish League One last term but they then failed to get promotion via the play-offs.

They began their preparations earlier this week with a game at Glenafton Athletic and host Morton, after our visit, ahead of their Premier Sports Cup group fixtures against Edinburgh City, Ross County, Partick Thistle and Stranraer.

For Reds supporters travelling to the fixture, there is plenty of parking near to the stadium whilst the railway station is about a mile from the ground.  

Kick-off: 2pm

Postcode: DG2 9BA

Admission: Adult – £10

Concession – £5

U16 – £3