Reds mourn loss of trophy winning Joe
It is with sadness that we report the passing of former Reds manager, Joe Wojciechowicz. He died at the weekend age 72.
Joe spent nearly four years with the club in the early eighties after arriving in November 1980 as Sean Gallagher’s assistant.
Joe is pictured above (back row, extreme right) with the 1981 team.
He was appointed manager in mid-October a year later, taking charge of 111 league games and 34 cup-ties in his near three season stint in the hot seat. At the end of his first season in charge, Reds finished a solid 11th position in the NPL and took Huddersfield Town to a replay in the First Round of the FA Cup.
A commendable 7th place finish followed at the end of ’82-83 campaign, the highlight of which was a 6-0 home win over eventual champions, Gateshead. The team reached the First Round of the Cup again but lost narrowly to Billy Bremner’s Doncaster Rovers at Borough Park.
They dropped to 15th at the end of the ’83-84 season but a poor league return was more than compensated by success in the President’s Cup with Joe becoming the first manager to lift a trophy during the non-league era, overcoming Marine in front of 1,100 jubilant fans.
That proved to be his last game for the club and Joe subsequently managed hometown club Morecambe and Colne Dynamoes.
Joe’s playing career had began at Blackpool and also included spells with Morecambe, Lancaster City and Barrow whilst his one appearance in a Workington shirt was in a pre-season friendly.
His spell in charge stretched over 145 matches and included fifty eight wins, thirty six draws and fifty one defeats. The team scored 197 goals during his tenure and conceded 179.
We send our condolences to Joe’s family and friends.
