Sad passing of Sir Bobby

Football fans, of a certain age, will be mourning the passing of Sir Bobby Charlton – one of England’s all-time greats. The former Manchester United and Preston North End star died on Saturday at the age of 86.

Capped 106 times, including all six games in the successful 1966 World Cup campaign, Bobby played over seventeen seasons for Manchester United, amassing 750 plus games in a wonderful Old Trafford career.

He made seventy-eight FA Cup appearances for United including the 1958 Third Round tie against Workington at Borough Park when 21,000 squeezed into the ground to witness Reds’ greatest ever game.

Then, in February 1978, one of the world’s greatest footballers came back to Workington and guested for Reds in a fund-raising friendly at Borough Park. Charlton was then 40 but looked as spritely as ever, wearing the number ten shirt in a match against Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The game attracted a 6,000 crowd.

The Ashington born, legend of the game, didn’t manage to score on that frosty February night (his World Cup winning colleague Gordon Banks was in goal for the Strikers) but what an honour it was seeing him in a Workington shirt, albeit a sky-blue change outfit.

We send our condolences to Bobby’s family.

• We also learned over the week-end that Tom Wilkinson had passed away after his recent health problems. Tom was a talented local footballer who made nine appearances for Reds during the 1987-88 season. He also played for Haig Colliery and several Maryport teams during the eighties and nineties. Our condolences go to Tom’s family, too.