The story behind the picture – Bobby Charlton in a Workington shirt

Bobby Charlton is pictured in a Workington shirt, albeit a blue one, on the 10th February, 1978.

That was the memorable night he guested for Reds in a special fund raising friendly against Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Borough Park.

Bobby, who had made 758 competitive appearances for Manchester United and was capped 106 times for England, was forty one years old when he played the full ninety minutes of a goalless draw.

In league matches either side of Bobby’s outing for Reds, the attendances were around the 500 mark but, for this special game, over 6,000 fans filed on to the terraces on a bitterly cold evening.

World Cup winner Bobby is pictured third right on the photo standing between Bobby Brown junior and Ian Johnston. The line-up is: (from the left) Walter Gillott, Steve Crelling, Ian Hodgson, Gerard Fisher, Kenny Wallace, Bobby Brown, Bobby Charlton, Ian Johnston and Mick Leng.

Bobby’s former England team mate, Gordon Banks, played in goal for Strikers that night with ex. Workington player, Dave Irving, also lining up for the American side who were on a mini tour of the north of England.

Bobby, who wore the number 10 shirt, was making his second appearance at Borough Park twenty years after his first – the FA Cup 3rd Round tie between Workington and Manchester United in January, 1958.