Workington A.F.C.

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Workington A.F.C. are an English football club from Workington, Cumbria. They are in the Conference North, and play their home matches at Borough Park, which has a capacity of 2,500 (400 seated, 2,100 standing). The club play in red, and are known locally as the Reds.

History

The original Workington A.F.C. were one of the founder members of the Cumberland Association League in 1890 and played at Lonsdale Park. In 1894 they moved to the Cumberland Senior League, and in 1901 joined the Lancashire League. However, the league closed two seasons later, and they returned to the Cumberland Senior League. In 1904 the club were admitted to the Lancashire Combination, but in 1910 seasons they decided to economise and join the North Eastern League. However, after only one season, the club folded.

The new Workington A.F.C. were born in 1921 and immediately joined the North Eastern League. During the 1933/4 season, the club managed its best-ever FA Cup performance, reaching the 4th round, before losing to Preston North End. Later in the decade, the club moved to its present home, Borough Park. In 1951 the club were voted into the Third Division North of The Football League replacing New Brighton.

Their first season in the League was a sign of things to come; the club finishing rock bottom, and only improving by one place the following year. During the 1957/8 season they played the Manchester United team known as the Busby Babes at home in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, attracting a record crowd of 21,000. However, at the end of that season, the club dropped into the Fourth Division when the League was reorganised.

In 1964, player-manager Ken Furphy led them to 3rd position, earning promotion to the Third Division. During both the 1963/4 and 1964/5 season, they made it to the quarter-finals of the League Cup, where they lost to West Ham and Chelsea (in a replay) respectively. During the latter cup run, the club beat Cumbrian neighbours Barrow 9-1, a record which remained until the mid-1980s.

In 1966 they finished in 5th place, narrowly missing out on promotion to the Second Division, but next year finished bottom, and were relegated back to the Fourth Division. In 1974 and 1975 the club finished 23rd out of 24 and in 1976 they finished bottom. In 1977 the club won only four games, and again finished bottom of the League with attendances falling well below the 1,000-mark. This poor run led to the club being voted out of the League in the summer of 1977, being replaced by Wimbledon.

The club dropped into the Northern Premier League (NPL), but failed to trouble the top teams, never finishing higher than 7th, before they were relegated to the NPL First Division in 1988. They continued to struggle, eventually being relegated to the North West Counties League in 1998. However, the club managed to win the League at their first attempt (also their first ever championship), and returned to the NPL First Division.

As a result of a 7th place finish in 2004, the club moved up to the NPL's Premier Division during the Non-league restructuring. They then continued their upward movement by winning the first-ever NPL promotion play-offs (after finishing in 2nd place) to win promotion to the Conference North.

Famous players and managers

Keith Burkinshaw (went on to manage Tottenham Hotspur)

Bill Shankly (went on to manage Liverpool)

External links

[Official site]
[Unofficial site]
[Workington] at the Football Club History Database
[Workington (to 1911)] at the Football Club History Database

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