Coast to Coast
Time for another trip from the east coast to the west coast. Having already visited Carlisle United and Barrow this season, it was time to tick off the other big club in Cumbria – Workington AFC.
Of course, they haven’t always been this far down the league pyramid.
In 1977, Workington AFC failed to get re-elected to the Football League and lost their place in the upper echelons.
They had spent twenty-six years in the League, having replaced New Brighton in 1951.
Famous Names at Workington

In January 1954, one of the most famous managers to ever grace the British game took over as boss at Borough Park. Bill Shankly, who went on to serve with distinction at Liverpool was boss of his original Reds team until November of the following year.
He made an impression at the club and in 1980, he came back to officially open the Shankly Lounge himself.
On the 4th of January 1958, Workington attracted a club-record crowd of 21,000 to Borough Park. The occasion? The visit of the Busby Babes of Manchester United for an FA Cup 3rd Round tie. Tragically, many of that young team lost their lives in the Munich Air Disaster the very next month.
Ups and Downs
In 1964 Workington got promoted to the third tier of the league and achieved their highest-ever position of fifth in 1966. It was all downhill from there though. They were relegated back to the fourth division the following season and regularly finished near the bottom of the league.
In 1977, their luck ran out when they failed to garner enough votes from their peers for re-election. They were replaced in the Football League by Wimbledon.
A few more ups and downs followed but the trend was mostly down and today, Workington find themselves playing in the eighth tier of the football pyramid.
This is where our trip to Workington AFC comes in, so let’s take a look at how we got on.