Readers of Cumbria Crack can be relied upon to provide the answers when we ask for help in solving sporting posers.
Earlier this week we highlighted the early coaching in schools done by Jack Vitty, a Workington Reds star of the early 1950s and the first player to represent the club in 100 Football League games.
The pictures we reproduced were actually taken straight from Jack’s album brought over to Tuesday’s Reds game by his granddaughter Hannah Sedgewick.
You can read all about her visit here.
One showed Jack with a group of schoolboys who he coached when he was one of the first professionals in the country to pass on advice in local schools.
The album picture was captioned Whitehaven School but our eagle-eyed followers pointed out it was a seven-a-side team from St Michael’s School, Workington and might possibly have been taken at a tournament organised by Whitehaven School or one that was actually played at Newlands School..
Geoff ‘Tanner’ Richardson, a member of a well-known local sporting family is pictured front left and has identified the squad as follows: Back row – left to right: Bobby Pratt, Ronald Whitehead, Jack Vitty, Leon Blaney, David Lee. Front row: Geoff Richardson, Derek Hodgson, Frank Teasdale.
The other intriguing picture in the album featured an early Workington team which had never been seen by various keen Reds followers.
There have been various suggestions on the line-up but Tom Allen, ex-Cockermouth Grammar School now living near Gainsborough, wrote the much-acclaimed Reds Remembered and through various processes of elimination arrived at what is almost certain to be the team.
Tom wrote: “I believe it is the team that played at home to Southport on August 29, 1953 in front of 9,226 supporters.
“The only other possibility was a game against Crewe but the centre forward Chris Simmonsd is not on the picture and he played. At the time Reds were having a problem at centre-forward which is why Ted Cushin, a full-back, was used there.
“So I’m going with, back row – left to right: Joe Johnson, Jack Vitty, Malcolm Newlands, David Reid, Ian Winters. Front row: Ted Cushin, Micky Hardy, George Corbett, George Aitken, Jackie Bertolini, Jimmy Sherratt.”
Of that team Aitken (277 League and Cup games),Newlands (266), Vitty (208) and Bertolini (194) went on to become Reds stalwarts, while the likes of Reid (8) and Corbett (9) were just passing through.
Johnson was the father of Mo Johnson who went on to play for both Rangers and Celtic.
