Seventy years ago this week the battle of the Reds at Anfield almost produced a result that no-one had thought possible.
Liverpool, from the First Division, had been drawn at home to the Football League’s new boys from Workington.
With almost 75 minutes on the clock, the Workington secretary Herbert Horsley was asked by his Liverpool counterpart, when would they be able to stage the replay.
Borough Park had no floodlights and was shared by the Reds and the Workington Town rugby league club, so there was no obvious quick answer. Apparently it turned out that Thursday afternoon would have been the preferred replay date.
However, by the time Herbert had finished explaining, Liverpool scored what proved to be the only goal of the game and they got through by the slenderest of margins.
Billy Liddell, a Scottish international and Liverpool’s star player at the time, was the goal-scorer from probably the only opportunity he had in the whole game.
All the national newspaper reports of the time were unanimous that right-back Kenny Wallace had been man of the match, dominating Liddell – something that hadn’t happened before at Anfield.
As a result of that performance Wallace and centre-half Bob McAlone attracted interest from three First Division clubs, although nothing ever came of it.
Reds had only been a League club for just over six months, elected in the place of New Brighton at the Football League’s annual meeting on Saturday, June 2, 1951.
Accrington Stanley (46 votes) were re-elected, and Workington (28 votes) were elected to Division Three North which had been extended to 24 sides the year before when Reds had missed-out to Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe in their first ever bid to join the Football League.
When Reds had played at Liverpool they were hovering just above the bottom four, but by the season’s end they were bottom and had to apply for re-election with Darlington, who finished two points above them.
Liverpool went on to finish 11th in Division One as Manchester United won their first title for 41 years. Huddersfield Town and Fulham were relegated.
A famous cartoon of the time (which still hangs in the Borough Park boardroom) depicts the Workington players preparing for the Liverpool Cup-tie, dressed as pirates on a ship crossing the Mersey.
Unfortunately, no photograph of the Reds team of that Cup-tie, on January, 12, 1952, appears to have been taken ahead of the match which was watched by 52,581.
But a picture at Borough Park before the game with Halifax, 11 days beforehand on New Year’s Day, 1952 shows the line-up which would face Liverpool.
Indeed, the Cumbria Crack can correct the caption attributed to the picture which wrongly names Joe Johnston on the front row, extreme left. He did not join Reds for another two years and the player is in fact right winger John Maxfield who had joined Workington from Carlisle United.
The action pictures, and a shot of the fans in Workington, have been provided by author Tom Allen who has written two books on the Reds as well as a copy of the cartoon, which is framed and hangs in his kitchen.
The team is: Back row, left to right: Bert Flatley (manager), Kenny Wallace, Ted Cushin, Bob McAlone, Mick Hardy, Alan Ford, captain Len Hainsworth, Billy Davey (trainer).
Front row: John Maxfield, Danny McDowall, Chris Simmonds, George Dick, Andy Mullen.
Seventy years ago it might have been, but there is still a strong link with the current Workington side. Man of the match was Kenny Wallace and his great grandson is Ceiran Casson, a midfielder in Chris Willcock’s squad.
