Workington Town’s new chairman John Pleasants has a long sporting pedigree.
Not only was he a supporter of Town from being a young boy but he also played locally for Workington Zebras rugby union club.
No photograph of those memorable days when social rugby was enjoyed by all, before the National League were even dreamt of, has been unearthed as yet.
But Cumbria Crack has acquired is a photo from around 1964 of John in a team picture of British Steel cricket team ahead of a Cumberland Senior League fixture.
There’s a rugby league connection, too, as extreme left on the back row is Peter Donnelly, the former Whitehaven full-back who later became chairman of Whitehaven Magistrates.
On the extreme right is the late Brian Ritson, a Steels wicket-keeper and a respected football referee, who in later years was a respected team manager with Workington Town.
There’s also another legal link because standing next to Brian is Peter Malloy, now a Circuit Judge in the Preston area.
In those days British Steel had a professional and Bob Talbot is on the extreme left, front row. Bob still loves his cricket, a regular at the Valentine Ground.
He played 52 matches for Cumberland in a 20-year-old Minor Counties career, notching 1,613 runs which included a top score of 108.
The new Workington Town chairman is on the extreme right of the front row.
The full team is: Back row, left to right: Peter Donnelly, Bob Richardson, Mike Dixon, John Rawlinson, John Myers, Peter Malloy, Brian Ritson. Front: Bob Talbot, Gordon McCullough, Ronnie Shillito, Bill Marsh, John Pleasants.
