Retired civil servant Chris Jevons recently clocked up his 200th game watching Workington Reds.
Nothing remarkable about that you might think, except Chris was born and bred in Middlesbrough and has no connection whatsoever to the West Cumbrian town.
He has popped up regularly at away games and was at Borough Park on Saturday for the final home game (barring the play-offs). So how did his support for Workington begin?
He recalls having early memories of his dad checking his pools coupon when the football results were read out on Grandstand.
He says: “That was when, at a very young age, I first noticed Workington. I’m not sure if I just liked the name or, as more often than not they seemed to lose, I hoped that they’d win occasionally but I started looking for the team’s results every week.
“When I started going with him to watch the Boro and sometimes Marske United when Boro were away, I began pestering him to take me to see Workington play.
“I think that I must have worn him down because eventually we went to watch my first Reds game at Feethams, Darlington in March 1969. It ended in tears as they lost 6-2. The match was also shown the next day on the ITV programme Shoot.”
His first visit to Borough Park was the last home game of the 1971/72 season, a 3-0 victory over Brentford.
“To my parents’ chagrin I went, accompanied by a school friend, without permission by train via Newcastle and Carlisle. We ended up being chased to the station by a group of local yobs after the game.
“The players I remember from that era were Mike Rogan, Tommy Spratt, John Ogilvie, Tony Geidmintis, Joe Wilson, Alan Tyrer and one of my all time heroes Johnny Martin.
“I’ll always remember him smashing the ball into the roof of the net from just inside the box to cement a 3-1 win at Hartlepool,” he says.
It is really since the millennium that his interest in non-league football has kept increasing to the point where he now watches two or three games a week where possible. Conversely he hardly ever attends a Premiership or Championship fixture any more.
“I watch more Reds away games than matches at HQ but I still like to get over to Workington at least six or seven times a season. Over the years I’ve seen the Reds play at places like Braintree, Wimbledon, Worcester, Stevenage, Gloucester, Telford, Grantham, Corby, Stamford and Moor Green,” he reveals.
He recently watched my 200th Workington match and he has chosen four games as favourites.
“The late comeback to win 3-2 at Northwich Victoria on a day when it looked highly unlikely; the incredible 5-0 win at Stalybridge Celtic and those spectacular goals and the 1-0 cup victory over Hartlepool a couple of years ago but the number one has to be the fantastic 3-2 win away at Wimbledon which will always have very specialmemories.,
“It’s been a great journey so far with Workington and, having recently retired from the Civil Service after 27 years, I hope to be able to devote even more time to watching live football and particularly look forward to the freedom to travel further afield for mid-week games.”
So what does Chris think of the current Reds team and their performances this season?
He reckons: “The team has done very well to overcome a horrific number of injuries this season and still looked like winning the league until the last few weeks.
“We may well look back at the awful performance against Widnes as the one which cost us very dearly, allowing big spending Warrington Rylands the chance to pip us at the post.
“If it has to be promotion through the play-offs I really hope we can rise successfully to the occasion. The lads certainly deserve it for their efforts all season and I’ll be at Market Drayton on Saturday, praying for a miraculous Bootle victory in Warrington.”
