It was November 25, 1964 and I was off work, although recovering from a bout of flu. I felt fit enough to go to the match.
Reds had drawn Chelsea in the quarter final of the League Cup at Borough Park and I didn’t feel inclined to miss it.
I know my mother thought I shouldn’t have gone (only a year into the job and still under indentures) but off I went with my dad.
Now normally we watched games from the Enclosure and it must have been sold out because on this one and only occasion we viewed from the river end (Derwent End to the modern generation) behind the goals.
I often wonder whether that was an indication of our geographical ignorance from an early age.
Anyway, in the near 18,000 crowd, we were treated to one of the finest games the old ground has ever staged.
To this day all Reds fans who were there insist we should have won 3-2 instead of having to travel to Stamford Bridge for a replay some three weeks later.
Geoff Martin was ruled offside for scoring what would have been the winner late in the game.
From our vantage point he looked on-side and talking since to others better positioned it was our bad luck to have a trigger happy linesman.
What I do remember most, though, was a sensational goal from Dave Carr, well out on the right, who thumped a glorious shot into the far top corner.
Kit Napier scored the other Workington goal as Reds produced a stunning fight-back after Barry Bridges had scored twice for the Pensioners.
It would have been the daddy of all come-backs if Martin’s goal had counted but it had to go to a replay.
Chelsea won that 2-0 and both goals were scored by Peter Osgood who was making his senior debut.
Reds could also say that they were beaten by the eventual winners as Chelsea went on to beat Aston Villa and Leicester in the final.
One thing that is often forgotten is that although Ken Furphy had been in charge for previous rounds, including the remarkable 5-1 win at Blackburn, he had left the club just weeks before to manage Watford.
Keith Burkinshaw was in caretaker charge of the team and like many more he was adamant that the Martin goal should have stood.
