Back in the early 1980s I was involved with the Cumberland Star Sunday League side and after winning the County Cup we decided to enter the National Cup.
In our second season in that competition we were drawn away to Winlaton West End who played at Annfield Plain.
When we arrived at the West End club we had a look round the concert room. It was packed with washing machines, hairdryers, microwaves, televisions and other luxury goods.
They were all prizes in a leek show which was being held there later. On the wall was a photograph of the Winlaton West End side which was in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest unbeaten run in Sunday League football.
Our trepidation increased when we learnt that money from the leek show helped finance the team and the players were on £25 a man! Our lads paid a fiver each to play back home and had contributed to the cost of the bus over to the North East.
To add to our pre-match concerns we weren’t at full strength. One of the lads had dropped out overnight and another, Colin Knox was injured.
Now it’s confession time. We had drafted in one of our former players Keith Glover who hadn’t been registered that season and we played him under the name Colin Knox.
During the course of the game Keith was in trouble with the referee for a late tackle and a booking was to follow. Now knowing Keith he would have just said Glover when asked for his name and I was on the touchline screaming at him “Knoxy, Knoxy calm down.”
Fortunately it registered and he gave the required name to the official.
We played outstandingly well that day and believe it or not with three minutes left we led 3-2 with goals from Trevor Bell (2) and Terry Davies.
I remember walking down the touchline and seeing former Reds player Barry Donaghy in the sizeable crowd. Barry gave me the thumbs up which I returned.
Sadly a few minutes later when I saw Barry again he was shaking his head in disbelief. West End had scored twice in the 90th minute and in injury time to win the game 4-3.
Mind you Winlaton were wonderful hosts after the game and we were royally entertained, ending up at a nightclub owned by another of the club’s backers.
During the course of the night we were approached to see if Terry ‘Nipper’ Davies would be interested in playing for them each week – expenses paid and £25.
Terry – who sadly died a few years ago – was almost swayed but in the end decided to stay and play for the Cumberland Star, chipping in with his own money each week!
