One of the famous names from Workington Town’s past will be back in the area at the end of the month.
Big Jim Mills is headlining a sportsmen’s evening in the Garden in the town centre on Friday, January 27.
Three other ex-Town stars of the era – Eddie Bowman, Alan Banks and Ralph Calvin – will also be appearing in what will be a proper rugby league night of nostalgia.
Mills said: “I’m really looking forward to going back up to West Cumbria and meeting my old Workington marras!”
Mills, now 78, joined Town for a £6,000 fee in February 1976 from Widnes after apparently rejecting a move to Salford.
A midnight swoop by then chairman Jack Atkinson and physio Bill Whalley saw them dash to Widnes where it is said the deal was completed at 2am.
Although he was only a member of the Town team for a short while – playing 23 games over two seasons – he is still remembered with great affection by the fans, helping them to win promotion back to the top division and to their first Lancashire Cup final.
He eventually returned to Widnes to complete his career, which was ended at the age of 36 in 1981.
A controversial player – loved and loathed in equal degrees – Big Jim was sent off an incredible 20 times in a career which spanned 16 years.
No doubt some of those dismissals will be included in his talk to the fans later this month.
