It might not be the best reason to remember a game, but the memory of a broken leg at Borough Park in the 1955/56 season has remained with me.
Jimmy Fleming, a tough tackling Scottish full-back had joined Reds from Stirling Albion in 1954 and had been a virtual ever-present since then.
This particular game (a check back via the best reference book available Reds Remembered) was on January 7, 1956 against Darlington.
My dad and I were at our usual stand in the enclosure right up by the rail and it was not a particularly pleasant day. Wet and windy, and Reds were still recovering from the loss of manager Bill Shankly who had left to join Huddersfield in the December.
Memorable home wins before Shanks’ exit included 4-0 against Carlisle and 6-1 against Barrow and Norman Low was to be appointed later in the month. Tommy Jones was in charge until Low’s appointment.
At what stage of the game it happened I am uncertain but it occurred right in front of us near the enclosure touchline.
It was like a pistol crack as Jimmy went into a tackle with a Darlington player and he knew right away he was in trouble, clearly in agony a few feet from where we were watching.
In those days the St John Ambulance men sat near us on the cinder track and they were up and over in an instant to attend to the stricken Fleming.
I can’t recall how long it took before Jimmy was stretchered from the field to sympathetic applause, but memory suggests it wasn’t long. That cracking noise was one I never wanted to hear again!
There were no substitutes in those days but Workington still managed to beat the Quakers 2-0 with goals from Jackie Bertolini and Des Jones.
Jimmy Fleming did not play in the first team again until October of the following season and although initially a right back got his chance at left-back following an injury to Jack Vitty.
He played 23 games that season, showing little effects from the broken leg, but the following season was his last, managing just a single outing before he moved on to play for Berwick Rangers.
Jimmy had played 93 League and Cup games for the Reds and still had plenty to give after his come-back from the broken leg as he played another 68 times for Berwick.
What I hadn’t realised until now, just reading up on Jimmy, was that he broke his leg at Borough Park on his 27th birthday – what a present.
He worked as a plumber on his retirement from football and died at Rutherglen, Scotland in August 2019, aged 90.
