Workington Reds almost had a couple of Glasgow fans watching their recent NPL game with Ashton United.
Only trouble was the pair were supporters of Glasgow Tigers, the city’s speedway team – and they had gone to the wrong ground.
A Workington fan was approaching and saw the two men coming out of the ground.
“I said to them jokingly – ‘I know we’ve been bad but I thought you would have watched a few minutes at least’.
“One of them replied rather sheepishly in a Scottish accent that they’d come to the wrong ground and were looking for the speedway track,” the Reds supporter said.
In fact that was a return to afternoon meetings by the Workington Comets after making the decision to ride at night with 6pm starts.
They were unable to get night-time medical cover on that occasion so had to switch back to a 3pm start for the visit of Glasgow Tigers.
They might have been better off watching the Reds because the Tigers suffered a heavy defeat at the GT Tyres Arena, going under 56-34 to the rejuvenated Comets.
Over 50 years ago, Borough Park had been looked at by Ian Thomas and Jeff Brownhut, the young, go-ahead promoters who created the Comets.
Thomas had looked at Carlisle’s Brunton Park, Whitehaven’s Recreation Ground and Reds’ Borough Park in his search for a Cumbrian stadium.
He finally settled on Derwent Park and Workington Comets were born in 1970.
