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Workington Town is a Rugby League team playing in Workington in West Cumbria . They play in National League Two . Their stadium is called Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets , a Speedway team. Their nickname is simply 'Town', though they are sometimes referred to as 'Worky' by fans of other teams. Their local rivals are Whitehaven RLFC , who joined the league three years after Workington. HISTORY They were founded in 1945, immediately after the Second World War . They were the first side from the West Cumbria area to enter the professional league, though rugby league had long been strong in the area. They played at Borough Park . Gus Risman joined Workington in August 1946 when they had been in the Northern Rugby League for only one season. In his eight years as player-coach he made them into a team capable of beating Wigan or anyone else in the league. He led them to Challenge Cup and Championship glory at the age of 41 in 1952. There was a club-record 20,403 for the third round Cup game against St Helens. In the final of the Challenge Cup, the first to be televised, Town beat Featherstone Rovers 18-10 in front of a crowd of 72,093 at Wembley Stadium. During the 1954/55 season, Workington Town made it to the Challenge Cup final but were beaten 21-12 by Barrow . Derwent Park was opened in 1956. Workington lost in the in 1958 Challenge Cup final and one week later, they lost in the Championship final at Odsal. In 1963, with the league split into East and West of the Pennines, Town won the Western Division title after a replay with Widnes. The record attendence at Derwent Park was set in 1965 when 17,741 spectators turned up for a third round Challenge Cup match against Wigan. Town also won the Lancashire Cup beating Wigan in the final in 1977 and appeared in four consecutive finals between 1976 and 1979 (losing the other three all to Widnes in close games). Workington won the Second Division Championship and Divisional Premiership trophy double in 1993/4, having been beaten finalists in the 1992/3 Divisional Premiership whilst in the 3rd Division. When the Super League was set up, it was proposed that Workington merge with Barrow, Carlisle and Whitehaven to form a Cumbrian super club. This was, however, resisted and an unmerged Workington took part in Super League. They finished bottom of the table and were relegated to the Northern Ford Premiership with significant debts. In 2002 Town dropped into National League two as a result of losing to Dewsbury in what was the fore-runner of the NL2 Grand Final. Ged Stokes arrived as coach just prior to the 2004 season. A Challenge Cup game against Leeds Rhinos brought a bumper crowd that allowed the club to clear their debts. Ged Stokes was sacked following a club disciplinary hearing in April 2007 assistant coaches Craig Barker and Les Ashe took over and led the team to the National League Two play-offs. 2007 SQUAD NOTABLE FORMER PLAYERS CLUB HONOURS - Championship Winners: 1950-51 - Beaten Finalists: 1957-58 - Division Two Champions: 1993-94 - Challenge Cup Winners: 1951-52 - Beaten Finalists: 1954-55, 1957-58 - Second Division/Divisional Premiership Winners: 1993-94 - Beaten Finalists: 1992-93 - Lancashire Cup Winners: 1977-78 - Beaten Finalists: 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80 - Western Division Championship Winners: 1962-63 EXTERNAL LINKS |
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