IN the world of amateur football, the 1938-39 season turned out to be something special for the south Durham clubs.
Before the season started, the Northern League celebrated its Golden Jubilee with a dinner in the Kings Cafe, Bishop Auckland, on June 14, 1938.
Then, on April 22, 1939, two south west Durham teams from the Northern League, Bishop Auckland and Willington, contested the FA Amateur Cup Final at Roker Park, Sunderland.
Bishop won 3-0 after extra time to claim their seventh Amateur Cup win, and it became part of their magnificent treble along with the Durham Challenge Cup and their ninth Northern League title.
The Bishop Auckland treble winners in 1939. Back row, from left to right: N Foster, W Evans, J Kirtley, J Washington, D Curl, K Humble, T Wanless. Centre: J Catchpole (trainer), K Twigg, L Wensley, C Straughan, G Leary, H Young. Front: JRE Hardisty, R Paisley. (M Slee absent).
A number of stories came out of this match, starting with the bus carrying the Bishop players, including Bob Paisley, and officials to Roker Park was so delayed in traffic jams in Sunderland that it did not arrive at the ground until ten minutes before the kick-off.
With a rushed change, the Auckland players managed to get on the field at 3.30pm, but for some time after the kick-off they were obviously unsettled.
Secondly came the bizarre goal which broke the deadlock in the 10th minute of extra time.
The Northern Echo described it: "One of those simple mistakes that players make on occasion probably decided the destination of the FA Amateur Cup, and it was ironical that it should be made by Sumby, the outstanding man on the Willington team.
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“Washington, the Bishop Auckland goalkeeper, cleared with a long kick when tackled by McLean.
“Sumby thought that the referee had signalled play to stop for an infringement, and in this the player was not alone. Several other players stopped playing. Sumby caught the ball on the half-way line and prepared to thow it back for a free kick.
“He was penalised for handling and it was from this free-kick taken by Straughan that Bishop Auckland scored their first goal, after a clever heading duel between Slee, Evans, Young and Wensley, who put the ball into the net after the teams had battled at a cracking pace for 100 minutes."
Apparently, someone in the crowd had blown a whistle, which caused the confusion and allowed Laurie Wensley to score the first of his three goals.
Headlines from The Northern Echo on Monday April 24 1939 describing Bishop Auckland's Amateur Cup win over neighbours Willington
Bob Paisley, was playing in the Bishop team for three shillings and sixpence per game, and, of course, he went on to play for and manage Liverpool.
In December 1977, he was the subject of This Is Your Life and the surviving members of the 1939 side were invited on to the show.
One of them was the right half Teddy Wanless, who appears to have been a reserve for much of the season, but took over in the final for the injured Gordon Leary who had played in every round up to the semi-final, against Leytonstone, which was played at Wimbledon. Bob Hardisty seems to have replaced Leary for that game, but it ended 0-0, and so for the replay at Darlington, Wanless was called upon. As Bishop won 2-1, Teddy kept his place for the final.
Teddy Wanless's 1939 FA Amateur Cup winners' medal
After the final, defender Carl Straughan gave his medal to Leary, and Teddy offered him his, as well. Eventually, the club agreed to get two replica medals, one for Straughan, and the other for Hardisty.
The programme for the 1939 Bishop Auckland victory dinner
In March, Teddy’s son, Alan (above), took his sister Margaret, who was visiting from Australia, to the Bishops shop in Newgate Street, where they saw the team photograph of Teddy Wanless and the Cup winning side.
Alan said: "Dad never talked much about his times with Bishop Auckland and very rarely mentioned the Amateur Cup win in 1939. If he ever came to watch me play, he would stand as far away from the action as he could get.”
Alan Wanless, second left on the front, with the Leeholme Juniors side in November 1969. The team won the County Junior Cup
Alan’s career started with Shildon Works Juniors in 1968. He moved to Leeholme United Juniors with whom he won the County Junior Cup in 1969, and then joined Northern League Bishop Auckland for the 1970-71 season, where he made 38 league and cup appearances and finished as top goalscorer with 13.
“I was quite decent on the ground but was never good in the air,” he said. “In fact, one of the coaches at Leeholme said that I had a head like a threepenny bit."
He started the 1971-72 season with Bishop but after a short spell with Shildon, he joined Crook Town in January 1972. His second game for Crook was at Bishop Auckland where Crook took the lead in an unusual way. The Auckland goalkeeper hit a goal kick straight to the feet of Crook’s Crawford who promptly put the ball into the back of the net. Alan scored on 42 minutes before Crook keeper Keith Wilson saved a Charlie Gott penalty which enabled Crook to win 2-0.
Alan started the 1972-73 season with Crook, but was soon playing for Consett. He started the following season with Consett, scoring twice as they beat Crook 4-0 on August 29, 1973, but later that season, on February 2, 1974, he scored a hat trick for Crook in a 4-0 win against Ferryhill Athletic as he had returned to his former club.
His final club were Ferryhill Athletic, who he joined in December 1975.
Alan's son, Martin, had a successful junior football career with the Consett Sports Centre team. Martin is a keen Sunderland supporter and although he lives in Australia, he contributes to the Sunderland fanzines. His son is called Teddy and at 10 years of age is already showing some promise for his junior team, Armidale, in New South Wales.
The 1939 Bishop Auckland FA Amateur Cup winner has other great-grandchildren in Australia who love football, as his daughter Margaret’s grandchildren, Lucas and Ella, both play for junior teams in Melbourne.
The story of how their great-grandfather won one of the most prestigious trophies in the golden age of amateur football is inspiring them still.
Teddy Wanless's great grandson Ted Wanless in New South Wales with his Man of the Match prize playing for South Armidale juniors
The Bishop Auckland team in the 1939 final: Jack Washington, Jimmy Kirtley, Ken Humble, Teddy Wanless, Carl Straughan, Bob Paisley, Ken Twigg, Laurie Wensley, Mattie Slee, Billy Evans, Harry Young.
Willington: Jackie Coe, Fred Cooper, Bobby Ethridge, George Hardy, Jimmy Sumby, Billy Hindmarsh, Mickey Mitchell, Laurie Pratt, Mac McLean, Billy Davidson, Joe Elliott.
The old cinema in Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, in 1963 before it was converted into a supermarket - the Northern League celebrated its Golden Jubilee here in 1939
In 1939, besides Bishop Auckland doing the Amateur Cup, Northern League championship, and Durham Challenge Cup treble, Everton were the Football League champions, and Portsmouth won the FA Cup beating Wolves 4-1 in the final. Singer Dusty Springfield was born on April 16; psychiatrist Sigmund Freud died on September 23. The film of the year was Gone With The Wind, starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, while the hit song of the year was Over The Rainbow by Judy Garland. Plus, of course, Britain declared war on Germany.
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