There has always been history between Bishop Auckland Football Club and Crook town Football Club. You could write three books on the subject and still not cover every cloak and dagger transfer between them, every underhand payment, disallowed goal, broken bone, and niggling complaint from the committees of both clubs, who at times were so ruthless that they made the Mafia look like a Girl Guides outfit.

It goes without saying that when the two clubs met in the 1954 FA Amateur Cup Final, and it took three games to decide the issue, it wasn't going to do much for diplomatic relations. Even today, Bishop supporters take issue with the fact that their left half Jimmy Nimmins broke a leg after only 5 minutes play at Wembley and that in the second replay at Middlesbrough their centre forward Ray Oliver had a goal disallowed when the score stood at 0-0.

On the other hand, Crook fans will say that their inside left Williamson limped on the wing for most of the game and that they had a goal disallowed at Wembley. They were also unhappy with the behaviour of Bishop Auckland right half Bob Hardisty, who many thought used his status as a Great Britain Olympic footballer and England Amateur International to put pressure on the referee. For instance my mother was a quiet, gentle, God-fearing lady, secretary of the local Methodist Chapel, she wouldn't say boo to a goose. However as long as I knew her, and even after she had suffered a stroke, mention the name Hardisty and her nostrils would flare before she flew into an almighty rage using words you wouldn't find in the Methodist hymn book.

That's how it was when Bishop Auckland and Crook were drawn together in round one of the 1955-56 Amateur Cup competition. The game at the Kingsway ground in Bishop Auckland on Saturday, January 21, 1956, drew a crowd of 12,000 but the game failed to live up to its expectations. The Northern Echo said this about the two teams. "Too often they played safe by kicking the ball into touch, a factor which spoiled the standard of play. There were just over 100 throw-ins - Bishop Auckland had 54 and Crook 47."

Against the run of play, Crook drew first blood on 20 minutes when Appleby attacked down the right hand side and Auckland left back Stewart handled.

Davison made no mistake from the spot. Crook held their lead until just after the break, when on 50 minutes, Derek Lewin, who was suffering with a cracked collar bone, hit a beauty from the edge of the box. Lewin has been known to say, "Considering my injury that was one of the best goals that I ever scored for Bishop."

As the pace of the game stepped up, Davison was laid out but played on after on-the-field treatment. Lewin also went down but was soon back on his feet. Tempers became frayed as the half wore on and both Crook number 5 Davison and Auckland number 9 Oliver were spoken to after an incident. That was not unusual because both were well known for kicking lumps out of each other, sometimes when the ball was nowhere to be seen. Right at the death O'Connell had a chance for Bishop but Jarrie fell on the ball and saved the day for Crook.

Final Score Bishop Auckland 1 v 1 Crook Town. Next week:- Hardisty, Nimmins and the referee in the replay at Crook.

l Thanks to Keith Belton and Sue from Nestegg Homes for help with this article.