A TRIP down memory lane was in order when a group of County Durham pensioners visited an exhibition of football memorabilia.

Elderly residents from the Woodhouse Close community in Bishop Auckland visited the Birth of the Blues exhibition at Auckland Castle and found themselves waxing lyrical about their childhood memories of the town’s football club.

One of the 24 visitors, Jane Armstrong, 72, of Bishop Auckland said the display of old photographs, rattles, kits and rosettes, loaned to Auckland Castle by Durham Amateur Football Trust, was “wonderful”.

The retired schoolteacher said: “My grandfather, Alderman [Bob] Middlewood, was the president of the club and when they won the FA Cup three times [from 1955 to ‘57] they gave us a replica which we kept on our sideboard. I remember cleaning it. When my grandfather died, we gave it back to the club who kept it in a glass case.

“Also, after they won, we had the real cup at home for a time. We thought that was wonderful.

“But my grandfather would not let me go to the matches. He thought there might be trouble.

“We all enjoyed ourselves on Thursday. We could remember the names of all the players, following the team and the excitement of it all.”

Peter Hall, 67, also of Bishop Auckland said: “I remember my father taking me to the town’s Market Place when the team returned after winning the FA cup. There were loads of people in Newgate Street all cheering the team on. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. It really gave the town a boost.”

The exhibition, which runs until September 28, presents the story of Bishop Auckland Football Club, established in 1882 by the then Bishop of Durham, Joseph Lightfoot.

The team was originally made up of Theology students from Auckland Castle and the different shades of blue on the strip represented Oxford and Cambridge universities from which these early students came.

The FA Amateur Cup began in 1893-94 and Bishop Auckland reached the semi-final that year. Their win in 1896 was the first of ten. Bishop Auckland were beaten finalists on eight occasions, reached the semi-final nine times and played in every year of the competition until it ended in 1974.

In the 1950s, Bishop Auckland appeared in six Wembley finals in eight years, ending with a hat-trick of consecutive victories from 1955 to ‘57.