by Garry Clarke
Instead of playing North Ferriby on Saturday in the Buildbase FA Vase Warrington Rylands 1906 will now face West Auckland Town after the Humberside club was removed from the competition having been found guilty of fielding an ineligible player in last weekend’s 4th round tie.
Reinstated after suffering a 4-0 defeat at North Ferriby, West Auckland Town will be aiming to reach to reach the Wembley Final for the third time in ten years having graced the big stage in 2012 and 2014 returning home with nothing but memories each time.
Having reached the 4th round, 6th round and 5th round in the past three seasons, West Auckland Town were given an exemption until the 2nd round of this seasons competition. On their entry into the competition they defeated Rylands NWCFL neighbours 1874 Northwich 4-1 with a very impressive performance, while in the 3rd round they won 2-1 at fellow Northern Leaguers Consett, who have a Wembley date of their own on 3rd May when they face Hebburn Town in the final of the 2019/20 Vase campaign.
Hebburn Town are a possible opponent rivalries in sports for the winner of Saturday’s Gorsey Lane game as the draw for the quarter finals pits the winner of Rylands v West Auckland against the winner of Hebburn’s game against Congleton Town on Saturday 1st May.
West Auckland Town originally formed in 1893, joined the Northern League in 1934, and became world famous in 1909 when they won the inaugural “World Cup”!
The competition was organized by British Industrialist Sir Thomas Lipton who also presented the trophy. Held in Torino, Italy it involved teams from Italy, England, Switzerland and Germany.
The original invitation was offered to the Football Association who declined to nominate a team for entry, Sir Thomas insisted Great Britain be represented. As to how West Auckland were chosen is open to speculation, one story says the club’s initials were mistaken for those of Woolwich Arsenal.
The team predominantly made up of miners struggled to raise the money necessary to travel to Italy, some even pawned their own possessions to pay their way. Their determination paid off as they beat Stuttgart of Germany 2-0 on their way to beating FC Winterhouse of Switzerland 2-0 in the final at the Turin Stadium.
They returned to Italy two years later to defend their trophy. They beat Red Star of Switzerland 2-0 to qualify for the final where they beat Italian side Juventus 6-1 to retain the trophy.
So if Warrington Rylands 1906 are to progress along the road to Wembley they will have to overcome former World Cup winners
