Welcome to the 3rd installment of the “Skem AMATEUR CUP WINNERS United Review”, giving a look back on significant period’s in the clubs history plus a few football related articles to browse through. HONOURS BOARD Without the likes of William Lyon, there wouldn’t be a Skem Utd, he died in 1940, we have the details from the Ormskirk Advertiser, plus from World War Amateur Cup Winners 1970-71 1, the sad tale of Sam Ashcroft, very moving, both Amateur Cup Runners up should be remembered this month. 1966-67 Earlier this month we also learned of the passing of Amateur Cup Semi Finalist 1968-1969, 1969-70 Liverpool legend Ian St John, what many will not realize he played an important part in our clubs history. We have a quick look back at his time at Liverpool County Combination League Winners 10 Occasions Skem. Someone who will have been coached by St John Liverpool Challenge Cup Winners 8 Occasions was Micky Worswick, an article appeared on the blog “The Cold End” in July 2016, which tells of his Lancashire Junior Cup Winners time at the club and in non league football 1914-15 From 2006 to 2019 United played in the Northern Lancashire Combination Division Premier League, it all started so brightly and ended Two Winners 1955-56 with a club in turmoil, we take a quick look at those years and for the stats amongst you, the complete Cheshire League Champions NPL records. 1968-1969, 1969-70 Skelmersdale United Internationals, bet you didn’t Lancashire Challenge Cup Winners think you would hear them words spoken in the 1969-1970, 1970-1971, 2008-09 same sentence, have a look who donned “the Lancashire Floodlite Cup Winners blue”and represented their country, ypou might be 1969-70 surprised. FA Cup 1st Round Proper And finally we caught up with John Ericson, a 1966-67, 1968-69, 1971-72, United player in the mid 70’s, this article should 2020-21 have been in the first league programme of last season, we didn’t get a league game at the JMO. European Amateur Cup Winners 1971-72 Plus a few other bits to keep you occupied whilst once again the league’s have been cancelled. North West Counties League Cup Winners 1999-2000 Hopefully we can get playing again come the summer, here’s keeping our fingers crossed North West Counties League Cup runners-up 1982-1983, 2004-05 Cheers Kev Enjoy the “looking back” feature on the club North West Counties Division Two website. Im part way through two more magazines, runners up. 1997-1998 that will be with you in April then that will be it from Northern Premier League (North) me. Champions 2012-13 Liverpool Senior Cup Winners Thanks to Nev Berkley (cover), Danny Jackson, 2014-15 Matty Wright, John Driscoll for all the excellent photo’s Ian St John: 'An iconic Liverpool figure who went on to illuminate TV screens' Ian St John, who died recently aged 82, was an iconic figure in Liverpool's history as part of manager Bill Shankly's construction of a football superpower, before enjoying a hugely successful post-playing career in television and punditry. St John arrived at Anfield in May 1961, a then club record £37,500 signing from Motherwell, with Liverpool in the old Second Division at the time. He helped Liverpool win promotion to the top tier, went on to win two league titles and scored 118 goals in 425 appearances After his playing career finished he went into management at Motherwell and Portsmouth - but in later years was best known as one half of the massively popular 'Saint And Greavsie' partnership, alongside former England striker Jimmy Greaves on ITV Sport, their Saturday lunchtime programme illuminating football coverage in the 1980s and early 90s with its mix of humour and sharp insight. But what most people don’t know and you wont find in any of obituaries, is that St John played an important part in Skelmersdale United’s history, brought in at the start of the FA Amateur Cup campaign by Bernie Banks in December 1966, foremost as a fitness coach, coming in twice at week at White Moss Park but to add a steely professionalism to the side. Qualities that stood the side in good stead St John was at all the Amateur Cup games, at Slough he commented “tremendous!! I have never been so nervous, the lads are such good listeners and they were going all the time”. Ian St John was back in January 1969 to officially switch on the new floodlights. To mark the great step forward in the club’s history a friendly match was played against Fourth Division club Wrexham. Turning on the lights on January 3rd, St John described the installation as a great step forward for the club. St John made his name as a youngster at Motherwell, scoring 80 goals in 113 league games as well as a hat-trick in only two minutes 30 seconds in a Scottish League Cup tie against Hibernian in 1959. He was hot property - and when Liverpool's directors initially told Shankly they could not afford the transfer fee, they were informed in no uncertain terms by the manager: "We can't afford not to buy him." He is best remembered for the trademark jack-knife header that gave Liverpool a 2-1 victory in the 1965 FA Cup final against Leeds and brought the trophy to Anfield for the first time. Ian should be remembered not just by the Liverpool fans but those of Skelmersdale United Thursday, 28 July 2016 FROM THE BLOG http://thecoldend.blogspot.com/ A QUICK WORD WITH.....MICKY WORSWICK Micky Worswick was just twenty years old in 1967 when he helped Skelmersdale United shock the Amateur game by winning through to the final as a Lancashire Combination League Premier Division side. He went on to become a club legend at Wigan Athletic where he helped them become football league members. That famous season the average age of the Skem side was just twenty years of age with outside- right Norman Whitehead just eighteen years of age. With Enfield Town travelling North to play Skelmersdale United on Saturday in a special match to celebrate and mark fifty years since the famous games TheColdEnd was very pleased to speak to winger/inside-right Micky about his memories of that famous cup run. He was described in the pen-pictures of the cup final programme as a 'strong player with limitless energy' with a 'clever style'. HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN FOOTBALL At the age of 14 a Blackburn Rovers scout saw me playing for my school team, Preston Catholic College, and invited me to Ewood Park for trials. I played there for three seasons as an amateur but unfortunately was not offered a professional contract. I then had trials at Bury and Queen of the South but they both came to nothing so I then finished up playing for my home town club Preston North End as an amateur. During my two seasons there I played mainly in the youth team but also played around half a dozen games for the reserves in a side that contained Alan Kelly, Alex Dawson and George Ross, who all went on to become North End legends. A pro contract was not forthcoming so I decided to try my luck in non league football and joined Burscough. The following season Mickey Burns who I had grown up with in the Moor Nook area of Preston asked me to join him playing at Skelmersdale Utd. He had signed for them the previous season whilst studying at Liverpool University. WHAT WERE THE EXPECTATIONS FOR THE TEAM THAT SEASON? I joined 'Skem' in the Summer of 1966 from their near neighbours Burscough FC. Being drawn against the mighty Bishop Auckland in the first round was really a boost for players and fans alike to be playing them on our tight little ground with the crowd very close to the pitch. After beating them 3-0 we really thought that we were capable of putting a little cup run together but could never have imagined what it would eventually lead to! WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES OF THE FAMOUS CUP RUN? Leyton and then Wealdstone came to us and went without us conceding a goal and then we beat Slough Town in Round Four after a replay at White Moss Park. Then came the epic semi final against Hendon - First drawing 0-0 at Derby County then 2-2 at Birmingham City before finally winning 3-1 at The Hawthorns, West Brom to win through to Wembley. Oh what joy, and the celebrations were epic. Who would have thought little old Skem were going to Wembley! * Hendon were giants of the Amateur game at the time having been runner's up to Wealdstone in the 1966 final and winners of the 1965 final v Whitby Town Mickey Worswick scores to put United 2-1 up against Hendon at St Andrews WHAT WAS THE AMATEUR CUP FINAL DAY LIKE? We travelled down to London on the day before the match and visited the stadium that afternoon to get a feel for it. We shall never forget coming down Wembley Way the following day with our magnificent fans lining the route (it was estimated that 30,000 people travelled down from Lancashire to support us on that balmy afternoon). We were very pleased to have been allocated the changing room that England used when winning the World Cup twelve months before.