Bishop Auckland FC  

Undoubtedly one of the most famous names in NonLeague football Bishop Auckland history is inextricably linked with that of the amateur game in this country.   

Throughout the golden era of amateur football Bishop Auckland were probably the most famous club in the land.  Certainly they were the team every other amateur side wanted to beat. 

Which isn’t surprising when you think that the Two Blues appeared in the final of the FA Amateur Cup a record 18 times lifting the famous trophy on 10 occasions.   

Six of those cup final appearances took place during the clubs 1950s golden era with Bishop Auckland winning the cup in three successive years from 1955 to 1957.   

That decade was arguably the swansong of the amateur footballer and Bishop Auckland dominated the period producing some of the greatest footballers ever to play the game at that level. 

The Bishops team during the fifties was packed with internationals such as goalkeeper Harry Sharratt who became part of NonLeague folklore after being booked for building a snowman during a Northern League game at Shildon.  The snowman was sent off. 

Perhaps the most famous of the Bishop Auckland legendary 1950s team were the trio of Warren Bradley, Derek Lewin and famous skipper Bob Hardisty.   

Following the terrible Munich disaster the trio of England Amateur internationals were recruited by Manchester United to swell the playing ranks so decimated by the 1958 plane crash.   

Although the less well known of the three Warren Bradley, who sadly passed away recently, went on to not only become a fixture in the United first-team but to also win three caps for the full England side – the last player to appear for England at both amateur and professional level.

As well as carrying all before them in the amateur game the Bishops also became famous for their FA Cup exploits.    

Their greatest adventure coming in 1955, the same year they beat Hendon to lift the Amateur Cup, they knocked out two Football League sides in reaching the Fourth Round of the senior competition. 

A 15000 home crowd saw the Bishops lose out to York City with the professionals scoring twice in the closing stages to win 3-1. 

If the 1950s was the golden era for the club its recent history has been one of uncertainty. 

The sale of the Bishop Auckland home of 115 years, the famous Kingsway Stadium in 2001, was supposed to be the prelude to the club moving into a brand new 10,000 capacity ground at Tindale Crescent.  

  Wrangles with the council means that Tindale remains nothing more than a field and unfulfilled dream while Bishops have adopted a roaming brief by ground-sharing at a succession of Northern League clubs.