Blast from the Past: Workington are 1993/94 Champions

Workington coach Martin Oglanby says that his time as a Town player in the 1993-94 season was the highlight of his career.

Oglanby, who played at Derwent Park from 1990 until 1995, was part of the 1994 Second Division Championship winning team – that brought silverware back to Workington for the first time in 17 years.

Although Town had finished runners-up the season before, the club were still considered to be in a period of decline during the early nineties, after the success barren era of the 1980’s.

The 1993/94 season changed all of that, as with Peter Walsh in charge, the side were promoted after winning 22 of their 30 league fixtures.

The Cumbrians then went on to defeat London Crusaders in the Premiership final and Oglanby recently told Love Rugby league that it was a ‘great experience’.

He said, “It was most definitely the best season of my career.

“The previous season was fantastic, but to go even further the year after was brilliant.

“Everything was in place, especially with Peter Walsh as coach who was years ahead of his time when it came to his tactical knowledge.

“It is 20 years ago now, but he had us running attacking lines that are still used today at the highest level.

“We also had some great players and a lot of them were local Cumbria lads.

“It would be hard to single any out in particular, but obviously the likes of James Pickering, Billy McGinty, Kevin Ellis and Des Drummond were fantastic as they all played at international level.”

Oglanby has been associated with Workington for a period that spans over 23 years now and he is very fond of the club.

“I had the best playing time of my career at Workington, with highlights such as playing at Old Trafford. At the time that was the pinnacle of our sport and fans still speak about those trips to ‘The Theatre of Dreams’.

“I was delighted to come back in 2000 when I got the chance to do some coaching with the academy side and I have been involved ever since.

“There have always been great people around the club, and that includes the players I was with, through to the fans of today.”