There have been two Workington AFCs, situated on the far north-west coast of Cumbria.  The first club was formed in 1884 by Sheffield emigres who came to the area to work in the steel industry. Workington played in the Cumberland Senior League for seven years before joining the Lancashire Combination. Because of the high travel costs they incurred, the club joined several different leagues in an effort to economise but in 1910 they went into voluntary liquidation.  For the next ten years the town was without a senior association football club but in 1921, a new club was formed and elected to the North Eastern League. They had a modestly successful career and in 1951, they made a successful application to join the Football League, replacing New Brighton. They were forced to apply for re-election in their first two seasons. In 1953-54 it seemed they would wind up in the re-election zone once again but the appointment of Bill Shankly as manager proved a turning point. Shankly lifted the team who finished two places above the re-election positions and in the following years they finished comfortably in mid-table.   When the regional divisions were scrapped, Workington were placed in the Fourth Division but in 1964 they finished in third place to win promotion to the Third Division. After only two seasons, they were relegated back to the Fourth Division and faced re-election the following year. The early 1970s brought severe economic decline to the area and as the club's lacklustre performance continued, attendances dwindled to less than 1,000.  Workington applied for re-election at the end of four consecutive seasons between 1974 and 1977. After finishing last in 1977 with only four wins, the patience of their fellow League clubs was exhausted and Workington lost their place to Wimbledon. Despite everything, Workington survive to this day, rising to the Blue Square Conference (North) where they reached the play-offs in 2006-07.