Football fanatics will already be well aware of the fact that West Auckland thrashed Juventus 6-1 to win the first ever World Cup.

But now even those, like me, who aren't particularly into the sport can rejoice in the unbelievable tale as Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather gears up to hit the stage tonight.

And to celebrate the centenary of the victorious win North East playwright duo Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood have teamed up with Durham's Gala theatre to carefully craft a hilarious show to mark the magnificent moment.



Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather follows a bunch of amateur footballers from the pit village of West Auckland who travelled to Turin in 1909 to take on teams from Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

The tournament was the brainchild of businessman Sir Thomas Lipton, who wanted to kick-start a competition between Europe's leading football clubs.

While Italy, Switzerland and Germany put forward their star players to battle it out on the pitch to bring home the first cup, the Football Association of England refused to have anything to do with it.

Dismayed by the decision, Sir Thomas decided to put forward his own team and invited amateurs West Auckland FC to take part.

The team, made up mostly of coal miners, won the tournament and in 1911 returned to Italy to defend their top title.

This was when the team took on Juventus, beating them 6-1 and walking away outright with the trophy.

In true Waugh-Wood fashion, the retelling of this tale is laced with all the humour and intellect found in their previous plays, which include Maggie's End and Dirty Dusting.

And two of the six actors who will take to the stage spoke of their excitement at taking on the roles of the footballing heroes.

Rough and ready Charlie "Dirty" Hogg, played by Tim Healy in the 80s TV adaptation A Captain's Tale, is played by Hebburn-based actor Wayne Miller.



He said: "Locally this is a story that is well known but there are still a lot of people I speak to who have never heard it.

"I think this is going to open up this wonderful tale to people who didn't previously know about it.

"I feel privileged to be in this play because it's a phenomenal story about a bunch of miners who played Sunday league football who went and did what they did for this country.

"It's great to be able to be part of the telling of that story."
And Wayne is relishing in the role of bad-boy Charlie.

"He's a bit of a hard man and is very political," Wayne said. "He's got a lot of strong views about unions and lost his brother in a pit disaster, so he hates the establishment.

"He takes his aggression out on the players in the field and gets his excitement out on the pitch.

"He's not just a hard man, he's funny as well and is a really likeable bloke with a lot of passion."

Another North East actor starring is Newcastle-born actor Rob Atkinson in the role of Bob Jones – the team's skipper who is faced with the task of keeping the lads in order.

"This story is kind of part of the heritage in the region," he said. "Everyone vaguely knows the story and it's nice to be able to know more about it and get out there and tell it."

* Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather is at the Gala theatre from tonight until Saturday, April 25.

Tickets are £13, concessions £12 and can be bought by phoning 332 4041 or by visiting www.galadurham.co.uk

Raise a glass to West Auckland's world-conquerors

To help celebrate the play, a new beer has been specially commissioned.
Ed and Trevor went to Houghton-based brewers Maxim Brewery to ask them if they would produce a commemorative ale to coincide with the play.

Keen to jump on board, the brewery came up with the Lipton Ale, named after Sir Thomas Lipton.

Mark Anderson, commercial director at Maxim Brewery, said: "Maxim Ale, later renamed Double Maxim, was first produced in 1901 and would have been drunk by the public, footballers and fans at the time of the World Cup.

"Legend has it that the half time oranges were dispensed with in favour of a half of Maxim Ale to keep the lads going."

The Lipton Ale will be on sale at the Gala throughout the duration of Alf Ramsey Knew My Grandfather, as well as West Auckland FC's club and selected pubs across the North East.