XI questions with | Workington

Across the country, supporters are preparing for the new campaign with renewed hope and ambition for the season ahead.

Ahead of the 2026/27 campaign getting underway on Saturday 8 August, we sat down with supporters from the NPL clubs at Step 3 to hear their thoughts on how things are shaping up.

Today, it's the turn of Workington supporter Paul Armstrong.

A disappointing campaign in 2025/26 saw you narrowly avoid relegation, following a brilliant run midway through the season. How do you continue some of that positive momentum?

At the turn of the year, we were sitting bottom and nine points off safety. Then Billy Barr came in and he had an assurance about him that generated positive results. 

He was very popular with players and supporters. He brought in players he knew and trusted, some loan signings that were quality, and bridged the gaps that were there. 

You mentioned Billy Barr there. How do you sum up his leadership - do you think he can take you to that next level?

Yes I do. 

I think if you look at the form from the whole season, you’d think we’d finish 18th again. But if you look at the time he [Barr] came in, we could be pushing for promotion given the results we achieved. 

We’ve lost a couple of players over the summer from retirement or simply moving on. However, he’s recruited well so far with Brad Carroll and Luke Hunter, who were both on loan. Jake Allan the same, after spending a few seasons on loan with us from Carlisle United. 

Billy doesn’t rush into signings: he’s quite shrewd with his business. 

What does a successful season look like for Workington?

After the ups and downs of last season, a comfortable mid-table finish would be acceptable. 

We obviously had a really poor start and it took a long time to recover from that.

Who are you predicting to be the league’s dark horses for 2026/27?

Ashton United look really strong. 

Bury have been promoted a few times in a row, but I’m unsure of how they’ll keep that momentum going.

I think it’ll be quite open, and there’ll be five or six teams battling it out, I believe. 

The two best teams from last season, Hebburn and Hednesford Town, both got promoted last year. This year looks harder to predict.

Describe your club’s style of play…

Hard-working. 

We don’t play ‘tippy-tappy’ football, we move it quickly but it’s not hopeful long balls. High energy, the players are expected to do lots of running and press consistently.

Sum up your transfer window so far…

Very good. 

We’ve certainly need some more players, but we’ve retained a number of important players from last season - for example Isaac Whitehall. 

Matty Douglas is a great signing from Queen of the South, who left us previously in 2019. He played over 200 matches in Scotland for them and Annan Athletic. It’s gone quiet for a few weeks, but that happens at this level.

Which new signing are you most excited to see pull on a Workington shirt?

I would love to see Luke Hunter do well.

Last season he was playing for Penrith and got signed by AFC Fylde in November, but didn’t get much of a look-in there. 

Despite leaving Penrith early on in the season, he was still one of the leading goal-scorers in the Northern League Division One by the end of the campaign. He then played for us on loan for about half-a-dozen games, scored and assisted a few goals. 

Other than that, Matty Douglas at the back. Both of our centre-halves have left us recently.

Your captain David Symington announced his retirement in May. How significant a loss is that?

It’ll be a loss, as he’s been a good player. 

I think injuries have finally caught up with him. Last season he wasn’t great, but a few years ago he scored 26 goals in all competitions. He’s scored some wonderful goals and put some through the windows behind the stands!

An absolutely lovely lad and a huge character in the dressing room. Brilliant with the fans and aspects outside of football, for example the community stuff. 

He was that guy you’d turn to if you wanted a goal out of nowhere.

You played your last game at the iconic Borough Park in April. How much will that change influence the players and fans? Are you more excited or disappointed by having a new home venue?

We’re moving over to the rugby league ground at Derwent Park, which is only about five minutes away. 

It’ll be a temporary change, probably about two years because they’re working on a new stadium at the Borough Park site. From what I’ve seen of the proposals, it looks really good. 

We’ve played at Borough Park for about 89 years, and on the last day against Leek Town, lots of ex-players came down to watch. Football didn’t matter that day because we were saying goodbye. 

One of my pet hates about this new place is the running track and not being too close to the pitch. I’m prepared to put up with it for a few hours!

There are plenty of new teams in the division this year. Which ground are you most excited to visit, and why?

I’m really looking forward to Bury, Gigg Lane is a great stadium. 

I’ve actually been there before in the FA Cup many moons ago, and it was a cracking day out. There’ll be a couple of new ones for me - Emley, Quorn, Redcar Athletic. I always enjoy going to different places.

Who wins the league this season, and why?

Before we see any games, I think I’ll go for Ashton United because they’ve made a lot of new signings.