Sports
Bishop Auckland is famous for its amateur football team, Bishop Auckland AFC, which won the FA Amateur Cup 10 times in the Trophy's 80 year history, having appeared in the Final on 18 occasions. Bishop Auckland Football Club also helped out Manchester United after the Munich Air Crash in 1958 by donating three of their players, Derek Lewin, Bob Hardisty and Warren Bradley. In return in 1996, Manchester United played a friendly against Bishop Auckland to help raise money when the club was threatened with bankruptcy after a member of a rival team sued over an injury. In 2007 Manchester United donated floodlights to Bishop Auckland Football Club, which the club has added to their new ground.
The adjacent village of West Auckland is notable for having been home to the team to win one of the first international footballing competitions, the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, sometimes referred to as The First World Cup. Its team of local coal miners won the cup in the Easter of 1909 and again in 1911, defeating the mighty Juventus in the final. This story was portrayed in the 1982 television movie "The World Cup - A Captain's Tale" made by Tyne Tees Television and starring Dennis Waterman. The cup itself was stolen from West Auckland Town F.C. in 1994 and a replica now resides in West Auckland working men's club.
In terms of sports facilities, Woodhouse Close Leisure Complex, a council run leisure centre, has a 25-metre (82 ft) by 10-metre (33 ft) swimming pool and a 10-metre (33 ft) by 5-metre (16 ft) "learner" pool, as well as a gym, sauna, steam room and spa pool. Additionally, football pitches, tennis courts and bowling greens are provided at the Town Recreation Ground and Cockton Hill Recreation Ground. Henknowle Recreation Ground has a 5 a side pitch and a basketball court.
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