A celebration of one of the town’s most famous sons, footballer Bob Hardisty, has been held in Bishop Auckland.
Bishop Auckland Town Hall also held a number of events around the exhibition, which was organised by Durham Amateur Football Trust.
John Roderick Elliot “Bob” Hardisty (1 December 1921 – 31 October 1986) was an amateur footballer who represented Great Britain at the Olympics in 1948, 1952 and 1956. He spent the majority of his career with Bishop Auckland, winning the Northern League seven times.
Listen to Jack Wright talk about Bob Hardisty at the exhibition
[audio:http://www.bishopfm.com/wp-content/uploads/Sport-Interview-Jack-Wright.mp3|titles=Sport Interview – Jack Wright]Hardisty also won the FA Amateur Cup three times between 1955 and 1957. He also made 6 appearances in the Football League for Darlington between 1946 and 1949.
For the exhibition, Durham Amateur Football Trust announced that they would bring the original F.A. Amateur Cup from Wembley for the Bob Hardisty evening in September. It is believed that this is a rare outing for the Cup, which is now extremely fragile.
Listen to Durham Amateur Football Trust’s John Phelan
[audio:http://www.bishopfm.com/wp-content/uploads/Sport-Interview-John-Phelan.mp3|titles=Sport Interview – John Phelan]