years later, West Auckland returned, and after beating FC Zürich 2–0, they ran out 6–1 winners in the final over future Italian giants Juventus. By the rules of competition, they were awarded the trophy to keep in perpetuity. Upon their return home, the club was forced to pawn the trophy to the landlady of the local hotel because of financial problems. It remained with her family until 1960 when a village appeal raised money to return the cup to the club. The cup was then stolen in 1994 and despite the best efforts of local police and a £2,000 reward it was never found. An exact replica of the cup can now be found in a secure cabinet in the West Auckland Working Men's Club. The story of the club's first success was turned into a television movie in 1982 – The World Cup: A Captain's Tale, produced by Tyne Tees Television and starring Dennis Waterman. History after Debts forced the club to leave the Northern League in 1912 and fold, although in 1914 it was reconstituted as "West Auckland Town F.C.", which remains to this day. Although it has never quite reached the same heights it did at the start of the 20th century, it did win the Northern League in 1960 and 1961, and were FA Amateur Cup runners-up in 1961, losing to Walthamstow Avenue. They still remain rivals with Bishop Auckland to this day. Having been founded in 1889, the Northern League is the oldest surviving league after The Football League. In the 1998–99 season West Auckland reached the first round proper of the F.A. Cup for the third time with an away tie against Yeovil Town. After a 2–2 draw at Yeovil and a 1–1 draw at West Auckland, a penalty shoot-out saw Yeovil through. David Bayles took charge in the summer of 2005 and led the side to 5th place in his first season (2005–06) and then 6th place in the following season. 2007–08 began with an FA Cup run that saw West within minutes of a place in the final qualifying round of the FA Cup before defeat in a replay to Bamber Bridge. After his shock resignation, Lee Ellison had a short lived spell as manager before Phil Owers took over and steadied the side and led them to escape the drop zone. Owers departed early in the 2008–09 season with Brian Fairhurst