Clear Blue Skies Issue 20

Issue 20 - Alan Lord Exclusive - Connor Jennings Q&A - Alan Finley Interview - “I remember when...”

- No to MCFC in SK3 - Bradford memories - Five x Five - KitKat Condundrum and more...

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Superb cover art by peter-otoole.co.uk . If you need anything doing, get in touch with him. He’s ace.

ISSUE 20 It feels like ages since the last issue. An apparently quiet month for home fixtures meant this issue got delayed. In the end, our cup games with Stalybridge and Ossett plus the Southport game being brought forward meant we could have got an issue out after all. But although it might not seem it, a shitload of work goes into these fanzines and as such, we thought it best to wait until our next flurry of fixtures. That meant waiting until Christmas.

So here it is, Merry Christmas. Everybody’s having fun.

Or are they?

Well, it seems not. If we’d got this issue out a month ago as planned it’d be packed with platitudes towards our wonderful, hard nosed, dynamic board of directors. It really would have. They’ve worked tirelessly behind the scenes to give us a positive platform on which to build our future. It was genuinely heartwarming to hear about the return of Robinson’s, a sponsor synonymous with our 1990s success. These things shouldn’t really matter to fans, but they do. They really do.

Even more important was the deal to play at Edgeley Park finally being agreed. On the face of it, a reported 65% rent reduction is a triumph. Our old club shop is now our new club shop and I can’t have been the only one who walked in there for the first time in almost a decade with a proper chuffty on. By all accounts, that goodwill translated into good sales too, so all is good. Good, good, double good.

Well, this being Stockport County, things are never quite as they seem. And this being a Stockport County fanzine means we’ve got to once again reluctantly ask questions we’d rather not have to ask.

How long is our lease? Are we still looking at buying the gaff? Why must we have Manchester City’s youth team playing here? Why does our Chairman feel it appropriate to rant about his manager live on radio? Why is the manager being held so strongly to account by a man who led a board which allowed Tony Evans to overspend our money last season? Why is the manager being offered players by his board? Don’t they trust his judgement? Why are people being made redundant behind the scenes? Why will season tickets for next season be on sale bang in the middle of this season? Why haven’t we had a fans forum to answer these questions? Why are we the last to know anything but the first people turned to in a crisis? Why when things are going right must our custodians seemingly reach for the self-destruct button?

Hopefully by the time you read this, a couple of wins will have cheered us all up and a few well answered questions by the normally reassuring Spencer Fearn will get us back to that unfamiliar contentment we felt a few weeks ago. Right now though, it’s all a bit tough. It might not be in a couple of weeks when you read this.

All that said, it being the end of the year it’s time to reflect on the last twelve months. Are we happier than this time last year? Assuming nothing crazy has happened between me writing this and you reading it, then the answer has to be a big yes. As I said in the programme the other week, nobody recovers from a near death experience by simply being healthy again. It’s a slow process with ups and downs (but mostly ups).

What we need behind the scenes, on the pitch and in the stands is unity, not division. People need to put aside agendas, egos and self interest and remember the thing that brings us together in the first place. Stockport County Football Club. That is more important than anything.

Hopefully this time next year we’ll be talking of more slow but steady progress under a manager we all trust implicitly and a board who learn from their mistakes and continue to make good their investment.

Mark P.S Sorry for the serious tone. To balance it up, here’s a picture of what replaced the Windsor Castle (RIP). The world’s first pound shop/nightclub?

Thanks to everyone who has made CBS possible in 2012, especially regular contributors, regular seller Tom, and new seller, also Tom. The two Tommies.

Ear to the Ground Snippets from SK3 from various sources Where to start this month?

The rumour mill got so hot at one point, it needed cold water pouring on it, just to stop it from blowing up, like some sort of nuclear reactor or something.

At the time of writing we’re a full 9 days before Christmas, 10 before this issue is on sale. So excuse us if this is a bit cagey or anything isn’t quite as topical as it is when we sit writing it.

Speaking of on sale, how about the new club shop? Or rather the old club shop? There are several symbols which sum up our prosperous spell in the 1990s. The Danny Bergara Stand is a great tribute to a great man. But in a peculiar way, the club shop was a kind of cherry on top of our growth in that era. It was a real club shop as opposed to the small broom cupboard ‘County Casuals’ shop we previously occupied and the portacabins before it. It was a ‘store’, not a shop. It was big, full of good stuff and even sold adidas Predators for a time. You’d go in and there would be County videos playing, and from a purely retail perspective, it was great. Things were laid out right. There was room to browse. It worked.

Then Sale decided we had to share it.

Whether we voluntarily moved to the smaller shop or were constructively dismissed from the original shop, the main point was that we no longer sold stuff in there. There were even spells where we had nowhere to sell anything. Now we’re back. Nice isn’t it? Well done to all concerned. These things are important to fans.

Gateshead away on “black eye Friday”, the rowdiest night on the North East social calendar. A fair few County fans were looking forward to it. It was scheduled for the Saturday at first. Then it was the Friday, which was better. Then two weeks before it was due to be played, when people had paid out on train tickets, hotels, made plans for the remainder of the weekend, both clubs agreed it’d be best to play it on the Saturday again. Two weeks notice. Not sure if anything could have been done but it’s a bit inconsiderate to fans who have been to Woking and Nuneaton in recent weeks.

That said, we get a far better deal at our level than fans of Premier League clubs. Liverpool recently had a game at QPR at 12.30pm on a Sunday. This meant their local fanbase had to leave in the dead of night.

The reason? Because 12.30pm on a Sunday translates to a primetime TV slot in the far east where the game was being shown live. The same thing happens every week, on Saturday and Sunday. Liverpool aren’t the type of fans to let an opportunity to protest go by though, and good on them for that. A recent away game saw them unfurl a ‘Football without fans is nothing’ banner. With The Farm singer Peter Hooton instrumental in fan organisations and some good people also on the scene, expect more in the same vein from them.

Staying on Merseyside, it seems the Tranmere Supporters Trust are looking to tread the same path our own did. An event at the Cammell Laird social club has been arranged. Copies of ‘Against Modern Football’ fanzine ‘Stand’ are being given out to all attendees for free and Rovers fans Half Man Half Biscuit are playing a set. It’ll be interesting to see how things progress for them.

With initial ticket sales pretty healthy, we look set to take a healthy following to Ewen Fields. It’s a moot point, but every time we’re subject to all ticket away games the arrangements aren’t ideal. The fact everyone who wants a ticket will probably get one is irrelevant. There are a fair few home and away regulars who for whatever reason don’t buy a Season Ticket in the summer. In many cases, this results in them actually putting more cash into the club than ST holders over a season. A lot more. Yet for games where tickets are at a premium, they get no more consideration than someone who has never been to a game before. How about some sort of loyalty scheme which incorporates the many loyal ST holders but also rewards those who don’t have a ST but are just as loyal, if not more. An added benefit could be extra ‘points’ based on money spent in the club shop, away games attended etc. Bonus points could be awarded for less attractive games, FA Trophy etc. It’d act as both a reward for those who put the time in, and encourage those not attending so much, to do so. Not a priority and a tough one to implement properly perhaps but worth looking at when the club has time?

And finally, news of our newly rich neighbours and their continued but failed attempts to absolve themselves of that old stereotype. Paul Calf is alive and well in East Manchester it seems. A matchgoing United fan and city centre barber was cutting the hair of a CBS gossip monger recently when he recounted the following tale. He and a pal watched the recent derby from the Colin Bell End and decided it best to leave before Van Persie’s eventual winner. Not having celebrated City’s equaliser made them nervy. As they scurried to the exit an official club steward clocked them and politely advised them to “F*ck off you Munich c*nts”.

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All year round service. Domestic or commercial work.

Such a Little Thing Makes Such a Big Difference

By Mozzer When the previous issue of CBS came out County were on a roll, just in the middle of an 8-game run where we lost just once and that to a very decent Wrexham side who will count themselves fortunate to have taken more than a point from their trip to EP. Things were looking up on the pitch after a 9-game run where we’d fail to take 3 points. The feel-good factor was coming back to the ground. It had got so giddy some people were even talking about the play-offs. Far too soon for that, in my opinion, but I could see and understand why. On top of that came the news that we’d struck a deal with Cheshire Sports to reduce costs at EP. The exact details of that aren’t clear but on the face of it, it at least appeared to be reasonable news.

The thing is, that feel-good factor was there and that’s something we’ve not had much of in recent times.

I thought it was still there even after a couple of defeats. But things then started to go awry on and off the pitch. For me, and I might be overly optimistic here, what’s going on in terms of results is not my major concern. At the time of writing (just before the Southport FA Trophy game) the table looks less than good in terms of both points and position, but I still think we have more than enough about us to secure a mid-table position come the end of the season.

Of greater concern to me, looking at the bigger picture and the longer term, is what’s going on behind the scenes and how that’s exhibiting itself publicly. I’ve already made my case in CBS about the County Dolls and how they just don’t fit with ‘County’ as something to sell to the (potential) football-going public of Stockport. We’ve recently had a couple of things which also seem to me to be detrimental to what we’ll generously call the ‘County Brand’.

The first of these was the decision to host a Man City Youth game at EP, for what appears to be the frankly paltry sum of 1,700 quid. We all know (or suspect) that financially we are living on the edge. The question is though – to what extent will we sell ourselves for financial gain? The City game raises a couple of key issues for me and I suspect it will be covered by others elsewhere, so I’ll try not to labour the point. Firstly, are we really inviting a club from down the road, who we know take large numbers of fans from our town to play games in our ground? That just seems daft to me.

I know the numbers likely to have turned up for it were always going to be very low, but that’s almost beside the point – it’s the very act of saying we don’t mind a Man City team playing in our town in our ground that sticks in the craw.

Secondly, the message it sends out is that we’re desperate. Really desperate. So desperate we’ll allow what I’ve just described above for the sake of a small amount of money. That is not going to inspire anyone to come to EP to watch the team that really plays there. It just says ‘We’re poor relations who are living right on the margins.’ That may well be true. But it doesn’t make sense to tell the world that’s the case if you want them to buy into what’s going at your club.

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Of course we’re in need of financial input. No-one is going to be daft enough to deny that. But if you’re going to chip away at the edges of what it is that matters then the financial pay-off has to make it worth it. 1700 quid barely touches the sides of this venture. And who knows where the club thinks it’s going to end? I also wonder how much we’re paying the County Dolls to do their thing and how much inviting City into EP has done to dent that amount. Too much and not nearly enough, is my best guess. Paying out good money for something that damages our image whilst accepting a pittance which doesn’t even cover that cost, let alone deals with the impact of inviting the country’s/world’s richest club to play games at your home ground, says to me that priorities inside EP are somewhat skewed.

That is a concern in itself, because we need to believe that the people running the club have a handle on how they’re going to take this club into the future. We’ve had too many short-termists at the club and too many bad decisions made that have helped bring us to where we are.

We don’t need more bad decisions made for the wrong reasons to have an impact on what we’re trying to achieve.

The other issue which has caused me to wonder if we know what we’re doing is that of our Chairman’s comments regarding Jim Gannon’s future and his reference to ‘part-timers’. Before I start, I should say that I’m not an apologist for Gannon. Whilst it would be churlish, at best, not to acknowledge the job he has done for the club as a player and a manager I think he brings his own problems and I certainly don’t believe, as I know some County fans do, that we should build the club around him. That latter point is not a criticism of the man himself, because I believe it would be foolish to build a club around any one man. What is required is a club built around a system and an ethos.

That being said we finished last season well and whilst our win/loss record appears to operate in runs of either, rather than being properly inconsistent as you might expect at this stage of our development, I think our football this season has, overall, been better than last. You cannot expect to turn this club around on the pitch overnight and Gannon has only just had a year so far to make the changes necessary. It is now largely his team, true, but he is still hampered by players taking up the wage bill whom he has not been able to shift.

So, we lose four league games on the bounce and what happens? We’ve got the Chairman sounding off, suggesting that ‘changes will be made’ if things don’t improve, suggesting that we shouldn’t be losing to part-time teams and having a swipe at Gannon in the process. All very unedifying.

First of all, this club needs some continuity. Whether you like Gannon or not I think what he’s trying to do is fairly clear – it’s about bringing in young players with potential, getting them to play a certain way and developing them as individuals and as a team. He’s not always successful in that, obviously, and he may have his own reasons for operating in that way beyond what I’ve outlined. It doesn’t really matter – the point is that we all know we’re looking at the longer-term. Getting rid of the person who is overseeing the change and development is not a way to ensure stability at a club which is absolutely crying out for it.

The man’s not unsackable, nor should he be. Clearly there has to come a point when the club says ‘Enough is enough, results aren’t up to it and we can’t see how or when results will be up to it.’ We’re nowhere near that point for me though. In the meantime this outburst threatens to undermine Gannon and have a counter-productive effect on the team.

Secondly, making comments that are likely to be inferred as pejorative by lots of other teams in the division is unhelpful to us, as it undermines our own players and it fires up those part-time teams we are going to come up against. If I am being kind I can understand where the ex-MP for West Bromwich East is coming from, but this use of language from someone whose career in politics must have required some degree of control and understanding of language is lax, to say the least. It’s disrespectful to other clubs and there’s absolutely no need for it. We win and lose on our own merits and not on the status of other clubs.

Finally, taking a swipe at Gannon revealed tensions behind the scenes that are worrying for the casual observer of such things. They indicate that all is not well on the board and that there are serious matters over which there is conflict amongst the most prominent members of the club. The fact that Gannon was reported as seeking an explanation for the comments indicates he’s not going to take it lying down – as if anyone would have expected him to! Unless Snape backs down that is likely to result in the tension being ratcheted up, which cannot be good news for anyone involved with or concerned about County.

Ooh this is a serious start isn’t it? Don’t worry, there’s a picture of a monkey smoking a cigar on page 41.

7

Overall I think it was a bad move for Snape to go public, however frustrated he may be with results on the pitch and with whatever else is going on behind the scenes. Whatever anyone’s individual opinion of Gannon we all know that the manager has significant backing from the fans and even with the league table as it is, he’s going to retain that support for the time being at least. It can only alienate Snape (and the rest of the board) if they come out against Gannon and I can see no benefit to anyone in them doing so.

Sacking Gannon would be likely to result in open revolt so the threats are either empty or foolish.

Either way, it is yet another thing where we start to look amateurish at a time when the club should be presenting a unified front with a clear idea of where it is going and how it is going to get there. Whilst I can see that things have improved in some areas and those are to be welcomed, it remains worrying and disconcerting that we still have the ability to shoot ourselves in the foot time and again. Football is an unforgiving business in many ways and there are enough problems out there for us to have to deal with, without creating our own and making life harder for ourselves.

This season is better than last – which is perhaps damning with faint praise, but it remains true. However, it feels to me that the club perhaps needs to take stock of where we are in the process of our rehabilitation.

There seems to be a sense from the club that we should be further on than we are, yet simultaneously and, perhaps paradoxically, there is an undue haste to sell ourselves short in improving ourselves on and off the park.

My view is that whilst we’d all love to have more points and be higher up the table, performances suggest we’re slowly getting better (though prone to conceding too many sloppy goals). That is something to work with. No-one can expect miracles given the financial mess the club has had to deal with and reasonable expectation must be that it will be at least another 12-18 months before we can reasonably hope to be consistently in the top half and pushing on for a play-off spot.

Equally we need to ensure that we know what we want off the pitch. Are we going to sell ourselves as the local club, where you can get a real football experience supporting your home town team, something more vital than following a team of overpaid mercenaries in a financially doped league? Or are we going to sell ourselves out on the altar of money, even if that money is pitiful in exchange for what we get out of it?

At the moment I fear it’s the latter and I also fear there’s a tension between the key players at County that, if not resolved, has the potential to be significantly detrimental to the team and the finances. Some people need to close some doors, thrash some things out and then come back out as one, with a positive message for County fans, for potential fans of the club and for the manager and players. If things go wrong for us now it will not be down to the failings of one man. And the fans know it.

8 - Clear Blue Skies - Issue 20

Loan Striker Stockport-born Scunthorpe loanee Connor Jennings speaks to CBS We try to keep the interviews topical here at CBS. As explained in the editorial, it’s sometimes not easy to do this. At the time of writing, Connor Jennings is a County player, albeit borrowed from Scunthorpe. Whether he will be by the time you read this is another matter, but his spell has been a successful one for him personally, if not for the team. As such, he’s a worthy candidate, unlike Joe Bunney, whose solitary sub appearance at Woking led us to ask him for an interview, only to see he left us soon after, just as Jennings might. Maybe we’re cursing these players? Maybe we should leave them alone or concentrate on pestering them on twitter like some nauses do.

Anyway, here’s what he had to say.

You're from Stockport. Never fancy playing for County before now, or did it just never come up?

Yes of course, I’ve always wanted to play for Stockport as they are my local club and a big club also with a great following of fans too! I played for County at a young age but I never really made the grade. I also used to come and watch games when I was a young teenager with my friends in the Cheadle End. It has been good being able to play at Edgeley Park, even though it’s not the first time. I've played on EP a few times during half time at games when I was at school and also when I played for my local Sunday league side.

One of the things County fans have noticed about opposing players week to week at this level is they're mostly unknown. You made sure we knew all about you in your games against us last season. What did you make of County in those games?

Yes I thought you were a very good side and also a league above! I remember getting told the draw and I was over the moon as I knew what a great game it would be and it being a local derby too! For me though I wanted to prove that I could score against teams above us so it was good for me personally to get the 3 goals in the 2 games and as a team it was great boost too at the time.

You played with Craig Hobson at Stalybridge. Tell us something we won't know about him.

Yes that’s right, it’s been good to partner up with him again as I enjoyed playing with him at Stalybridge.

As for me telling you something about him, that would be telling…haha

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There was talk of Greg Wilkinson becoming the third former Stalybridge player here. It seems to have gone quiet. What would he bring to us if it ever materialised?

I also heard rumours of that too! Greg’s a talented player who I've played with from the start of my Stalybridge days. He's very comfortable on the ball and has great passing ability! He has also got a good strike of the ball and scores goals too.

Your brother plays for Cambridge. Have you ever faced each other?

No we haven't as of yet. I wouldn't mind going up against him though, although I’m not sure if my Mum and Dad would like it! I don't think they could watch.

I read somewhere Scunthorpe had a wage bill of £5.5m last season. That's about 12 times what ours is. Are they 12 times better?

Oh right I didn't know that! I think you may have to wait until you get Scunthorpe in a cup match and judge for yourself on that one!

What's Scunny like as a place to live? We've played there many times and it's never struck me as particularly appealing.

Yes it’s a nice place, different to my hometown Stockport, which is bigger and a lot busier. But overall it has friendly people in so I've never had a problem living there!

Onto current County matters. Four defeats in four league games at the time of writing, what's been going wrong?

Yes unfortunately we have had 4 defeats so far which is disappointing! There are a lot of good players in the dressing room and I've enjoyed working with them.

We have been playing some good football in periods of games but need to start being more consistent.

We should be picking up points, as that is the most important thing. We have also been quite unlucky at times but times like these the lads need to stick together and with the support of the fans I’m sure the lads will start picking up the points and moving up the table.

What do you make of the various formations Jim Gannon favours, and where do you see yourself positionally, in an ideal world?

Yes Jim Gannon (gaffa) does like his various formations! I personally think it’s good to have the variation because when things aren't working he always has another formation and a Plan B! Tactically he is very good too. I enjoy every role/position I play whether it will be up top, in the hole or wide right!

What do you make of the players we have here? Who has the biggest mouth?

Yes the dressing room is full of good players with a lot of potential. It’s a young squad which is good to see but they also need time too. And as for the loudest its hard to say!

Can you describe the following in one word?

Jim Gannon- tactician Alan Lord- motivator County fans- loyal Yourself- ambitious What are you getting for Christmas?

I’ll have to wait and see what Santa brings me! haha Back to slightly more serious matters. You're here for a month,any chance of that being extended? Would you drop down here permanently if the deal was right?

I've really enjoyed my time at Stockport so far, it’s been good to play some games and score a few also but I will have to see where the future takes me!

Who was the last County player to score a hat-trick before Connor Jennings? Answer on page 41.

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Off with their EDS

By Callum Brown Are we coming or are we going?

I think this is about the third time I’ve had to rewrite this article. It was supposed to something positive; I wanted to write to reflect what I saw as small but significant strides on the road to prosperity.

Instead I’m thoroughly pissed off and it’s in no small part down to the way in which those I’d like to have praised have behaved in the last week. It’s going to make my usual seat at next Saturday’s game uncomfortable, and not for the first time.

Over the last few months, and more so in the last few weeks, we have seen both big and small changes at Edgeley Park that have all had equal significance in taking back what is our clubs birthright. Events on the pitch can at times frustrate us all immensely and it’s all too easy to forget, while pointing the finger, the strides we are making off the pitch. Strides that will take us all closer to having a successful and sustainable football league club.

Some might think that the news of returning sponsors and the renaming of stands aren’t as significant as finding that new right-back we need or dissecting one another’s arguments as to which of our 2 identical goalkeepers is better. These are progressions however you look at them and more significantly we have been given back the keys to our own front door.

Sure we are only renting, for now, but at least we are allowed to decorate and make our home our home again. And although we couldn’t possibly begin to imagine getting back onto the property ladder without the help of a wealthy backer or contributor, at least we are sitting down with the Council and asking the question.

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The reintroduction of our old sponsors Robinson’s felt like a healing between two old friends that haven’t spoken for a decade. The Danny Bergara stand is a long overdue homage to the one of most charismatic men to be associated with this proud club. The club shop is back in proper premises, stocked and ready for business. These are the steps the club are making to make this thing of ours, ours again. They signify a shift from the old to the new, the levelling of the club in the anticipation of the revival. All changes that you’d be hard pressed to find any fan that wasn’t chuffed with and you’d be into thinking the board seems to know what we want.

Don’t be so sure though because I have shifted from my optimistic outlook to f*cking tragic despair in less than 24 hours. Firstly offering the naming rights of the honoured ground name to any Tom, Dick and Harry back at the start of the season should have opened our eyes to the motives of some of the club’s board. Raffling it off to the highest bidder questions the integrity of the club and the integrity of the generations of loyal fans.

The board and chairman however have succeeded in alienating the majority of our hardwearing and tired fanbase even further with more recent developments. Peter Snape’s comments live on Pure radio amounted to nothing less than heresy against a man who has been involved in almost every great moment this club has had in the last 20 years.

As if that isn’t enough, one ill-conceived decision threatens to undo all the good that has been made in giving our ground back its personality. Allowing Manchester City, albeit it a youth team (Their EDS squad), the privilege and the undue respect of having Edgeley Park at their disposal and using the home dressing room as their own is nauseating. It threatens to undo everything positive we have done both at the club and in the community over the last 12 months. To give any team that honour would and should receive scrutiny, to give it to a team that breeds scorn filled parasites in our own town that then grow up to despise us is outright treachery.

This is ours. Edgeley Park belongs to the fans of Stockport County Football Club and despite Uncle Brendan’s ill fated decision, should never be sold to anyone again. Our owners have shown us they have a price in selling their soul, but even more sickening is the ease in which they can even sell the souls of 3000 season ticket holders and regular match goers and for what is the equivalent of a cheap tramp plucked from the street corner.

Handing over our sanctuary, after so recently finally seeing it come back, to a club with fans that view their own home town team with such contempt feels like treason.

In days gone by a disloyal act against ones own nation would result in the chop. Thankfully our board have goodwill in the bank after a year of progress, but the last week or so has shown they are capable of undoing that.

The walls surrounding the people within...

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Mark Fletcher Painter and Decorator Tel- 07955978904 mfletcherdecorator@yahoo.co.uk

www.mfletcherdecorator.co.uk www.twitter.com/mfletcherdecorator

Citizens of Stockport Scott Thompson explains why City’s recent youth team game should never have taken place at Edgeley Park.

I’ve been a County fan since 1994. I’m 30 now and some of my finest memories are a direct consequence of following this great club. MY CLUB if you will. The past 5 years have been a real strain but I can’t harp back to the days of re-election as I wasn’t there to witness them. While it has been hard to keep turning up knowing we’ll be beaten, I’ve stuck at it, and continue to. However, what has transpired with allowing Manchester City’s EDS (cringe) has really tested my loyalty to the club I love.

Let me take you back to 1993 and where it all started for me. I’m from Wythenshawe and moved to Stockport in 1994. As a 12 year old kid growing up in Wythenshawe you were red or blue, simple as that.

I however had a thing for Liverpool. Something about that club got to me and would proudly wear my Candy embossed red strip at the Forum on Civic to Football training. The move to Stockport was a shock to my system; I had nothing in common with these lads who were now my school mates. Football though is a common language and soon it was clear this was my way in to a new clique. County at the time were giving out free tickets in my new School. This led to me being able to see live Football for only the second time in my life (the first being City v Liverpool where our junior team got free tickets).

I was hooked, instantly. The smell of liniment coming out of the tunnel in the Main Stand (now wonderfully named after Sir Daniel Alberto Bergara de Medina) and the sway of the Pop-side facing me was like a drug. I could quite easily have conformed; getting a ticket for City was a piece of piss as my new junior team (Marple Athletic) had really good links with them. I, like many others my age, are County fans not because I was given a scarf off my Dad that my Grandad give him. My Dad didn’t really want kids and left my Mum to bring us up. No it was free tickets; these tickets are the reason why I follow my club all over the land.

Anyway, that puts you in the picture of me as a 30 year old fan. My gripe with City using OUR ground for youth team games is this: For some kids it will be the first time they get to see live Football. Maybe there will only be 200 or so at the game but of that 200, there will be kids who are instantly hooked like I was.

Yeah you guessed it they’ll be walking into school the next day proudly promoting a Middle- eastern Airline and pleading with their parents to have Moonchester at their next birthday.

I’m all for the club coming up with ways of making money. Naming rights and Kenny B announcing who the added time is sponsored by has been swallowed and I do buy the odd ticket off a Pussycat Doll (Kristy from Wakefield). The editor of this fine publication will tell you all about what’s up with Modern Football but this thing with City makes me feel that the whole future of this great club can be jeopardised just to earn a few quid.

We are not Hyde and never will be but this could be the start of a ‘beautiful friendship’ between a global superpower and a little club up the road where all their fans live. The parallels of this and what City did to Hyde are there for all to see.

Scott

We’ve got Euan Holden. City have a Ewen Hold on Hyde. Pun-tastic.

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A County book?

By Vicar in a Tutu If you’ve ever read any of the million or so books on the market by “reformed hooligans” glorifying in violence, then like me you’d be wondering who it was that lost fights back in the day. Everyone seems to have won every fight they’ve ever been in. To be honest I’ve never read one of these books cover to cover, I’ve just scan read them. After all, there’s only so much “we had 200 good lads and we took it to them on their manor” you can take.

What brought this to my attention recently has been the release of two new books written about clubs we’ve traditionally played a lot. The books in question are ‘Getting a nasty shock’ by Kevin McDonnell of the Bradford City Ointment and ‘Don’t look back in anger’ By Oldham’s Carl Spiers. I know both “authors” quite well and they’re both good lads but in both cases the books are written to show just how invincible the firm in question is and it’s the same with all these books.

Carl’s book starts off with his first experience of football violence that took place at our very own Edgeley Park. The game took place in 1969, I was there and to be fair to Oldham they brought loads that night and as Carl sates there was plenty of trouble. The book says that they basically took the place over and all County fans did was run off all night.

At the time I was 12 years old and obviously at that age I wasn’t going to get involved but I still found the whole experience exciting, so much so that I got as close as I could for a good view of what was going on. I genuinely don’t recall things in the same way as the author and I remember charging down Castle Street after the game. I was at the rear of a couple of hundred County fans and they were definitely chasing somebody, if it wasn’t Oldham fans then somebody else must have really pissed them off.

I’d have thought something on that scale might have got a mention but maybe it wouldn’t have given the right impression, then again Carl was just 8 at the time, yes 8 so he can be forgiven for missing a few of the facts.

Missing bits from a game when you’re a child is understandable but when Carl was at his peak in the mid 80s we played Oldham in the league cup and about 40 County went in the Chaddy End and walked to the top unopposed, it was only when the Police arrived that Oldham made any kind of show. Strangely enough this doesn’t get a mention, which just shows how selective these authors can be.

I’ve not read Kevin’s book but I’ve been told that it tells how they took the Pop Side every time we played. Taking ends or sides was commonplace in those days. In this case would usually mean taking it over and clearing the home fans out. Don’t get me wrong they always came in and made their intentions clear but we always put up plenty of resistance. I know we sing a song about when we took the Bradford End (something acknowledged as fact in their book) when in fact we didn’t. We did go in there and we scattered them but they soon came back and it was coming well on top until The Police came in and restored order. But it’s just a song and we’re allowed a bit of artistic license.

The song also says we took Barnsley on the way, which is also untrue as we got the train from Manchester to Bradford and didn’t go anywhere near Barnsley. Anyway I digress as I often do, the point here is that these books in general should be taken with a large pinch of salt. I’ve only picked these two out as they’re new and have a fairly substantial amount about us in there and basically they’ve prompted this article.

16 - Clear Blue Skies - Issue 20

Another example that really proves the point is the Naughty Forty written by Stoke fan Mark Chester AKA Jasper. Again I like Jasper he’s done me some good turns in the past including giving me a lift from Poznan to Berlin but that’s another story. There’s a bit about us in the book or rather yours truly.

The story goes that a few of the forty stopped off in Stockport on the way home from a game and wandered into a pub where I was drinking with a few of my City mates. We had a drink and a chat and we then ambushed them on the station. Now for my version of events, it didn’t happen, I haven’t a clue what he’s talking about. I wasn’t with a group of City mates and I didn’t meet any Stoke fans nor did we ambush anyone. This is something of an extreme example and I could genuinely give you many more but I think you get the point.

Anyway all this got me thinking that we should have a book telling our true stories, not all about violence but about the funny things that have happened over the years.

For example I remember getting to Wigan after the game started and finding the turnstiles were locked. Undeterred, we climbed in through a window to get into the ground without realising the window led to the changing rooms. One of our lads promptly fell into the players bath.

Then there was the time that the late great Baggy R.I.P got out of his car to answer a call of nature on the hard shoulder on the way to Exeter, only for his mates to push him down the embankment before making off in his car and leaving him to hitch hike the remaining 30 miles or so.

There were so many of these incidents that throughout the 70s and 80s we’d all meet up for the last home game of the season in one of the Edgeley pubs and we’d vote for our “edder of the year”.

This was an annual accolade, awarded to whoever had done the maddest thing that season and there were always plenty of candidates.

The prize was a super-short which was just a pint glass filled with a variety of spirits which had to be downed in one, and an old combat jacket from the 60s with players names written all over it in black marker pen. These jackets were known as Dosser Jackets and were popular amongst fans in the 60s.

There were some classic winners of the title over the years. Another late great Gary G won it after he ran onto the pitch and tried to give Mickey Quinn a hamster. It was the start of the season and before the match he’d tried to collect enough money in the pub to buy a rabbit and let it go on the pitch but he only got enough for a hamster. I remember Lurch invading the pitch on crutches after a goal and the restart of the game was held up because it took him ages to get back to the Pop side. One of my favourites was County fan Sammy Cannon scoring against City in a friendly. He ran on to the pitch took the ball and ran past several City players before scoring a superb goal.

The awarding of the Edder of the year stopped when another late great The Captain was the holder of the award and he lost the jacket while watching in England play in Switzerland. I still can’t get my head round someone actually nicking that.

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The Captain was a true character and worth a book of his own. He travelled all over Europe in his old Cortina to watch England. He’d always take a huge flag which read STOCKPORT VILLAGE which was stolen from a small shopping area of the same name. He was well respected by everyone who knew him. He was somewhat eccentric, he always wore a scruffy old suit and tie and his pockets were usually full of food, he once offered me a chip in Ipswich, which he’d bought from the Friary on Castle Street. He was a Latin teacher at a public school and he’d studied at Cambridge so in so many ways he was not your average County fan.

I’m sure a book which collects stories from County fans of all generations would make a refreshing change from the hoolie bullshit which has now become a bit boring. I’m not saying that violence should be totally ruled out as it is part of our history but there’s so much more to us than that.

I’m sure there’s somebody out there who could collect these stories and put them together so these stories are saved for future generations, any takers? I’m sure one of you fanzine editors could pull something together. (Indeed, watch this space, Ed)

18 - Clear Blue Skies - Issue 20

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2b Compstall Road, Romiley, Stockport, Cheshire, SK6 4DS. (Just past Romiley station, opposite Fletcher's Fish & Chips)

0161 406 6261 Rustic, hearty, traditional Italian food, families and large parties welcome, daily specials, take away available, free wi-fi.

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19

“Our Lordy, who art in Edgeley, hallowed by thy name”

By Adam Moss Every great leader has a great right hand man.

A man of unswerving loyalty who shuns the spotlight, happy to beaver away in his area of expertise out of the focus of public examination and the glimmer of adoration.

Alexander the Great had Parmenio.

Parmenio survived three major rounds of executions among the Macedonian nobility, each linked to a different attempt to put a new king on the throne.

He was renowned as a wily politician as much as he was a successful general. His relationship with Alexander was strong - a sage among the famous warrior’s inner circle.

He was regarded as the most loyal supporter and advisor of the young king and, according to historians, Alexander’s legend would never have reached such dizzy heights had it not been for the experienced hand of his most trusted advisor.

Jim Gannon’s Parmenio is Alan Lord.

20 - Clear Blue Skies - Issue 20

It was Alan Lord’s hard work, keen eye for a potential star, that uncovered much of the nursery talent now blooming in the Stockport County first team.

Alan Lord may just be one of the greatest football midwives the professional game has seen.

But he doesn't give interviews readily.

As is often the case with these behind-the-scenes men of mystery, quietly pulling the strings away from the floodlights and the media is where they excel. Most are terrified of the bright dazzle of the public spotlight - like rabbits in the headlights.

Alan Lord is no rabbit, though.

I’m told getting an interview on paper from Jim Gannon’s most trusted lieutenant would be the journalistic equivalent of discovering rocking horse shit at Hamleys. Ain't never gonna happen.

But all it took was a phone call. The myth he may have been some kind of footballing scarlet pimpernel turned out to be hogwash.

And he comes to the table equipped with a message any Stockport County fan - worried by the recent slump in form of this young team - will be glad to hear.

“The word ’relegation’ just isn’t in our vocabulary. Yes, we’ve had a few bad results. But, We are on course for a mid-table finish. Exactly what we thought would happen at the start of the season,” he says so matter-of-factly you'd swear he could see into the future.

And maybe he can.

There aren't many who have the foresight to spot that raw talent, that potential in a young man to develop physically and psychologically into a fully-grown, fully-rounded professional footballer.

Being a pro isn't just a matter of being equipped with a certain set of footballing skills. That's a bottom line sum, a foundation. At best.

As far as Alan Lord is concerned, being blessed with exquisite skill on the green baize of Edgeley Park, is just a starting point.

Any idiot can play football.

But it takes a certain strength of mind, a willingness to be guided down a well-planned path to maturity, to become a professional footballer at Stockport County.

There's no place at Edgeley Park for glory-men - the social loafers who feasted on a dying beast over the last few seasons have largely been shipped out.

And Alan Lord sees a brighter future for the club as a result.

“We knew full well that we would have lots of ups and downs with a young, inexperienced team.

“But, as I said, in terms of this season, we are still on target to achieve mid-table plus by the end of the season.

“But do we fear relegation? Without being complacent, definitely not.

“We feel we have more than enough in the squad.”

Alan Lord, like his manager, is not prepared to rest on his laurels however.

And though he takes the opportunity to talk up some of the young stars currently developing at pace in front of an expectant crowd inside Edgeley Park week in week out, he says January will see movement as new players join the County ranks and some squad members depart.

“We will definitely see some comings and goings in January,” he says.

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“Some players may have to go back to their clubs and, we have contingency plans, targets in mind, should that happen.

“There's lots that could happen between now and then, of course. A number of potential eventualities. But we have it covered. There are some we’d really like to keep.

“There are also some targets we’d really like to bring in during the transfer window. We have got our eyes focused on recruitment though, should we need it.”

As for those who remain, as far as Lord is concerned, they all - each and every one of them, regardless of whether they are currently enjoying first team playing time or not - have the opportunity to prove they are worth their place in the squad.

“There are no black sheep here. Everyone has the same chance to prove they are worth the shirt.

Our preparation for the next game starts the minute the final whistle goes. Every player has Monday to Friday to show they are worthy of consideration for the team. If they don't tick all the boxes during training then they are not going to make the team. It's that simple.

“But, as far as we are concerned, no bridges have been burned. There's still every chance for every player in the squad to make their mark.”

An olive branch to those who may think the door to the staff entrance at Edgeley Park has already shut?

Quite possibly.

For those among the faithful who may have, naturally, suffered a dip in their belief over the last few weeks, Lord has a message, a reminder of where the club is in terms of its development.

“We have a two to three year development plan for the club - the structure, playing system and the group of players that pull on that blue shirt.

“It was always the plan to build a strong base this season and extend that into an exciting squad the following season. We are well down that path. On course. Where we expected we would be at this stage.

“All the players we bring in here are brought in for a specific reason. They all have the potential to grow into the kind of players, be part of the kind of team we know will bring back league football to this club.”

That faith is not based on guess-work, on blind faith but on hour after hour of watching players blossom from young boys into promising teenagers and, in the cases of the few who make it through to pro-contracts, the absolute knowledge that they have what it takes to make their mark in the royal blue and white.

Lord happily singles out a handful of our current crop of youngsters for praise and admits some have even surprised the management with the rate of their development.

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Jennings

“Jordan Fagbola has been one whose quick rise and rapid progression we didn't anticipate happening quite as quickly as it has. He already has aerial prowess, strength on the ball and versatility - so much to offer - and he's still just 18.

“Alex Kenyon is a player I have worked with for the last three seasons and he just gets better and better. He epitomises the strength of character we need at this club. There's no-one else I'd rather have in the team when it comes to his energy rate and his sheer will to scrap for loose balls and lost causes.

“Connor Jennings is one who has been on our radar for some time - before he signed for Scunthorpe. When he was made available by Scunthorpe it was a no brainier to go and get him in here. He knows the area, the club and a number of the players. And he has already proved that while he is here he is a valuable asset. Depending on other criteria we may be able to extend his stay. We don't know yet but, if all goes well, we’ll be only too happy to keep him.”

But Lord reserves special praise for a player who has yet to get a sustained run in the team.

Unfortunately for this bright, young thing, injury has curtailed his involvement thus far this season.

Not for much longer though.

Alan Lord believes Stockport County may soon be able to unleash a player at Edgeley Park who will explode when he finally arrives as a first team regular “Alex Meaney is a talent that will light up Edgeley Park,” Lord tells me.

“He has got unbelievable skill. He will truly excite the club and the fans and when he gets into the team he will set this league on fire.

“Meaney has the best range of passing I have ever seen in a player of his age. He is one in reserve at the moment but I have no reservations about him whatsoever. It will happen for him this season. His operation has been successful and I expect to see him in contention in about four or five weeks.”

The team being assembled at Edgeley Park, each and every player, is acutely aware of what it means to be a Stockport County player.

Lord says: “The fans at Edgeley Park are absolutely different class. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up whenever we walk out onto the pitch on match day.

“I promise what we are putting together here is a team for the fans - we are creating a similar team to the Rowe, Dicko era and we feel the group of players we are assembling will become more than capable of matching that.

“We have said all along that we want to parade a team out there that the fans are proud of - which is what they deserve.”

Kenyon

Thanks to Adam Moss and Alan Lord. This will be available to read again online via Adam’s blog http://apaperlesslife.wordpress.com/

“We’ve got... That Alex Meaney...Whoaoh that Alex Meaney...”

23

Leagues will tear us apart - Bradford On the day of their epic penalty shoot-out win over Arsenal, Keith Wildman spent half an hour talking to us about his team, their encounters with ours, Lee Todd, the Crown and why he’s “gutted” we’re now in the Conference.

So, Bradford City. Tell us about Bradford City. How are things going at Valley Parade these days. Or whatever it's called.

It's The Coral Windows stadium, according to absolutely no one other than the radio people who are contractually obliged to call it that, everyone else obviously still calls it Valley Parade. Well, where do we start?

After a decade of failure and shattered hopes it looks like Bradford City have finally found their man in Phil Parkinson. Backed with a good budget he's brought in the likes of Gary Jones from Rochdale - the type of player we've not had in the side since McCall - Nathan Doyle, Kyle Reid, Andrew Davies and James Meredith. All players comfortably Championship standard. Most importantly, they're getting the results.

We currently sit 4th in the league, are in the quarter finals of the league cup with Arsenal due at VP (at the time of writing) still in the JPT and the FA cup. We're playing entertaining football. Scoring goals. And have a good partnership up front not seen since Mills and Blake fired us to the Premier League. All played out to crowds of 9-10k at home. So yes, things are good at VP at the moment!

It's been a bit of a rollercoaster following your lot this last decade or so hasn't it? What's your take on your rise and fall?

Where to begin? I wouldn't swap 98/99 for anything. That team. Mills, Blake, McCall, Whalley, Lawrence, Beagrie… every city fan can name it now. Sadly after we stayed up, our chairman Geoffrey Richmond got a bit carried away. Rather than consolidate he pushed on to establish us as a top club. Jewell left, Carbone, Collymore and a host of expensive ageing players came in on big wages. Players that if it al went tits up, which it did, we'd struggle to get rid of. Top that off with everything from the players to the carpets to the photocopiers at Valley Parade being sold and rented back and the extent of Richmond's building on sand came within hours of killing the club when we found ourselves back in the second division. We were the example to all future promoted teams as to how not to go about running a football club in the Premier League.

From then on it was a battle against the tide.

Administrations and bad decisions have seen us sink to the bottom division.

Things started to look up again when club legend Stuart McCall came back as manager.

We offered the cheapest season tickets in the league and had crowds of 13k. In the fourth division. Sadly we just missed out on the playoffs. McCall was too close to the club and fans and it was visibly hurting him failing to get promoted. He left.

A disastrous season under Peter Taylor saw us nearly relegated. Another old face in Peter Jackson came and went.

And finally we have Phil Parkinson.

That said, since 95/96 we've gone from the 3rd division to the top and back to the fourth. Certainly got a lot of grounds in and must be more interesting than supporting Rochdale or Aston Villa, playing the same teams year in year out.

There's much debate as to whether being in the Premier League is all it's cracked up to be, what with the huge ticket prices and general dumbing down of the culture. What did you make of it up there?

It wasn't as bad then as it is now. It was still ÂŁ30 a ticket or so. All seater. Having to sit in the seats on the ticket. Crap atmospheres. Patronised on the TV, last game on Match of the Day etc. Gong to cities that were rather dull. I'd certainly rather have a day out round Shrewsbury than Newcastle. Now I really wouldn't want to be in the Premier League.

It's a soap opera for 24 hour TV channels and the internet. Who shook whose hand. Who wore what t-shirt, who said what to who on twitter. Teams full of foreign players managed by foreign managers. There's no difference between Wigan, West Brom or Aston Villa - all overseas players with no connection to the clubs.

Where's the identity gone? It's a load of bollocks.

The championship is a good division. Some big teams there, smattered with the like of Scunthorpe, Doncaster and Peterborough, so it still feels like a traditional British football league. I'd be happy in there and a city the size of Bradford can comfortably support a Championship club. We're probably one of the few lower league clubs who can attract larger crowds as we move up the divisions. The likes of Crawley, Stevenage and Fleetwood reached their critical mass of supporters in the fourth.

How do you rate your chances this season?

Bradford City are the best team I've seen this season. We've beaten teams from every division so far. We've beaten two of the three teams above us. We currently sit fourth and have our best players yet to come back from injury. If we can keep injury free from now on (we've had a staggering amount of long term injuries this season, two centre halves out in one game, one for the season!) then I fancy us to finish strongly. We've the quality and experience to push for the top three.

Our last meeting ended in a slightly annoying and controversial 3-2 defeat for us.

Remember much about it?

Yes, we really needed to win that game. That was the disastrous season under Peter Taylor. A massive let down. A lot of people thought we may be going down. I never did. Until we went behind in that game. Suddenly relegation looked a real possibility. Was it controversial? I can't remember that. Mind you, along with most of the last ten years on the pitch, I've quickly forgotten everything about that season. I do remember the last minute David Syers winner though. That was good!

What about other trips to yours? In the 90s especially we always seemed to come out on top of high scoring games?

Always looked forward to Stockport.

We played you the opening game of the promotion season I think. You won with a penalty. And I'm sure we played you the opening game of another season. I'm not googling this by the way.

Kevin Francis was a player that you knew was always going to score against us, and Brett Angell was a quality striker. Add to that Stockport always brought a good crowd over and it gets the atmosphere going which more often than not creates a decent game.

I remember when...

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Lee Todd? Matt Glennon? Alun Armstrong? Ian Moore? Ronnie Wallwork? I can't help thinking I'm missing someone obvious.

And any thoughts on them?

Lee Todd played during the promotion season, but didn't play much of a part. Ian Moore came on loan when he was still young, valued at ÂŁ1m at the time, can't remember him scoring. Wallwork (hasn't he been sent down for some scam in Manchester?) was a Bryan Robson loan signing and played a few unmemorable games.

Robson then went on to airbrush us out of his CV. Never realised Glennon played for us until I checked, it was only 2 years ago too! And Armstrong? Again that was in the football vacuum that was most of the 90s. As the football got worse I drank more before and after games. So can't remember most of the players that passed through the Valley Parade revolving doors as we sank down the divisions. I could tell you a lot about the pubs though!

As for County, what do you make of where we've fallen to?

I'm gutted. Always loved going to Stockport.

A club who seemed to have played more than most over the years. It's handy to get to, which, as I said earlier meant there was always a sizeable away following at each fixture. I'm also gutted because The Crown is one of my favourite, if not my favourite pubs. Really want to see Stockport get back in the league, and I'm not just saying that. The fall isn't something I know too much about but dodgy owners and ground deals.

Must be frustrating for the fans as Stockport is a club that can hold its own in the higher divisions.

Looking at the conference though there's some big teams in there and any team going down is going to struggle. Luton, Wrexham, Grimsby, Mansfield, Macclesfield, Hereford, plus the clubs the clubs with the cash trying to do what Crawley and Fleetwood did. Probably one of the toughest divisions to get out of.

26 - Clear Blue Skies - Issue 20

Any memorable trips to Edgeley?

Like I said, always enjoyed Stockport. Think the last time it was raining and we were getting drenched on the terrace. A load of fans were trying to get the stewards to open the gate up to the covered seating, which they eventually did but by that time I was already sodden through. Think we lost too. But we certainly scored.

Quite a few midweek games too but they're all blurring into one. I think our left back Wayne Jacobs scored a free kick winner / equaliser at Edgeley Park on the first game back after the death of his young child. Again, I could be wrong on that. Anyway always loved the terracing there and it was always ace when it was packed out. results wise I think we've always done ok there too.

Going back further there's a history of rivalry off the pitch. I'm not sure whether you're like me, a bit young to remember. Anything on that?

Oddly enough, I've just been reading the Bradford Ointment book that's just come out (yes).

Normally I'm not bothered by these type of books, but maybe it's because you know the people or faces or remember the games, but Stockport are one of the clubs that get mentioned the most.

Going back to the early 70s. Now that's well before my time, but certainly there was a rivalry established then and it's been passed down. I've certainly been chased round Stockport and it's definitely a place where if Bradford come looking for trouble, then they can find it.

Don't tell anyone but we miss Bradford. Do Bradford miss us?

Yes. Very much so. Ace pubs, great ground. Good games. Easy to get to.

My and my mates were really gutted when you went down, and I genuinely hope you can get out of the conference, but that looks to be a huge battle. But the league needs more Stockports and less Crawleys and Fleetwoods.

And we took Barnsley on the way...

27 27

Home is where the heart is

By Phil Brennan I feel that I should state right now that I write this article not as a club employee but as a County fan of well over 40 years standing.

I often hear "well you would say that wouldn't you" when I make statements or offer opinions, but I believe that it is unfair that because I am an employee I shouldn't be allowed an opinion as a fan.

When I was asked to join the club back in the heady days of Alwin Thompson et al, I had no second thoughts, even though I had been offered and turned down my current position on two previous occasions, the most recent one by a certain Scotsman who didn't actually own the club. My feeling was that at my age I would probably not get the chance again and therefore having strong opinions of my own as to how I (thought) could improve things, I dived in head first.

We all know that the much heralded reign of the 2015 consortium was filled with very few 'peaks' and more troughs than an Alabama pig farm, what with the unsuccessful term of Paul Simpson, the very public spat between supporters and the Gibbons family and the ultimately unsuccessful fight to avoid relegation from The Football League after over 105 years service.

But in all honesty there are many things that have happened at OUR club in the last few years that could and should have been avoided and on almost every single occasion it is us, the supporters, that have been the ones to suffer.

The ignominy of administration will be a cross for the club and its supporters to bare for many years to come. Thinking back to the team that Jim Gannon, Peter Ward and Alan Lord had put together and how little the club was to see in the way of profit as they were allowed to leave will take years for us to forget and probably never forgive.

My son, who due to constant peer pressure had almost given up on his local team, witnessed that magnificent day at Wembley in May 2008 and I remember saying to his mother on the way home that I had 'got him back'.

Not for him the sadness of four visits to the famous old stadium, returning defeated every time. Joe had needed just one visit to taste glory.

His heroes of that incredible season, Dickinson, Gleeson, Pilkington, Rose, Rowe, Turnbull etc had all delivered on football's greatest stage. He was even seen on national TV celebrating with his two pals behind the goal as Dicko's winner nestled in the corner of Dale's net.

There would be no more wavering - he was a County fan for sure.

The next two seasons were his undoing, firstly his heroes were sold or moved on one by one. Then County, managed by the late Gary Ablett, were dumped back into the bottom tier without much of a fight.

Even the fact that after the successful takeover by the 2015 Consortium I had taken on a full time role at the club, couldn't persuade my by now 16 year old son to come and watch County.

He would still ask me about results and how we had played but I knew that he was never going to put himself through what I had done at his age, when re-election was my seasonal highlight.

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Then it happened, Jim Gannon came back.

The first shoots of recovery where Joe was concerned, came in that end of season run when County picked up 16 points from seven games, he would ask to watch the DVD's of the games and suddenly it was 'we' and 'us' again.

This season he is at every home game, but most importantly for me when he knew that Sale had moved on, he asked if he could help me to redecorate the players' lounge with County memorabilia, taking great delight in making the bar look something like it did on his first visit when he was a toddler.

As it is on the field, it is a slow but sure process as we look to make Edgeley Park 'home' again.

Thanks to volunteers like Help the Hatters we have started the hard work. The flags at the Railway End, the 'scarf' and team posters in the Cheadle End are playing their part.

Over the coming weeks we intend to put more memorabilia in and around the ground and would ask that the County family play their part.

One of the ideas to have been discussed is to turn the existing Club Shop into a museum once the move to the 'big' shop is completed. Help the Hatters will then utilise the office space in the shop and will also staff the museum on a match day.

Having spoken with both Ian Watts and Marcus Heap who are collectors of County memorabilia we believe that between us we can 'loan' enough items to make the museum of interest to supporters of both County and visiting clubs.

Along with many other items I personally own around 100 County shirts from the 1960's through to the current era, some of which are already framed and on display at Edgeley Park and it is my intention to frame as many as possible over the coming months in order to put them on display either in the new museum or on the walls of the ground.

Should any County supporter have items that they are willing to donate or 'loan' to the museum please contact me at phil.brennan@stockportcounty.com We are also looking into the possibility of 'sponsorship' which will enable us to speed up the process of framing shirts.

In order to keep the cost of framing down we have negotiated a deal whereby we can get 10 shirts framed at a cost ÂŁ600 inc VAT - this will include a plaque with the details of the frame 'sponsor' including company logo if required.

Again should any County supporter wish to be a sponsor please contact me at phil.brennan@stockportcounty.com

Nice shirts by the brand with three stripes. See pics of next seasons kit on page 41.

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“Ooh Alan Finley” Here in CBS, we’ve been quick to bemoan the lack of originality in songs these days.

And yet back in the early nineties, the Popside favoured some simple ditties too. They somehow seemed to be sung with more gusto and the acoustics in the Popside were (and still are) better than the Cheadle End. But “Ooh Alan Finley” was one which had more than a couple of airings.

It was a no-nonsense song for a no-nonsense player, and in happy times at the start of a journey which took us to places we had previously only dreamt of.

Epitomising the early years of that era perhaps more than any other is Alan Finley. A good, old fashioned centre half, he was a 100 percenter, someone who would run through brick walls for the cause.

When he popped up on twitter a few weeks back it instantly brought back some great memories and I had to get in touch to see what he’s up to, and of course reminisce about those early years under Danny Bergara. Here’s what he had to say.

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So Alan, tell us what you’re up to these days? You’re coaching aren’t you?

Today I am back working on building sites. I am a timed-served bricklayer. I enjoy watching my son play football too, he has spent 2 years at Man Utd pre-academy. I’m also concentrating on coaching young footballers and I’ve got my coaching badges.

How do you remember your time at Edgeley?

My time at Edgeley Park was a very happy one indeed even though I was eventually released in 1993.

Although not blessed with great technical ability, every time I put on a County shirt I gave 100% effort and commitment and visiting centre forwards certainly knew that.

We had a few cultured footballing centre halves around the same time as you were here. You offered something different though?

I had the reputation in the league as a hard man which in certain aspects is correct. I just had a no nonsense approach especially on the pitch with a County shirt on.

Tell us about your early impressions of the club having signed from Shrewsbury.

I made my debut against Halifax Town in 1990. My first impression was that the club was well organised and committed to achieving success, both on and off the pitch. There was also a great atmosphere and team spirit amongst the lads was excellent. Over time this served us really well in and was a big part of us achieving promotion and Wembley appearances.

Danny Bergara signed you. Everyone has a Danny story...

Danny Begara is a legend and I cannot speak of him highly enough, even though he released me in 1993.

He was a very charismatic man and passionate about football especially County. He was always encouraging and helping you learn and developing you to become a better player.

I remember we were playing Bradford City away and we were winning 3-1. Bradford come back to make it 3-3 and we were clinging on and up against it and managed the draw. In the changing room afterwards there was a deadly silence and heads were bowed.

Danny perked up "FUCK ME BOYS I COULD SMELL THE SHIT FROM WHERE I WAS SITTING".

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From one manager to another, you played with current County boss Jim Gannon. Did he show signs of becoming a manager one day?

Jim was his own person and I don’t think he would mind me saying that. He kept himself to himself and tended to distance himself from the lads. But on the pitch you could not question his attitude and commitment for the team and teammates.

You got promoted in your first season of course, County’s first in over 20 years.

Yes getting promoted was one of the highlights of my career. I had played the majority of games that season and only missed out in some due to injury. The season before I’d been relegated with Shrewsbury Town from division 1 so that made it even better.

You were on the score sheet along with Kevin Francis in that final day win over Scunthorpe.

What was he like as a teammate?

Big Kev is a legend amongst County fans, but he was a great bloke to play with. He was always up for a laugh and like myself gave 100% effort and commitment for County. A great fella to have in your team; we would always watch one another’s back when it got a bit rough during games.

The following season was full of ups and downs for you. You got injured in pre-season, spent some time in and out of the side before missing out on the Wembley games.

I didn’t start the season until after November due to tearing my cruciate knee ligament playing against Accrington Stanley in a pre season friendly. It was a bitter sweet moment not making the Wembley squad but as a pro footballer sometimes you have to accept decisions wether you think they are right or wrong.

I had a better time of it in 92-93 though. I can’t really say what changed for me, but I played a lot more.

I think maybe it was the system we played. Danny changed to a 4-4-2 which suited my style of play.

The enduring memory of your time here for me is you playing with a headband. Can you explain how that happened?

Yes I wore a headband against Chester City after splitting my eye open on the Saturday on the back of Ronnie Jepson’s head. It resulted in 19 stitches over my eye . Don’t think that would be allowed today somehow!

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What were the highlights of your time at County? You made the Wembley squad in 93 of course...

Memories of when I played at Wembley are very fond ones even though we lost. I can remember in the 2nd half the endless singing of Danny Bergara’s Blue and White army by the County fans and drowning out the Vale fans.

It certainly give us a lift which resulted in Big Kev’s goal. I think if the game would have gone on another 10 minutes we would have equalised. We were on top and dominating the game. I remember walking down the Wembley tunnel and going in the changing room. We all sat there looking at one another and couldn’t believe the noise and support we had received during the match.

You eventually left the following season. How did that come about?

I left in the 93-94 season after spells on loan at Rochdale and Carlisle. Danny said he was giving me a free transfer so I could get regular football. We shook hands and thanked one another, no hard feelings as we both had respect for one another.

You ended up in non-league, despite having been involved in a good 3rd tier side?

I went into non-league even though I had offers from Lincoln City and Mansfield Town. The reason being I had just bought a house in Liverpool and financially I would be better off playing non-league and working.

Do you see any ex-teammates these days?

I spoke to Peter Ward a few times pretty recently and bumped into Jim, Rodger and Bish the old kitman after being a guest at County 2 years ago. It’s so sad to see the demise of County. The sooner they get back in the league the better.

Obviously the reason for what has happened is financial and hopefully they can get back where they belong which is in the football league. You cannot question the loyalty and commitment to the club by the fans which is fantastic.

Do you have any ambitions to get back into football full time somehow one day?

My coaching career is going very well thanks. My ambition is to get involved in a coaching capacity with a pro club (maybe County!).

With my experience, passion and motivation I believe I could help players go on and achieve success.

I’d also like to end by saying thanks for asking me to do this. Stockport County will always have a place in my heart and so will the fans who remember me.

Thanks, BIG AL.

Kit Kat Conundrum

By Jamie Summers Remember ‘Melrosegate’? The whole debacle about that fella who professed to have brought us out of administration, appointed Gary Ablett (RIP) as gaffer and signed a load of players, before it prevailed that he hadn’t taken over at all and we were still in admin? That same fella who spent 6 months using fans to talk bollocks on the Yellowboard, before eventually being told to do one by the Football League (sigh) with a size 11 up the arse?

That’s the one. James Millsop Melrose. Well, anyway, the whole fiasco came flooding back to me a bit back. For one reason or another, I now live in York. By one reason or another, I mean I’m at Uni there. Anyway, in York, there’s loads of streets ending in ‘-gate’, which I’m told is because that was the Viking word for ‘road’. But that really isn’t important. You can probably see where this is going.

One of said road names is ‘Melrosegate’. Just off Hull Road, on the off-chance that anyone is arsed.

Anyway, that got me thinking about summer 2009. I stopped to take a photo - receiving looks from locals that suggested they were thinking ‘bellend’ – as it dawned on me just how things have changed at County since then.

For what it’s worth, I delved deeper to see whether any more of our recent history is forever immortalised in a North Yorkshire street name; there’s ‘Dame Judy Dench Walk’ and ‘Whip-mawhop-ma-gate’, but unfortunately, ‘Evansgate’ is yet to be created. That’s just another example of the false dawns we’ve endured since Melrose. So much water has gone under the bridge since then that you’d almost be forgiven for forgetting it happened. He’s history.

History is an important thing in football. Supporters of clubs like Macclesfield will tell you that history counts for nothing; that the past is in the past and that’s where it should stay. Nah. The only reason they spout such crap is because they don’t know what history is. They don’t have one of their own, so they don’t recognise the importance of others. But history is important. It’s tangible, in the stands that we sit in, the pubs that we drink in, the programmes and fanzines that we read/talk shite in. History breeds properness.

Living in Uni accommodation with 11 others, it figures that there’s a broad range of support for different clubs up and down the country. There’s 2 United fans – one from London, one from Norway – (make of that what you will), then one each for Fulham, Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Donny Rovers. And then there’s me, flying the flag for poor old Stockport County, that club that used to be good once. I word it that way because it seems we’ve fallen completely off the football radar in the last few years. For the most part, that suits me. It shows that we can quietly go about our business and build up towards returning to the Football League when we’re ready.

34 - Clear Blue Skies - Issue 20

But take a closer look; all of those clubs have been through adversity at some stage, and every single one of them is still here. Doncaster, under the management of Sir Daniel of Bergara, were the laughing stock of the Football League 14 years ago. They’re now flying in League One. It’s less than a decade since Huddersfield started a league campaign with only 8 players. Leeds had the ‘humiliation’ of dropping into the third tier and playing clubs more insignificant than County on a weekly basis as recently as 2010. Fulham were in the basement division not too long back. Even United were a second division side in the mid-70s. That tells us something; football is a transient cycle. We’re currently at the bottom of that cycle – but it’s a cycle that will inevitably change.

Another one of those clubs that’s suffered turmoil is York City. Fed up with the usual Twitter #epicbants about the twattery of John Terry and what a silly man that Arsene Wenger is, I needed a proper football fix. So I went to watch them.

I’ve always had a soft spot for York, ever since holidays there as a kid. It’s a great city, with decent folk and plenty of unique culture. At one point, it even served as the nation’s capital. It doesn’t take a genius to realise it’s a pretty brilliant place. And with it comes an equally cultured Football Club.

The opportunity came when County were away at Sarfend in the FA Cup, and I couldn’t afford the train fare. York happened to be playing AFC Womble in the first round, so along I pootled.* *Did I really just say that?

It was a mixed experience. For anyone that hasn’t been, Bootham Crescent is tucked away in a residential area, on a road called Bootham Crescent funnily enough. York first moved in after they outgrew their old ground – ‘Fulfordgate’. See a recurring theme here? (It was probably a shrewd move; Fulford is a shithole. Its claim to fame is being the birthplace of Steve McClaren) It’s ideally situated five minutes from one of the most accessible train stations in the country, and five minutes from countless ace watering holes.

Trivia time. Bootham Crescent first opened on 31st August 1932 as York faced… yep, you’ve got it.

Stockport County. It finished 2-2 that day, and the return fixture –just 6 days later – was a 2-0 win for County at EP. This seems an appropriate time to shoehorn in that York have lost more competitive matches against County than against any other Club. So there.

I digress. There’s an all-too-rare likeability about the place; only small details, but ones that make a big difference to the experience.

I was welcomed by genuinely helpful, competent stewards (!) and sat in their Main Stand, where the seating is class. Anyone who’s been to Trafford will know what I mean. Original wooden seats from the 30s, that creak when you move them. They’re a pain in the arse after 90 minutes – literally – but they’re a bit of footballing heritage. Alongside the pleasant novelty of terracing, other little quirks also help to make it a proper ground. They have those dead good dugouts that are actually worth having.

This is page thirty five. Look ->

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See.

There’s the stereotypical Yorkshireman doing his best Victor Meldrew impression. There’s appropriate sponsorship too, that isn’t rammed down your throat when the added time is announced.

I wore a football shirt and jacket to a game in North Yorkshire in November. I couldn’t help chuckling at people armour-clad in hats and gloves.

But the joke was on me. I’ve never been so bloody freezing in my life. Meanwhile, the size of the steps between the seating levels is about a foot and a half, I kid you not.

While 75-year-old grannies effortlessly worked their way to the bottom at full-time, I was kindly assaulted by a brick wall in my vain attempts to clamber down the assault course that was Bootham Crescent’s answer to steps. They could tell I was an outsider, put it that way.

The highlight is the gantry - a temporary scaffolding structure plonked on one of the roofs, wrapped in cellophane. Its sheer ingenuity is strangely charismatic. I doubt the rotund fella freezing his mantits off whilst filming for Manish’s Football League Whoppershow would agree though.

It wasn’t all great. The game was a drab 1-1 draw. Wimbledon won the replay, before losing to the Franchise of all clubs. There was also crap music before kick-off, and shameless bias aside, their programme doesn’t compare to County Life.

Where am I going with this? Well, we can learn a lot from them, both in terms of successes and failures. The bloke sat next to me seemed reasonable, but had a few gripes. I never got his name, so I’ll call him Fred. Tickets were £19, which for FA Cup games is a fleecing. Ironically, I type this after an £18 FA Trophy game. Fred highlighted the issue, saying £19 was too expensive for the demographic they’re trying to attract. It was reflected in a poor attendance. Just as we have the battle of attracting kids away from the draw of City, they face similar issues with Hull/Huddersfield/Leeds.

On the plus side, they’re a club on the up. It’s rumoured they went up on a budget of £650,000 – which is some achievement. Being buoyed by the additional Football League revenue, they’ve got a decent side. It’s not phenomenal – I mean, they’ve got Oli Johnson – but it’s ok. So if they can do it, why can’t we? Fred mentioned County being a ‘great club’ but urged caution, emphasizing how much time and effort it takes to win promotion from the Conference. We should remember that. It isn’t an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. And he also mentioned that they’d fallen into the trap of expecting too much, too soon now that they have been promoted.

But worst of all was hearing plans to move away from Bootham Crescent, to share a flatpack at the arse-end of the city with a rugby club – seemingly against the wishes of many of their fans. It would seem that even what may come across as one of the most traditional clubs on the surface can fall into the trap of the ills of the modern game. It’s a real shame, because they’ve got a good ground in a perfect location there. Why bother swapping that for a box somewhere on Nomanslandgate, just to suit the minority?

Overall though, there’s a lot we can learn from York City. They get some things wrong, they miss the odd trick. But like us, they’ve been through the mill, but with proper, faithful support, come out at the other side with their club intact. And when you consider that we can potentially draw on a much bigger, more vocal core of support than they can, that’s reason for a lot of optimism.

They certainly don't tap into their potential fanbase properly. On the way out, about 3 minutes from the ground, I walked past a scruffily-dressed local complete with circa 3 teeth, chavvy Mrs and a kid needing a wash . "Wonder what all these are 'ere for?" he said. "Is it for't' rugby league or summat?"

Close the gate on your way out pal.

36 - Clear Blue Skies - Issue 20 36

RADIO GAGA Adam Davies recalls the aftermath of our defeat at Woking, and tells us why Jim Gannon must remain at Edgeley Park.

Here we go again then.

Another horrible moment live on air for the fans. Lord Snape, Chairman of Stockport County, is handed the microphone on Pure FM after a game we have lost 1-0. Hold your head in your hands because this will be bad.

It was. It was horrific. Someone who clearly cares for the state of the club producing an assessment that a 12 year old could have put together. The gist is as follows; Things on the pitch aren’t going well, we are losing to teams that are part time and have a lower budget than us. The buck stops with the manager. A manager that is, by all accounts, a club legend and very obviously hurts as much as any other supporter of SCFC. Well done Lord. “Changes will be made” he declares.

The problem I have with changes being made is that when they have been made in the recent past, they very obviously have not worked. Since Jim Gannon was made redundant while we were in League One we have had five people in charge of our team. In that time we have become a non league club with our longest serving players being under twenty-five years old. Those players have played far more games than they should have played at this point in their careers.

For the last three seasons, we have effectively cleared our playing squads, declared them not good enough, and re-built them completely. This has not worked. We were going backwards as a club. We have had absolutely no foundations for the club to grow. We didn’t have a ground, we had no identity and we were staring into the abyss.

Half way through last season Jim Gannon returned. Although the results did not improve immediately we finished reasonably strongly with a squad that had been tarted up with loan signings and not much else. More importantly the fans felt a connection with the club again, I know I did, and we actually turned up to a game knowing that everyone was pushing towards a greater goal for SCFC. In the mean time Jim was clearing the decks of the older, more expensive players, and bringing in younger more hungry players to start this season.

Let’s make no mistake about this. Our budget is probably quite good for the league. But it is still hindered by others mistakes. Wages being paid to players on two year contracts. Players our manager does not deem good enough, but we have no way of moving on without spending further money. As such we are stuck with them until further notice.

But still within that budget, we now have a group of players that are young, eager and hungry to succeed for Stockport County and themselves. It would be ridiculous to think any player does not dream of going further up the football pyramid. This group of players has been put together by a man trying to place our club on to level ground for the future. There is obvious potential within the playing squad. Whether it be with us or sold to a club higher up the leagues for a profit. A way forward that many people could not see a year ago. All the talk of packing it in and starting again has ceased and up until four weeks ago talk of the play offs was rife.

This team has been built for long term reward. There are no quick fixes in non-league football. Especially at a club that has been so badly abused. Jim Gannon is in the middle of a rebuilding process. It will not go to plan all of the time. The fan base see him as a miracle worker after some of what he has achieved here in his time. Perhaps expectations are a bit high from both the board and the fan base. But can you imagine having to go through another squad clear out, another desperate plea for money, to sign players and the inevitable period it takes a new manager to bed in and possibly turn things around?

The board also has a massive role to play here. They have helped as much as Gannon. But when the Chairman perform such acts as on air roastings of the manager, you have to despair. It leads to problems. It leads to rifts that could very well break this club apart. As much as some would not believe it. Some of the three thousand people who turn up at EP for home games are there because Jim is manager and the principles he holds. No manager in football could replace him at this club. None.

Patience is required now from the supporters, the board and the manager.

Look at our current predicament in the league. Yes we are down there. Yes I know it’s no fun. But the club is slowly, hopefully, moving forward. The board need to back Jim’s judgement, Jim and the supporters need to understand the effort the board is putting in and the supporters need to feel connected to the club and not treated as mere cash cows, but a vital part of the rebuilding process. The playing squad is young and will only improve under Jim’s guidance.

We are all in this together and if we stick together we can make it ‘ours’ again.

“Speaking of Radio Gaga...how about...”All we need is, Jordan Fagbola*clap clap* Jordan Fagbola” No? Ok.

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Christmas songs that aren’t rubbish

Five Fives

Kirsty MacColl with the Pogues She says “arse” in this. And “faggot”. Baby Jesus would not be impressed with this on his birthday. We are.

Stockport-born professional players

Darlene Love - Christmas.

It’s a fun track with a lovely knockabout feel. Sorry, went all John Shuttleworth there.

Paul Warhurst. Journeyman utility player who started at City and went everywhere else but County. Nice tan.

Wore cowboy boots on occasion. Yee-har.

That one that goes “Dibber dibber dum dum”.

Jonah Lewie? Something about a carvery? No, a cavalry, that’s right.

Adam Le Fondre. Remember him? Yeah it’s the same one.

The one whose real first name is Glenville. Seriously, look it up.

Vacation Theme - Mavis Staples Only because it’s the theme from a dead good Christmas film. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

Julian Casablancas - I wish it was Christmas today Gets in the list purely because The Strokes were pretty good weren’t they? No? Oh get lost.

Is your Xmas song of choice missing from this list? If so, please email clearblueskies@gmail.com. Don’t rush though, we won’t do another of these lists until next year.

Foreign internationals to score against us Egil Ostenstadt (Norway/Southampton) Jan Aage-Fjortoft (Norway/Barnsley) Pierre Van Hooijdonk (Holland/Forest) Mikkel Beck (Denmark/Middlesbrough) Kevin Francis (Birmingham/Oxford/St Kitts & Nevis)

Matt Glennon. Now with Halifax. Will we see him again? He’s also retrained as a barber. Seriously.

Tom Ince. Paul’s lad. You know Paul?

Ex-England captain. Yeah that one. Lived in Bramhall for a while, which is where England U21 Tom was brought up.

Will and Michael Keane. Ok, that’s two but both are on the books of the big red club up the road and both have represented England. Michael has played for Ireland too. Ooh, controversial.

Songs by local bands which sum up County at the moment - Stone Roses - Bye Bye Bad Man (Hopefully forever) - 10cc - The things we do for Love (150 at Woking away) - Happy Mondays - Performance (Good one soon please?)

- New Order - True Faith (With a bit of courage too?)

-The Courteeners - Bide your time (A better alternative to ‘Patience’ by Take That but with the same sentiment)

Hopes for 2013 Stability Anyone doubting Gannon only needs to look for someone better to realise their doubts are unfounded. There is nobody better. We will improve under him, just as before.

Long Term EP future secure Big ask, but given Sale’s current misfortune/general shitness, you’ve got to wonder if BK will want out of sport in general, and if so, whether we can acquire EP via SMBC? Probably wishful thinking.

Retention of our best young players and loss of those not contributing Everyone knows we pay the best youngsters peanuts.

Let’s make sure the likes of Hattersley, Kenyon and Whitehead stay here happily until they’ve reached their true value. Several underachievers out of contract in June too. Good. Trim the fat.

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Enjoyment More wins than defeats. Some 3 or 4 goal games. Please.

UPS New issue due in the new year. We’ll not nail ourselves down to a date though. Keep an eye on @countyfanzine on twitter or facebook.com/thecountyfanzine

The agreement for use of EP “on a day to day basis” being reached. How does that song go?

“Edgeley is ours......”

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Connor Jennings. Like Michael Paton, but better. And from Stockport.

To contribute, find us on twitter @countyfanzine , email clearblueskies@gmail.com or do it the old fashioned way and speak to a seller.

The Toffs County shirt from the late 70s. See pic, as worn by Terry Park et al in the great OT robbery of August ‘78.

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The new club shop. Shouldn’t matter as much as it does, but... It does. Well done to all concerned. Brilliant work.

If you can’t wait 5 or 6 weeks for your next CBS fix, head to http://thecountyfanzine.proboards.com

Sean Newton. Belated mention for the Budget Bale. People talk of our lack of wingers, but would any traditional winger (do they still exist?) have got into double figures for assists

by Christmas? Newton has.

County making money off food and drink at EP. Players who have done us a good job but may leave before our next issue is out. Turnbull, Rowe, Jennings and perhaps even Mainwaring.

DOWNS Radio outbursts and the easy undoing of good work. Turn it in.

We can’t defend can we? O’Donnell needs to stay fit. Fagbola needs to learn fast. Connor needs to give out a few cuts and bruises instead of receiving them. Tunnicliffe needs to show a bit more league pedigree. All have talent.

Lewis King and his knackered knee. Nice to hear JG say the club are looking to do the right thing and offer him something while he recovers. His contract ends this month.

A Manchester City team playing at Edgeley Park. Can’t believe nobody has mentioned it.

Oh no, hang on...

Like all the best ideas, if you don’t do it, someone else will.

This retro County shirt recently became available by the long established shirt people Toffs.

You might remember a few months back we looked into getting some retro shirts of our own made. We got as far as talking to manufacturers but decided to sack it in the end. Attempts were made to speak to the club about it but the required encouragement wasn’t as forthcoming as was needed, so we put it on hold.

Maybe now the ground deal is sorted, it can be looked at again? It would make us money. Something we need.

Lack of online shop just before Christmas.

Nobody’s fault as such, so we’re not pointing fingers but its a bit poor, no?

The overpriced food and drink at EP. The fact we make money off it isn’t enough to convert people to buy it. Would it be too simple to suggest that good value might result in increased revenue? Greggs pasties are twice as nice at half the price. Hampsons too. Both less than 200 yards from EP. Feeling the need to be critical of a club which has got most things right in 2012. It’s been a good year when you add everything up. Let’s not lose sight of why, and crack on in 2013.

Issue 21 - Out some time in February. Probably.

Merry New Year