COLFC VS WEST DIDSBURY AND CHORLTON

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Welcome to the TDP Solicitors Stadium for our seventh home league match of the season against West Didsbury & Chorlton.

me!

ga e th joy n e ll a ou y e Hop

#UpThePurps

CONTENTS 5 - CHAIRMAO Paul Manning welcomes us to the seventh home league game of the season…

7 - ROBBO SAYS Meet the new manager…

9 - WELCOME TO OUR VISITORS A brief history of West Didsbury & Chorlton…

11 - UP-COMING FIXTURES Get your fixture diaries up to date…

17 - THE NEW CAPTAIN Meet the new Captain…

23 - REGENDA - SILVER SURFERS Lottery Grant helps residents leave a legacy for the future via computer training…

24 - SID OGWIN A brilliantly funny article about a remarkable man…

28 - KITS 4 KIDS A feature on a fantastic initiative…

29 - TEAM LINE UP

Don’t miss any action if you can’t get to the match!

Keep updated with live commentary on…

A REASON TO BELIEVE...

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CITY OF LIVERPOOL FC 427 Smithdown Road, Liverpool, L15 2JL Chairman: Paul Manning Deputy Chairman: Peter Furmedge Club Secretary: Peter Manning Club Welfare Officer: Mike Caulfield Club Director: Cathy Long Supporters Council Chairman: Paul McGrady Supporters Council Secretary: Fran Stanton Programme Design & Production: David Marsh at Artomattic PURPS FM: Ste Martin, Jay McKenna Flok Information: Paul Squires Gatehouse: Peter Furmedge, Howard Klarfeld, Paul Manning Hospitality: Leanne Brady, Amanda Manning, Maria Manning Stewards: Mark Howard, Owen Manning, Peter Manning, Ste Martin, Paul Squires, Lee Thwaite, Seana Thwaite, Gary Walthew, Colin Wilcox, Howard Klarfeld, Stephen Hesketh.

Volunteer Co-Ordinator: Mark Howard Website: Paul Manning, Paul Squires COLlotto: Andy Lavin, Lisa Lavin Purps TV: Jason Morland Merchandise Table: Sue Roberts, Amanda Manning, Olivia Manning, Robyn Manning Charity Co-Ordinator: Amanda Manning First Team Craig Robinson (Manager) Tony Dunne (Assistant) Tom Spearritt (1st Team Coach, physio) GK Coach: Craig Horner Phil MacDiarmid (Coach) Dean Jones (Kit Man) Reserve Team James Walsh (Manager) Sam Hoare & Danielle Rutter (Coaches) Ladies Team Harriet Miller (Manager) U19’s Dave McDiarmid (Joint Manager) Dave Rowe (Joint Manager) Cover and Robbo photo credit Karl Brooks Photography

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For the latest League & Club News & Info, Fixtures, Results, Cup Info, Stats & Archives Follow us on social media Search ‘Hallmark Security League’ on Twitter & Facebook 4

CHAIRMAO Notes from the little Purple book of COLFC Chairman, Paul Manning.

Hello again everyone and welcome to the Purple Rollercoaster.

both in midweek is hard and to come away with four points is excellent.

We maintained our four point lead over Silsden (with a game in hand) which is sound and we are now 11 points better off this season after 11 games than we were last season, so that is very promising indeed and I have to be honest and say that we have had a very difficult start to the season fixture wise.

Virtually every game has been a struggle and credit to the lads we have come out on top most of the time, but its 100% correct to say that there are no easy games in this league.

We have been evenly matched with three or four teams at the bottom of the table, with just an extra bit of quality seeing us go on and win games and it will be no different with West Didsbury today.

They will be 100% motivated to get their season going and they have a strikeforce that knows where the net is – but of course, so do we!!

Here’s hoping for a good game and a Purple win and we hope our visitors from Manchester enjoy our Scouse hospitality.

Today we host West Didsbury & Chorlton with whom we have shared six points in our two games last season. We ran out fairly comfortable 6–1 winners at home before losing 4–3 in the away game at Atherton Collieries, after being two nil up in the game.

This was the fifth and final time we had surrendered a two goal lead in the season and thankfully we seem to have eradicated that particular problem this season (touch wood), but with it happening so often it was clearly a sign that something was wrong.

We enjoyed a very hard fought 1–1 draw at Silsden in midweek and I want to pay tribute to each and every Purp who made that journey on a Tuesday night, not least the Management and Team, who had all just done a day’s work before driving for two hours and then putting in a gritty performance in difficult weather.

Supporters are also to be commended for getting off their couches (also after a day’s work) and making that journey. Silsden and Barnoldswick are our two furthest away trips this season, so having to do

#UTP

Paul Manning

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managers notes Credit goes to the players again as we stay unbeaten in the league! Let’s get behind the lads today and thank you once again for your support!

Good afternoon and welcome to the game the toady against West Didsbury & Chorlton AFC!

in good form. Both teams probably felt it could have gone either way but from our point of view we should have had a penalty before they scored a lucky deflected goal! After they scored we showed great character and quality. We had enough chances in the first half and a couple towards the end to win the game but with them missing a penalty and Last Saturday saw us beat Ben making a brilliant save at Winsford 5–2 which was another good three points after 1–1 a draw was probably a fair result. Credit goes to the players us going behind twice in the game. The lads stayed composed again as we stay unbeaten in the league and the message to them and took their chances when after the game was we now need they came, which we didn’t do to back this result up with three in the first ten minutes, that would have made the game a lot points today at home!

Let’s get behind the lads today more comfortable. and thank you once again for Tuesday night we had a tough your support! away game against a good Silsden team who are second Robbo in the league behind us! It was a tough competitive game between two good teams 7

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wdids&Chorlton West Didsbury and Chorlton AFC was founded as Christ Church A.F.C. in 1908, over 100 years ago, by Mr. R F Hartley, a Sunday School Superintendent at the church on Princess Parkway, West Didsbury.

West played friendlies at first and then in the Manchester Alliance League until the First World War. After the War the club joined the Lancashire and Cheshire League for the 1920/21 season and had to change its name to West Didsbury AFC, as that League did not permit a name suggesting association with any other body. The club was placed in Divisions 1 and A, and stayed in the top flight for 25 seasons. The first honours were double runners up in Div 1 and Rhodes Cup in 1922/23, and the club remained in the L+C League until 2006, winning many honours and providing 4 League Presidents along the way.

The home ground from before 1914 until the mid 1980’s was Christie Playing Fields, and then the owners, Manchester and Salford Playing Fields Society, gave the club notice to quit having decided to sell off the land for commercial development – now ironically called ‘Christie Fields’ office park.

After several years’ nomadic existence the club acquired the redundant and overgrown Recreation Ground at Brookburn Road in Chorlton in 1996, and made plans to restore the ground and develop a vision for a community club. This was down to the hard work of a core of players and Committee who refused to let the club fold. New changing rooms and clubhouse facilities were completed aided by a Lottery grant, new sponsors and members’ fundraising, but without a penny from the Playing Fields Society sale proceeds

and in time to start the 1997-98 season at this new home.

A further name change followed in 2003 to reflect the new location in Chorlton and the club was then elected to the Manchester League in 2006. In 2007/8 West won its first Manchester League silverware lifting the Murray Shield in the last game of the club’s centenary year. That team was the nucleus of the previously successful junior team and the following season 2008/09 West just missed promotion to the Premier Division and again reached the Murray Shield Final. With a new management team led by Andy Nelson, 2009/10 was very successful and honours spread throughout the club. The 1st team won the Murray Shield (the third consecutive year in the final) and was league runners-up. The reserves won the Bridgewater League Cup and the U17 Youth team won their League.

In 2010/2011 the 1st team won the Manchester League First Division title in style with a fantastic 65 points out of 72 possible.

This ranks as one of the highest points totals per game in Manchester League history dating back over a century. The clubs reserve team and youth teams also had terrific seasons, also resulting in promotion and for the second year reaching the Bridgewater Cup Final.

The Youth team reached yet another final where they were just pipped to the trophy

by New Mills and the Veterans were runners up in the Premier Division of the Cheshire Veterans League. Plans were made to lease

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adjacent land long term for junior football to deliver the club Vision to be a FA Charter Standard Club, playing at the highest possible level it can whilst remaining financially viable.

Floodlights were erected in July 2011 to meet FA requirements and West competed in the FA Vase for the first time in 2011-12 as a Step 7 club. Election to the Step 6 and the NWCFL followed in June 2012 and the club had an incredible first season finishing in 3rd position to secure promotion to Step 5, guaranteeing a first ever FA Cup place and winning the Div1 Trophy.

2013-14 saw a strong recovery from a series of early season setbacks and defeats in August to consolidate with a very creditable 12th place league finish in the Premier Division. Two new stands were then installed to improve spectator facilities and the new grass pitches were laid out on adjoining land as part of the long term development plan. Further historic milestones in 2013-14 were the 2-0 home victory over Abbey Hey in the club’s first ever appearance in the FA Cup quickly followed by a 2-1 first FA Vase victory away at NCEL Rossington Main near Doncaster in mid September.

The following season saw the club experience something of an erratic start in the League, as well as losing to Brighouse Town from the Evo Stik League [North] in the FA Cup at the end of August having been given a walk over by the FA in the previous round against NWCFL new club, Cammell Laird 1907. Rossington were FA Vase opponents for the second successive year and again defeated 2-1, this time at home, before West lost 1-2 to eventual finalists Glossop North End. Some good mid season results garnered enough points to finish 16th in the table, well clear of trouble, with a final home game 2-0 victory over Runcorn Linnets signing off manager Andy Nelson’s six meteoric season’s

in style.

2015-16 proved to be a record breaking season in a number of ways for West. After a slightly erratic start to the season under new manager Steve Settle, a series of good results from September onwards saw the club rise up the table eventually finishing in a record 5th place. The major highlight of the season had to be the record breaking 15-1 FA Vase win over Dinnington Town, this being the highest ever win both in the Vase as a competition and by any NWCFL club throughout history.

Progression was also made off the field with new facilities at Hardy Farm opened by local MP Jeff Smith. Plans were also made to expand the clubhouse and spectator facilities at Brookburn Road.

The season was to have a sad end with the death of club secretary Rob Turley, a man who had been involved with West Didsbury & Chorlton for over 40 years. But with a strong volunteer base and progress being made on and off the field, the club is in safe hands with a bright future ahead.

2016/17 saw the club finihsed in 6th place but finished with both a record points total and number of goals scored notching 106 league goals. The club also saw a record average attendance as almost 5,000 people attended matches at Brookburn Road with a club record 674 in attendance for the South Manchester Derby against Maine Road. In cup competitions West entered the Manchester Premier Cup defeating Radcliffe Borough and Glossop North End en-route to facing FC United of Manchester in the Semi Final’s which saw more than 200 West supporters travel to Broadhurst Park before West bowed out to the eventual winners.

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up-coming fixtures september 18 barnoldswick town A HSL 22 Chester fc A FAC 2Q 25 Litherland REMYCA H HSL 29 Winsford United h HSL october 2 silsden a hsl 6 W Dids & Chorlton h HSL 20 ashton athletic h mc1 Watch city of liverpool this season adults £6 concessions £3 under 15’s free!

TDP Solicitors Stadium, vesty road, bootle l30 1NY

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captains notes Another decent week for us and it’s great to still be top of the league.

were very good and definitely didn’t deserve to be behind, but we showed great character to get back on level terms and probably could of went on to win it but we have got to be happy with the point and to stay unbeaten.

Today is all about another three points, we cannot let the hard work from last week go to waste and we are desperate for the three points today and to stay top of the league.

Just want to say big thanks to all the fans who have supported us so far this season it’s been incredible

There is no easy game and we have had two tough ones last week and we have another tough one today.

Winsford came and were physical and aggressive and once again we weren’t at our best but we rode it out and in the end come away with three points. Some great goals from Tom P an John Mc gave us a comfortable win in the end.

Tuesday of course was a huge game against second place Silsden who are a really good side. I thought first half we

Denno

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FIXTURES & RESULTS 2018/19 Date Comp Opponent Att Result Goalscorers 04/08/18 HSL A 1874 Northwich 433 W 6-3 Cairns (3), Forbes, Clair, McGrath 08/08/18 HSL A Northwich Vics 298 W 2-1 McDonald, Holt 11/08/18 FAC H SILSDEN 630 W 3-1 Holt, McGrath, McDonald 18/08/18 HSL H IRLAM 406 D 2-2 McDonald, McGrath 25/08/18 FAC H GLOSSOP NORTH END 462 D 1-1 Hazelhurst 27/08/18 HSL H BURSCOUGH 404 W 3-0 Peterson (3) 31/08/18 HSL H RUNCORN TOWN 649 W 4-0 McGrath (2), Williams, Hazelhurst 04/09/18 FAC A Glossop North End 348 W 3-2 McGrath, Hazelhurst, Forbes 08/09/18 HSL A Squires Gate 255 W 5-1 Cairns (3), Denson, McGrath (p) 11/09/18 HSL H WHITCHURCH ALPORT 505 W 1-0 Cairns 15/09/18 HSL A Ashton Athletic 154 W 4-0 Peterson, McGrath, Clair, Cairns 18/09/18 HSL A Barnoldswick Town 135 W 3-2 Peterson (2), McDonald 22/09/18 FAC A Chester FC 1806 L 0-4 25/09/18 HSL H LITHERLAND REMYCA 513 W 4-0 McGrath (3), Hazelhurst 29/09/18 HSL H WINSFORD UNITED 295 W 5-2 Peterson (2), McDonald, Clair, McGrath 02/10/18 HSL A Silsden 242 D 1-1 Peterson

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purple statistics 2018/19 appearances/scorers League apps Goals inc playoffs

League League Apps (sub) Goals

Cup Apps (sub)

Cup Goals

Ben Ascroft

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Craig Cairns

5(2)

5

3(1)

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Karl Clair

7(4)

3

3(2)

Danny Dalton

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Alex Davies

0(2)

Luke Denson

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David Forbes

5(6)

Francis Foy

8(1)

Jack Hazelhurst

6(3)

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2(3)

2

Joe Holt

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1

5

1

Chris Lester

3

Jamie McDonald

7(2)

Kevin McEllin

8(1)

John McGrath

9(2)

Adam Pepper

0(3)

Tom Peterson

7(3)

Craig Robinson

0(1)

Paul Williams

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Anthony Brown

3(2)

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5

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5

1

0(4)

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5

1(1) 4

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4 9(2p)

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0(2) 9

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man of the match Oppo Rocket Twitter Total Ben Ascroft Craig Cairns Karl Clair Danny Dalton Alex Davies Luke Denson David Forbes Francis Foy Jack Hazlehurst Joe Holt Chris Lester Jamie McDonald Kevin McEllin John McGrath Adam Pepper Tom Peterson Craig Robinson Paul Williams Anthony Brown

yellow & red cards Cup games in brackets

p = penalty

Ben Ascroft Craig Cairns Karl Clair Danny Dalton Alex Davies Luke Denson David Forbes Francis Foy Jack Hazlehurst Joe Holt Chris Lester Jamie McDonald Kevin McEllin John McGrath Adam Pepper Tom Peterson Craig Robinson Paul Williams Anthony Brown Correct as of Silsden on 02/10/18

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0(1) 1(2) 0(1) 2 3 1 0(1) 1 2(1) 3(1) 0(1) 1

PREMIER DIVISION TABLE 1

CITY OF LIVERPOOL

2 Runcorn Town 3 Silsden 4 Barnoldswick Town 5 Congleton Town 6 Padiham 7 Northwich Victoria 8 Hanley Town 9 Squires Gate 10 Bootle 11 Charnock Richard 12 Whitchurch Alport 13 1874 Northwich 14 Burscough 15 West Didsbury & Chorlton 16 Irlam 17 Litherland REMYCA 18 Winsford United 19 Abbey Hey 20 Ashton Athletic

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9

2

0

35

11

24

29

GD

Pts

11 9 0 2 28 15 13 27 12 7 4 1 26 14 12 25 11 7 1 3 28 19 9 22 9 7 0 2 19 8 11 21 11 6 1 4 26 22 4 19 11 5 2 4 26 20 6 17 11 4 2 5 16 24 -8 14 9 4 1 4 14 8 6 13 9 3 4 2 16 11 5 13 9 4 1 4 21 17 4 13 10 3 3 4 15 16 -1 12 11 3 3 5 13 22 -9 12 9 3 0 6 17 24 -7 9 11 2 2 7 14 27 -13 8 9 1 4 4 16 21 -5 7 8 1 3 4 12 17 -5 6 10 1 2 7 15 31 -16 5 10 1 2 7 9 30 -21 5 8 1 1 6 5 14 -9 4

FIRST DIVISION (N) TABLE

First Division North

1 Longridge Town 2 Carlisle City 3 Avro 4 AFC Liverpool 5 Steeton 6 AFC Darwen 7 Lower Breck 8 Cleator Moor Celtic 9 AFC Blackpool 10 Garstang 11 Prestwich Heys 12 Shelley 13 Bacup Borough 14 St Helens Town 15 Ashton Town 16 Chadderton 17 Nelson 18 Atherton LR 19 Daisy Hill 20 Holker Old Boys

P

W

D

L

F

A

11 9 1 1 50 16 34 28 11 9 0 2 24 13 11 27 12 8 1 3 39 20 19 25 10 7 0 3 29 22 7 21 11 6 1 4 27 28 -1 19 11 5 3 3 25 25 0 18 10 5 2 3 23 10 13 17 10 5 2 3 25 15 10 17 9 5 2 2 13 9 4 17 11 5 1 5 23 21 2 16 10 5 1 4 17 17 0 16 11 4 4 3 18 19 -1 16 12 3 3 6 22 25 -3 12 10 3 2 5 26 20 6 11 9 3 2 4 12 18 -6 11 13 3 2 8 23 36 -13 11 11 2 3 6 11 18 -7 9 11 1 2 8 13 31 -18 5 9 0 3 6 12 29 -17 3 10 0 1 9 7 47 -40 1

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16 AlderTraining Picture your Future Liverpool

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Sid

Sid Ogwin – He’s seen things we’ll never see!

Close your eyes and try and walk from your front door to your back door without demolishing half of your house…

Now try and imagine getting from your house in Lucerne Street, Aigburth to the 27 bus stop on Lodge Lane (0.8 mile according to Google maps) to catch the bus to Anfield every other week on your own with the absolute minimum of eyesight, and later completely blind! Well, this is exactly what Sid Ogwin did for many years during the late 50’s and early 60’s following his beloved Liverpool Football Club. He would then listen to the clicking of the Kop turnstiles to fight his way in, and rely on the goodwill and feedback of his fellow Kopites to see how the game was going. At the end of the game, he would go through it all again to get back to the Masonic on Lark Lane to have a couple of bottles of guinness, before going home.

Sid did this for every single game at Anfield.

Missing a game was simply out of the question, it was his life! Sid was born with

sight but due to a genetic condition he sadly started losing his sight around the age of ten, and had lost his sight completely by the age of 20. By this time he was already a fanatical Liverpool fan with his hero in the early years being Billy Liddell. Liverpool at this time were an average second division team and the poor relation of their neighbours across the park, Everton. Around 1965 Sid met Billy Stove. Billy would go on to be Sid’s life-long friend, hero, match going companion and commentator. Sid got his first Kop season ticket around 1966. He believes this was the first year you could get a season ticket on the Kop. Billy would accompany Sid to the match and commentate the game to him.

Sometimes Sid would travel to the match on the back of Billy’s motorbike. They travelled home and away following their beloved reds.

Sid was devastated to miss out on a ticket for Liverpool’s first FA Cup Final in 1965, but remembers doing the conga down London Road celebrating the victory that night. Sid said him and his mates sat on the wall of Ian Callaghan’s house into the early hours of the morning waiting to welcome him

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home, unfortunately he was no doubt still in London celebrating. Sid would not miss another cup final at home or abroad until the 2007 Champions League Final in Athens. God help Rick Parry if Sid ever bumped into him!

Just before the 1977 FA Cup Final, Billy had an operation on his leg which resulted in him being on crutches for both the Wembley Final and the European Cup Final in Rome a couple of days later. This meant Sid had to hang onto one of Billy’s crutches as he guided him around London and Rome - very slowly!

Sid jokes that it was like something out the bible ha ha!

I personally got to know Sid in the late 90’s working together in the Delco in Kirkby. For many years, before a lift was finally sorted, he would get a train and bus from Aigburth to Kirkby on a daily basis on his own – that’s another story in its self! His tales of following the reds at home and abroad amazed and enthralled me, and we’ve been good mates ever since.

Sid has become part of our family now and his arguments with my old fella about who’s been following the reds the longest are legendary. It was my job after every victory to read every column inch of the morning papers to him. If we didn’t have time in work, I was under orders to do it that night on the phone. God help any journalist or ex-player that slagged us off! I always remember a camping trip we went on not long after the Istanbul final in 2005 when he made me read the same story about the final, from the Daily Mirror, about 20 bloody times! Each time he’d give a little jig in the middle of this Welsh field when I got to the end. God know what the other campers thought!

Sid’s home is a shrine to Liverpool with his walls covered in photos of his heroes and past glories. Sid also has various fans awards presented to him down the years by the likes of Ian Callaghan and Ian Ayres. I’ll never forget the occasion when he picked up the Liverpool Echo fan award at the Moat House Hotel. The winner of the main award for that particular year was David Moyes who along with Philip Carter come up to congratulate Sid. Sid shook his hand and said, ‘David, if you’re still looking for a goalie mate, I’m ya man!’ Philip Carter nearly choked on his cocktail. They were both in tears laughing!

They were actually two really nice fellas but Sid still refused to get his photo with them ha ha. One of his most memorable days was when Rafa Benitez popped in for ten minutes and stayed for over four hours. It was brilliant listening to him and Sid exchange stories of their beloved Liverpool. Some of Rafa’s stories had Sid rolling on the floor and others fuming.

Rafa was already a big hero of Sid before the visit, he’s even more so now. What a great fella!

Sid’s biggest hero though is Kenny Dalglish.

God help anyone who says he wasn’t our greatest player ever! Sid’s devotion to him is as a player, manager and a man is on another level to anything else. Mind you, Jurgen Klopp is running him close at the moment, but Kenny will always be his King!

There are so many funny stories from Sid’s trips following the reds. I’ll never forget legendary red Bobby Wilcox serenading Sid with the Johnny Barnes song on the way back from a friendly in Villarreal whilst everyone else was asleep. Another three that

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really stand out are the times we drunkenly left him on a bus in Nice, his shorts going on fire in Mainz Cathedral and Sid getting lost going for a piss in a German hotel!

The bus incident happened on the way to the 2005 Super Cup Final in Monaco when we got off the public bus in Nice to find our hotel. We were all a bit worse for wear as we’d been drinking from early morning. We’d only walked about 20 yards from the bus stop when I heard those fateful words which sent shivers down my spine and immediately sobered me up, ‘Where’s Sid!?’ I turned around hoping it was a wind up, but Sid was nowhere to be seen! I thought Ste had him, Ste thought Phil had him, Phil thought my old fella had him, my old fella thought I had him, but no, we’d left him on the bloody bus! I turned around to see the bus disappearing into the distance and in sheer panic I set off like Forest Gump!

God knows what the locals thought as I ran in and out of traffic shouting ‘Stop that fucking bus!!’ After what seemed an eternity I finally caught up with the bus at a red light.

I was totally knackered as I banged on the door of the bus. The driver looked terrified to open the door, but he eventually did. I tried to control my breathing as I made my way towards the very concerned looking Sid at the back of the bus. I was going to try and blag him that we were all still on the bus and it was time to get off. I put my hand on his shoulder and said ‘It’s time to get off mate’ to which he shouted ‘Ya bastards, you left me on the fuckin bus!’ There’s no kidding Sid. I got

him off the bus and I’m still getting slagged off for it ‘til this day!

The ‘shorts’ incident happened during a pre-season trip to Mainz in Germany, when Klopp was their manager. Every pre-season trip it became a bit of a ritual for Sid to go to a local church so he could light a candle.

When most people light a candle they pray for their families health and happiness, but not Sid, he prays that we win the league and cup in May. I know this because he’s told me. Mind you, I suppose that does mean my family’s health and happiness! We’d been drinking all day before a gang of us set off for Mainz Cathedral so Sid could light his candle. It was a really hot day and we were all in shorts.

Whilst the others marveled at the amazing building, me and Sid made our way towards the candles by the altar. The candles were in a stepped formation like most churches. All the candles at the front were already lit so I took a candle from the back and handed it to Sid. I guided his hand to light our candle and then guided his hand to put our candle on the back step of the holder. It wasn’t easy as Sid was fidgeting and there was a bit of smoke in my view. Next minute Sid drops the candle and starts shouting ‘I’m on fuckin fire!!’ to which I looked down in horror and see his shorts ablaze! I’d been concentrating that much on not burning his hand, that I hadn’t realised his shorts had caught fire on the bottom row of candles. His cheap shorts had gone up like the Liverpool Echo! Now I knew why he was fidgeting and where the

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smoke was coming from! I start slapping at his shorts to put the flames out. After a couple of slaps the flames were out but the whole front of his shorts had gone, except for the netting and his meat and two veg were on show to the world! I quickly dragged him to the corner and checked he was ok, which he was. I then realised that the whole church were looking at this commotion in the corner. The lads come over wondering what the fuck had gone on. The laughter when they realised what had happened and they saw Sid’s shorts will stay with me forever. We quickly surrounded Sid and got him outside.

We desperately needed a pair of shorts for him and made for the nearest clothes shop we could see. Unfortunately the only shorts they had were the wackiest multi-coloured shorts you’ve ever seen. The type you see on Germans all over Majorca. We had no choice but to get them though. It seemed funny at the time but I then realised it was me who had to guide him about in them. The looks and stick we got of fellow reds! We didn’t tell Sid about them being multi-coloured until the plane home. I’ll never forget him saying he was gutted cos the pockets were great ha ha.

The last story which stands out is the time a drunk Sid went for a piss in the middle of the night in our Dortmund hotel and got lost! I was woken in the middle of the night by Sid shouting my name. He sounded miles away though and it was only a normal size twin room. I went sick when I realised he wasn’t in the room and the front door was open. I jumped up and ran outside and there was Sid at the far end of the corridor completely bollocko feeling along the wall! I ran down the corridor calling him every soft bastard under the sun to which he replied “Thank God for that, how big is this fuckin’ room!”. It was one of the funniest things I’d ever heard.

God knows how many people had opened their doors before I got there. You could certainly hear the whispering when we went for breakfast next morning!

Sid continued to go to all the home games with Billy until 2014 when Billy had to go into hospital for a routine heart operation.

Billy hadn’t been feeling well for a while but he was determined to keep going to Anfield for the sake of Sid. Out of loyalty to Billy, Sid refused to let anyone else take him the game and missed his first games at Anfield since the late 50’s. No amount of persuasion could get him to Anfield. Tragically Billy never recovered from his operation and sadly died.

Sid was totally devastated about his hero and best mate. We all thought he’d never go another game again. It took a long time but eventually with the persuasion of his family and Billy’s wife, Sid started going back to Anfield with Charlie, his sisters grandson.

It’s certainly what Billy would have wanted.

Charlie has a lot to live up to because you could have a conversation with Sid after any match and he never missed a thing! Billy was obviously brilliant at what he did.

Recently Sid has had a personalised granite stone laid outside the new main stand at Anfield. It is inscribed with the words ‘Sid Ogwin – He’s seen things we’ll never see’.

These very apt words were chosen by my son Conor, who is also Sid’s God son. Sid is just made up that he will have a presence at Anfield forever.

Sid has followed the Purps from virtually day one and tries to get to as many games as possible as long as its not clashing with his ‘other’ team. He loves the banter and wit from the crowd and is made up that everyone lets onto him and are so friendly even though he hasn’t a clue who they are!

His highlight was being on the pitch in Fleetwood holding the Macron Cup above his head in the first season. Danny Dalton will always be his favourite player after that. A few tears were shed that night I can tell ya! Who knows he might have a plaque outside the City of Liverpool FC stadium one day as well! …now where the fuck is that back door!!!

R.I.P. Billy Stove

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With the ongoing success of our football for everyone project and our brand-new walking football initiative we are starting to put the wheels in motion for our next scheme, Kits4Kids, a scheme which aims to provide children in the local area with the equipment and kit needed to participate in football.

Families are struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head never mind forking out £40/£50 for a pair of boots every year plus shin pads, kit etc, if you have more than one child you’re suddenly looking at spending a few hundred pounds, and that’s before any subs need paying.

An analysis by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reveals cuts to benefits and tax credits under the Tory government will see children hardest hit, forecasting that around one and a half million more under-18s will live in households below the relative poverty line by 2022. The research, which analyses the

impact of welfare reforms between 2010 and 2018, shows households with lone parents and children are set to lose an average of £5,250 – almost one-fifth of their total net income, compared to a loss of £3,000 for couples with children. This will see the child poverty rate for those in lone parent households increase from 37 per cent to over 62 per cent.

These children are of great risk of being isolated and abandoned socially. The life skills learned through football help empower individuals and enhance mental wellbeing, such as increased resiliency, self-esteem and connections with others. These features of football are beneficial to people of all ages, but they are especially vital to the healthy development of young people. We must do more to increase engagement and encourage young people into football, not stand by while they are priced out of the game through no fault of their own.

This is where the fantastic City of Liverpool FC Supporters come in! If there are any old kits, boots or shin pads that your son/ daughter has grown out of then please do not hesitate to contact us and we can arrange a collection or drop them off at one of the home games where one of our Community team will collect them from you.

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LINE UPS colfc

(GK) Ben Ascroft Craig Cairns Karl Clair Daniel Dalton Alex Davies Luke Denson David Forbes Francis Foy Fidan Hajdari Jack Hazlehurst Joesph Holt Chris Lester Jamie Mcdonald Kevin Mcellin John Mcgrath Adam Pepper Thomas Peterson Criag Robinson Aubrey Rogers Thomas Spearritt Jeremy Tunzele

Manager - Craig Robinson Assistant - Tony Dunne Coach - Craig Horner Coach - Tom Spearritt

WILL YOU COLlaBORATE? COLlaborate is how you join

w didsbury & Chorlton with City of Liverpool Football

Marcus Burgess (GK) William Jones (GK Oliver Culkin (GK) Josh Tinker Richmond Botchey Jonathan Mason Matt Eckersley(C) Ryan Eisett Saul Brew - Butler Jimmy Woodward Joe Shaw Mark Rogers Martin Andrews Rory Breslin Jack Langford Zachery Cooper Ashley Leather.

Tom Bailey Saul Henderson Merizel Dos Santos Christian Banasko

Manager - Steve Settle Assistants - Steve Eckersley Steve Brockley & Matty Kay Coaches - Rob Madden Matthew Phillips & Reece Bogart

Referee - Martin Beard Assistants - Adrian Duicu & Adam Davies

Club to bring football back to its roots in Liverpool, linking you to a network of businesses, social enterprises, community organisations and other agencies who are committed to working locally and proving that good business is good for our communities.

City of Liverpool Football Club doesn’t want to sell you an advert or a sponsorship package. We want you to join with us in making our community owned football club a vehicle for social value and wider community benefit - delivering your social value through the city’s passion for football.

Social Value is the wider financial and non-financial impact of your work, including the well-being of individuals and communities, social capital and the environment.

COLlaborate will engage businesses alongside community and social enterprises, social landlords and others who share our community focused values and see the value of City of Liverpool Football Club as a means of selling this collective message to a wider audience.

Please visit colfc.co.uk for more information

Thanks to all The Partisans for your support this season - #UpThePurps

community owned… asset locked… scouse forever!

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