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Showing posts from June, 2016

Happy 101st Birthday George !

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101st BIRTHDAY - CONGRATULATIONS GEORGE HAIGH...COUNTY LEGEND! County's oldest surviving former player George Haigh is 101 years of age today and the blog on behalf of all Stockport County supporters everywhere, wishes this wonderful man a very happy day!   George first played at Edgeley Park in schoolboy football in 1929 and was offered a professional contract by County when in his teens. He was on the books for four years, a regular in the 'A' team then the reserves before getting into the first   team   in October 1938. He usually gets in a couple of County games a season after moving south to be closer to his family, occasionally delaying the journey back to enjoy a rare chance for a couple of halves of mild in a Robbies pub.    George   cut the ribbon on the pitch to launch the club's 125th year when they played Morecambe in January 2008 and was the star guests at the launch of the SCAN scheme just over four years ago, an

Welcome to Pub 101 ? by Man in a Hat.

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This time last year, some of the County Faithful gathered to celebrate the 100 th birthday of George Haigh, County’s oldest former player. You may recall that we did this by raising a glass of George’s favourite tipple - Velvet Pussy (port & Guinness), sometimes called Purple Velvet. Whilst it did get a bit messy for some, it was so enjoyable; getting together with County Supporters during the closed season, that we thought it would be good idea to make this an annual affair. So, on Wednesday 29 th June from 6pm, we’ll be gathering in the Florist on Shaw Heath (where we’ve enjoyed the odd half or three with George over the years) once again, this time to celebrate George’s 101 st ! Coincidentally, George’s birthday is also shared by Club Historian Ian Watts, who will also be joining us in order to reveal the answers to part 1 of his County Challenge. This is a great opportunity to have a well deserved break from all the vo

Ian Watts' County Challenge- 1

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Pic: gurufans.com Whilst Jim Gannon's summer recruitment campaign continues there is not a lot of County related news to report until the pre-season games kick off. To help hedgegrower keep the blog ticking over I've put together a few brief County related matching challenges. With the first stage of the Euro 2016 competition now completed and all six ex-Hatters still involved (Fraser Foster of England, Wayne Hennessey, Ashley Williams and Owain fon Williams for Wales, with Jamie Ward and Gareth Mc Cauley for Northern Ireland) )this first challenge is concentrating on players who were capped at full international level whilst or after being at EP. Pic: alchetron.com With the only ex-Hatter to hit the net in France so far being 2004 trialist Mc Cauley, who made a few pre-season matches that year but decided   to join Lincoln City;; I have included a few men who didn't make a competitive FIRST TEAM GAME. So here is a selection of men who hav

A Close Season Ramble – of the none hiking variety

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Swapping away trips to places like Solihull and North Ferriby (well not next season) for mowing lawns and watering hanging baskets may not be to every fans liking ...... Photo ;www.cartoonstock.com ........but there you are, little choice, but at least we can savour the Euro’s ...... Photo: TheIndian Express ........if that floats your boat. Photo: theeventchronicle.com  The clubs cheeky little game in making us wait for the chance to buy next seasons season tickets is over and we can all speculate on the next signings, the pre season and all the ritualistic, eternally optimistic dreaming for the next time round starts to embed. I’ve been doing it for nearly 50 years and I could not stop now even if I wanted to. I suppose this happens to every fan of every club, every season whatever the status or circumstances. I feel sure that even if we could only field a team of 10 old age pensioners with a three legged dog in goals we would reckon that this formula wo

EPWP 6 and Hedgegrowers 2016 Stat Blast !

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EPWP6 First off some photos from last Thursdays Help the Hatters Edgeley Park Working Party that again saw 20 of the usual suspects turn out to do the biz.... The main emphasis this week was concentrated on the Danny Bergara Stand and the Railway End. Ann, Natalie and Pat got stuck into cleaning the main stand.... ....whilst the lads got busy applying grey to the gangways.   David continued to sort the Railway End gates...... .....allowing Biggles to set at it painting the gates a fetching shade of yellow. He had good company and many hands made light work of things..... .....as gaffer John Gaskin supervised matters. A short break , and it was back to it, working finishing circa 8.45  Thanks  to all who again turned out this week....your efforts are appreciated and help the Club no end!.Next session at Edgeley Park is this Thursday 16 June. Report from 6pm at the Railway End, come pre