There were
more than one or two tense expressions on the faces of Stockport County
Supporters Cooperative Board members …..it
was Thursday 2 June …
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| Dave & Billy up to their eyes...... |
.......and the culmination of weeks and weeks of patient
negotiations , followed by a prolonged media focus publicising what was another
bold move into largely uncharted territory by Events Manager Dave Marchbank and
his team.
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| Supporters Coop team ready to rumble! |
For the first
time the Cooperative engaged in a three pronged link up with nationally famous
CAMRA….Stockport charity Beacon Counselling and local brewers Cryptic Ales ,in
a move designed to boost the Guardian Account which is steadily heading towards
£20000 as I write this article.
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| Dave M with CAMRA PA |
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The link up
with CAMRA was a bold move on our part …another leap into the dark …. agreement
being reached some months ago for the Thursday evening session at the truly
massive Stockport Beer & Cider Festival to be `County Night’.
CAMRA were
most helpful throughout offering loads of good advice as we prepared for the
event, but notwithstanding this, come Thursday and tensions were high…..would
the event fly or come a cropper?
Bumping into
Alan Lord in the car park going in, and getting an early peek at the new Help
the Hatters kit, helped with the morale issue and it proved a good omen too as
the event was a brilliant success….numbers up 6% overall we are told.
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| Ken Scott & Steve Bellis pull first Ghost pint! |
The
Cooperatives evening started circa 5.15 when representatives of the Club and Cryptic Ales linked up to choreograph the
ceremonial pulling of the first pint of County themed beer `The Ghost’ by
competition winner Ken Scott. Cryptic had worked really well with the
Supporters Cooperative to launch this beer, and we urge County fans to give it
a try!
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| Cryptic in action ! |
The rest of
the County orientated content went
really well also…..Alan Ogley….legend and hero from County’s past, set the tone
with a riveting address to a packed room prior to the England game that was
shown on the giant screen.
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| Alan Ogley addresses County fans.... |
Alan overran by a minute or so but no one minded
this at all and he got a great reception.
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| Podders in contemplative mood.... |
Next off, as
the game ran its course Alan headed for the County Podcast which was recording
edition 17 live from the County Night.
How did it go? Well I asked Podcaster Nick Lee who enthused he would `
love to have Alan on every week..a great guy to talk to!’ Nick advised that Chris Larkin, Dave Marchbank were also taking part although contract
negotiations with Orson Cartier were stalling at that point.
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| Alan Ogley in Podcast action. |
Catch what looks
like being a great Podcast when it appears soon!
As stated
above the event was aimed at boosting the Guardian Account , but the
Cooperative were also mindful that CAMRA had a charity partner namely Stockport
‘s Beacon Counselling who do important
work, helping young Stockport people and
adults, operating from their offices in Bramhall and Greek Street in Stockport.
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| Beacon Counselling working hard ! |
The aim on Thursday however was to push a Grand Raffle which offered a range of
good prizes, but crucially also allowed Beacon and ourselves to share the
proceeds 50/50.Details of winners to be announced soon.
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| Tension mounts as Grand Raffle Draw time nears ! |
That was a
great night….here’s to next year!
Ian Brown
Additional Gallery:
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| M I A H ..... |
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| Cryptic, the Club, Coop and Ken pre ceremony ! |
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| Cryptic in action/2 |
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| David Wright raises his pint of The Ghost! |
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| Alan Ogley |
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| Pete Towey introduces Alan |
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| Enjoying the Beer Fest ! | | | | | | |
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| Alan Ogley talks to Dave Marchbank. |
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