Hatters Worldwide- 9 Eddie Tattersall ( Australia )

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hatters Worldwide- 9 Eddie Tattersall ( Australia)

 

G’day (as the locals say) ,

My name is Eddie Tattersall, and I wanted to share my story with you.

 I’ve been reading a few of the ones you’ve already done -it’s been great. 

Every morning I wake up and open Facebook as you do, there’s always notifications from the Stockport County Supporters Group, something that’s really helped me keep in touch with all things county being so far away.

This morning it’s the excitement of County  being in the F.A. Cup 5th Round draw, and I am keeping fingers crossed that we get to play our 3rd round tie against West Ham. I’m a little gutted with the kick-off time as it’s 6am Brisbane time and I’d have to live stream on the way to work instead of trying to find an obscure 24 hour pub that would be able to put it on the TV (Pig n Whistle, Queen Street Mall). Yeah…. pubs are almost open as normal over here in these strange times we are living in. 

It’s an F.A cup match that gives me one of my worst memories of a County game- ‘the battle of Moss Rose`- the game in 2009 where after 2 postponements we ended up playing our home game at the ground of our rivals Macc Town due to the freezing conditions.  I couldn’t feel my feet by the end of the game that’s the memories that live with me, the game itself was in-fact a blur.

Going back to the 90’s when I was dragged along to my 1st County game, my dad tells the story of how I took a nap midst a game that must have been pretty riveting !
My memories of sitting by the tunnel waiting for high 5’s from the likes of big Kev, Preecey, Flynn, Neil Edward’s, Toddy, and all those great players from that era.

The photo here is of me, with brothers Matt  & Rick, Dad & Grandad at Wembley….

 

 

 

 

I remember that memorable night in Chesterfield, my Dad, Aunty and grandad all travelled there, but we couldn’t even get into the ground. We sat in the car the whole game in sight of the ground listening to the game on the radio. I think the journey home that night was almost as nerve racking as the game.

The 2008 playoff campaign against Wycombe I dropped my ticket somewhere on the way from the coach to the ground, luckily enough I was able to back track and find it.

The next photo shows me, my brothers + Charlie and  mate Mark…

 

 

 

My brothers will want me to mention my terrible record of losing and or breaking flasks at County games, to the dismay of my dad who must have thought I was a right idiot. One game against Carlisle away ,we took 2 flasks that day as it was freezing. I managed to knock one over and break it, the annoying thing was I took the broken one home and left the decent one there .

Anyhow to modern time in Brisbane and my love for County has passed onto the next generation ( photo shows Daughter Emily in County merch).

 

 

 

 

My granddad Harold signed my daughter up days after she was born he was so proud.

My brother Matt sent a huge package of merchandise from the County store, I couldn’t believe the range of things that we sold in the store.

 

 
`The Scarf my Father Wore` became a bedtime lullaby for my daughter from day 1 (I didn’t know many normal lullaby’s) .
Emily’s 5 now and still asks me to sing it at bedtime only now she joins me word for word, it always sounds strange hearing it in an Aussie accent though.

 

Next pic -My Aussie wife Ria, daughter and Grandma Sheila, 2019 (we went to see County v Fylde FA Trophy semi final)

 

 

And we were lucky to get a picture with the county legend that day……

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was 2 in the morning ……and I was watching the game at Nuneaton. Some kind soul was live streaming it to Facebook. In my back yard I’d had a few home brews and was being a bit rowdy on my own, doing laps of the yard swinging my County shirt around my head, joining in with the chants. I am grateful for the technology that allows me to feel like I’m a big part of the County Community as well.

 

My grandad Harold Tattersall has recently discovered YouTube, he spends hours watching old county matches it’s awesome he has learnt how to use the technology in these lockdown times.

 

 

I’d like to make a special mention to my Grandma who recently passed away. Sheila Wilson for a time was the kit manager at County, she used to tell us stories including the times when she had to take all the kits home to wash and hang them out on her own line as there was some fault with the washing machine at the time.
She lived in Shaw Heath, very close to the County ground, and this final photo  of Sheila Wilson and Harold Tattersall was the last photo they had taken together, my mums, mum and my dad`s dad !

 

 

There were times I wasn’t at the game as a kid, but could hear the Edgeley roar while I’d be waiting to see who had scored on Ceefax- those were the good old days.

I’m very happy with where County are now. I don’t watch as many games as I’d like due to the time difference, but I hope that the fans can get back into the ground when it is safe to do so, and support the mighty County through thick and thin as they always have.

Best wishes to everyone back home and thank you for sharing all these stories it’s been great reading them

Eddie Tattersall

 

From hedgegrower........ many thanks to Eddie for a real belter there that again brought home to us here in the UK generally and SK3 in particular how deep the love for our Club is across the globe and how it would but gain from some nurture.

 Comms for County games at this difficult time are fairly good with streaming almost a commonplace and of course You Tube, but what if / when streaming ceases......we need to keep our large army of exiles in touch especially on match days...can we do this?.....I think we can...if we have the will to!

Next up a brilliant article from Thailand , but old hedgie still wants to hear from you exiles......the world needs to read your story!

 

hedgegrower