Hatters Worldwide S2- 2 Kris Wetton( Australia)

 

 Kris the day of the Nuneaton game !

 

 

Kris Wetton- A Devoted County fan since the 80`s ,  sends us this heartfelt message from 9297 miles away in Takalarup, Western Australia and opens with this top notch ode to  everyone`s favourite Club!.....

 

 

 

Formerly of Stockport, now a man of the bush!! in Takalarup Western Australia,I grew up wishing away my weekdays and fervently longing for the Friday night lights at County. It was addictive -The sounds, smells, the excitement, the …..……….yeah, ok that’s the romantic version… the truth was more akin to a 2 mile trudge in the freezing cold accompanied by pouring rain or sleet to get to EP and then stand in the pouring rain for 2 hours watching the boys get belted more often than not ,,,,,it was the mid 80’s, it was the pre-Danny era and we were a rag-tag collection of ageing journeymen and wide-eyed young lads, on occasion dragged off the local parks, but in spite of the numb fingers, being soaked to the skin and getting beaten with a monotonous regularity, County  was in my blood.

 

EP ,was always magnificent to me, and whilst not the mecca it is today,  with the CE being but a few meagre concrete steps braved by a few hundred game souls full of ale and bad manners, and a soundtrack that alternated between bellowing’s of derision and a couple of old songs on repeat, but freezing rain, wind and tragedy’s notwithstanding,  I LOVED it, it didn’t just feel like my second home, it WAS my second home – we were proudly Stockport County. 

 

  In the later 80’s I was fortunate to be asked by Trev Porteous to come on down and train with the lads, my initial excitement quickly replaced by horror as I found out we were training in the carpark behind the CE, and as a keeper the gravel rash from the bitumen wasn’t a lot of fun.  Steve Marples was the regular stopper with Steve Crompton being his understudy. Greats like Asa Hartford, Frank Worthington, 

 Frank Worthington

 

 

Andy Thorpe and Tommy Sword were amongst the faces, with Frank Worthy doing his absolute best to corrupt us young’uns with some crazy parties and trips to ‘Gentleman’s establishments’ ...(although I don’t recall ever seeing too many `Gentleman` in there), ………and of course, we loved it.  88/89 was a tough season, seeing us only win 10 games with only 2 of those away from EP, but oddly we only lost 10 away and recorded 11 draws!  The season started OK but finished with only 2 wins in the last 20 games which saw us record 7 consecutive draws in March and April.  Steve Paton and I never missed a home game, and lacking drivers licenses we attended only the away games that our meagre budgets and British Rail would accommodate. In those days we didn’t have the amazing travelling hordes that frequent the Chally era except for games against Dale, Bury, Crewe etc etc which were always well attended.  Steve and I made a giant SCFC flag from an old bed sheet and it went everywhere with us for a couple of seasons! It was a shocking spray-painted affair but well visible from the opposite end and we felt pretty good about life and our giant flag!

 Tommy Sword with Oshor Williams recently.

 

Danny Bergara arrived on the scene in ‘89 and EVERYTHING changed! WHAT a man – he very quickly fashioned the team into a cohesive useful outfit that actually played football and instilled a proper work ethic into the lads which as history shows absolutely paid dividends, this was the start of our first resurgence.

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I left Stockport in 1990 and flew to my new ‘home’ -  Western Australia.  

 

 

 

 Edgeley Park Takalarup ( airial view)

 

 

 

Aside from a few expats, the locals weren’t much into their ‘soccer’, instead having an affection (or is that affliction?) for Aussie rules and barfights, seemingly one and the same on occasion.  ….I never understood why the word rules was included in the title as they seemed vague at best.   Anyway, I got on with my new life trying to overcome all the major hurdles – Finding a decent pint was harder than you might think  (they call ‘em glasses, midi’s and schooners here!!) and they have a penchant for lager-esque brews that all tasted the same….like recycled cats pee.   I really struggled to get County news and results, relying on a dial up results service that spoke slower than a man with a stammer in a freezer…... and/or calls ‘home’ to my uncle Dave (Riley), whom has been a permanent fixture at County games since as long as I can recall, One way or another I managed to keep up to date and stay connected. 

Anyway, sure enough within a year of my leaving, Danny’s magic was in full swing, and it was definitely the start of EIEIEIO, up the Football league we go – 89-90 seeing us fall short in the playoffs getting creamed by the Spirites in the semi. I didn’t find out until 2 weeks later that we had missed out – and I was gutted!   Next season however we went up as eventual runners up (by a point if I recall correctly) All the while I am still trying to acclimatise to my new home and woeful lack of proper football….and Robinson’s Best Bitter.

 

Shortly thereafter, I had bought my first car and started exploring the very many attractions that the SW of Western Australia had/has to offer and whilst I still regularly kept track of County I was not as closely attached as I would have liked. After a couple of seasons of heartbreak in the playoffs, (thanks again David Elleray – you cheating @#*#) ,we got promoted AGAIN….. …..Anyway you are all well acquainted with the footballing side of it after that as we soared to the highest of the high for a little while and I was insanely jealous reading reports from all the amazing matches and places etc ….sadly it wasn’t to last and we entered a decline of terrifying proportions on and off the park culminating in the hitherto unimaginable as we lurched precariously close to the very brink of extinction whilst wallowing in self-pity, mired in the lower reaches of the NLN.  For once, I was glad to not be part it, and what I can only imagine were truly depressing, uncertain and generally horrible times for all.

 

But, then……..salvation was just about in sight, and after VERY much unstinting work and selfless dedication by men whom need no introductions, we dragged ourselves off the canvas and thus began our 2^nd resurrection, a resurrection of Biblical proportion. A resurrection kickstarted so ably by JG and that rapidly grew in intensity and purpose, with the baton since being more than ably taken forward by the ‘Dream-team’ of DC under Mark Stotts’ meticulous and inspirational ownership, with SW playing a pivotal and often overlooked and under-rated (externally anyway) role.

 

Since the advent of net casts and the rise of the internet, I have been able to better follow our journey back from obscurity  and have happily spent Saturday nights and ‘rudely-early’ midweek mornings accompanied by one Jon Keighren, excitedly listening in as we commenced our climb back towards the Championship, which incidentally after the Nuneaton game I predicted would happen in the 24/25 season……..no pressure Dave   ……..

 

 Narelle & Kris.

 

 I married a wonderful Aussie gal Narelle in 98 and now have 4 kids -2 beautiful daughters who have spread their wings and flown the nest, one of them has 2 beautiful young daughters of her own, whilst my other daughter is travelling around Aus chasing her dreams. 

 

 

 Narelle ( Nelly )

 

 

 

 

 

I still have my 2 boys at home and needless to say they have both been thoroughly indoctrinated into the County life! They are ALL very tolerant of being woken up at all hours of the night or morning on game days as I tend to get pretty excited, and they know it won’t ever change.  We live in a remote part of SW Australia called Takalarup, next to the mighty Stirling Ranges, and our farm is of course called Edgeley Park – what else?.  

 Stirling Ranges early Spring ( with Canolas in bloom )

 

 

 

Life here is VERY VERY different, it definitely has its good points and I love our farm and am very fortunate to have this life, but that said - nothing has come close to replacing my County experiences.  

 At the Water Hole with Family & Friends.

 

 Water Hole Sans People

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The heat here is something to behold – we average 10-15 days a year over 110F and we get precious little rainfall, in fact as I write this in mid-May, we have seen 8mm of rain since August last year and as a consequence have spent indecent amounts of money carting bulk water in to the farm for household use ( I would shower in dam water but apparently I am a weirdo….)  – we are 40 miles away from the nearest scheme water so if it doesn’t rain, we have no water! My weekdays involve that same 40-mile drive to work every morning, a third of that on unsealed and mostly un-maintained gravel tracks, which give my old Land Rover a good work out, and yes, it IS blue!

 County Roo ( Emmy ) raised from a `pinky` when mother killed by car .

 

 

I would dearly love to get back to EP one day but sadly it won’t be any time soon as the budget is beyond stretched on a weekly basis in just making ends meet, as sadly seems to be increasingly the case with many folks I talk to both here in Aus and in the UK. Life seems to be getting harder and everyone is getting squeezed that little bit more each year by banks and grubby governments…but this is not the place for politics.

 

From here on out the future looks extremely rosy, the EP development plans look amazing and will usher in a new era and new generation of County fans, and so far, it seems that everything Mark Stott touches turns to gold and that everything he does is 100% thought out, costed and SUSTAINABLE <3  – and long may that continue.  I am VERY excited about life in EFL1 next year and as the off-season progresses will be anxiously awaiting news of the signings who will help the club continue this meteoric rise.

 

IO County – Kris Wetton, Exiled Hatter and County poet .

 

Best regards

 

Kris Wetton

22 Pettit Rise

Takalarup WA 6324

 

 

Thank you Kris, for a wonderful recounting of your life as an `exiled` County supporter.

 I hope that your words inspire other County supporters living outside the UK to follow your lead and send their story in to hedgegrower@gmail.com.

Meanwhile best wishes on behalf of County supporters worldwide ,hedgegrower to Narelle , Kris and their family !