Giving supporters a good name
I THOUGHT that this week I would pen something that would provide a contrast to some of the material we have had to read in the last couple of weeks, emanating from the Euro’s in France.
Much of the coverage featuring supporters at the football festival has been negative, and to the neutral , supporters – particularly those of England and Russia – have come out of it all with reputations sullied.
Arguments rage backwards and forwards as to who is to blame, but the bottom line is that there is a real public order problem when England supporters travel abroad in support of their team.
As a County supporter who follows his team wherever they play I feel the need to seek to balance the negativity with some positives, albeit from a domestic angle.
County are blessed with two strong supporters organisations in the Supporters Cooperative and Help the Hatters , both of whom have good support from large, loyal memberships.
No negative vibes abounded last Thursday as I went to Edgeley Park for the latest Help the Hatters Working Party.
Many supporters of Help the Hatters are also members of the Cooperative and it was good to see this mix of motivations gelling so well in the cause of helping the Club.
The dedication was impressive, and I was even more impressed when I encountered Kip Akram.
Kip was supervising a group of young fans who were tasked with clearing litter from the Cheadle End Stand after the recent Beer Festival.
It emerged that Kip had been busy painting the corridors in the main stand during the day as well, something he had been doing for some time.
Under the roof of the Danny Bergara Stand I found John Gaskin who was the brains behind the Working Party planning. John’s plans were working well as he divided his time between main stand and Railway End where a group of supporters were applying yellow paint with gusto to gangways and railings.
But Gaskin is not afraid of rolling his sleeves up and in the days that followed Thursday’s Working Party I found him, alone under the same roof, painting gangways and walkways!
It goes without saying that all this dedications is given freely and without charge , as an expression of love for their club, and this generosity of spirit can be found the length and breadth of the land – think AFC Fylde whose supporters cycled from Fylde to Stockport on match day to raise money for a Cancer Charity this season, but visit any club in the land and this magnificent selflessness you will see replicated.
As a Supporters Cooperative we have always been aware of our community responsibilities hence our involvement with Stockport homeless charity The Wellspring, and other charities such as Beacon Counselling of Greek Street and Bramhall. All the above is but small beer, when viewed alongside the happenings in France, but nevertheless grounds for optimism perhaps in trying times.