STOCKPORT COUNTY FANZINE
The burgeoning demand for information for fans led to the growth in fanzines in the late 1980’s. I spent a fair bit of time in London on business at that time, and always tried to make a point of a visit to Sportspages on Charing Cross Road where I would pick up a few of them to pass the time back on the train from Euston. There was Grorty Dick, (WBA); There’s Only One F in Fulham; The Oatcake (Stoke); Where’s Albert? (Chester), and a whole plethora of others. And virtually every Club had one – from ‘the great and the good’ through to the smallest clubs in the league. But County were late to the ‘party’. The link below wasn’t written by me but by Dave Espley, who was instrumental in launching The Tea Party, the County fanzine, (and editor for Issues 7 – 100). It provides some background.
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The History of The Tea Party
Included in this compilation issue, which looked back at the best of Issues 1 -50, Dave Espley looks at how TTP came into being, and details the relationship with Club, which was fractious at times
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I have always had an interest in writing and purely out of interest submitted a piece for TTP 10, and was surprised to see it published. I wrote pretty consistently over quite a time, until calls on my time arising from a big project at work limited my contributions.
Re-reading my contributions at a distance of 25 years or so I wasn’t aware at the time but my interest in information; statistics and data seem to have framed what I wrote. I was not, (and remain so), a humourist and certainly couldn’t compete with many other contributors who could write in a style which used humour to put an argument across. Neither did I have the ‘anarchic’, (and read that in the best way – it’s not critical!), take on matters surrounding County; nor was I a campaigner, (and Dave Espley with his successful fight against the ludicrous ‘Manstock’ proposal did a brilliant job).
The Tea Party brought together a group of County ‘nuts’ who wanted to give the fans a voice. It lasted for 100 issues; was Four Four Two’s fanzine of the year in 1995; and was relevant. The growth of the Internet age, and instant access to information and opinion, led to what, in hindsight, was an inevitable demise.
My pieces for The Tea Party can be accessed by clicking on the links in the yellow boxes below. I’m pleased that I was able to play a part in reflecting on the things that were of interest to County fans at the time,
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They Wore the Number 9
A look at the players we saw wearing the “Number 9” shirt during the 1980’s
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Friday Night is County Night – But For How Long?
This piece reflects on the announcement that we would be moving away from Friday night football
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In Defence of Murphy
A reflection on the absolute mess Colin Murphy inherited from Melia in 1986
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Friday Night Isn’t County Night
‘Friday Night Football‘ – a staple for over 25 years had gone. A poor move in my view – for the reasons I outline in this piece
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Getting It In Perspective … Again
There were some critics around in the early 90’s. They had no concept of how things had improved. Caernarfon anyone?
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Christmas Cheers for County – but not if the Football League can help it
Why did we always get ridiculous games at Christmas?
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Reading Impressive Burnley Submissive
A visit to Turf Moor to have a look at two of County’s main rivals in the promotion race
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One Kevin Francis, There’s Only One Kevin Francis
The Big Man was being eyed up – what was his worth?
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Loan Stars – Lots of Anonymous Nonentities
Looks at County’s (iffy) experience of using the loan system
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Kevin Francis – The Facts not the Crerand fiction
Pat Crerand, on GMR, had described Kevin as ‘crap’ and then admitted he’d never seen him play. There had to be a response!
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Edgeley Park Academy – Report of the Inspector 1993/94
A review of 93/94 in the style of a school inspection
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The Bergara Years
Bergara completed 5 full seasons in 1993/94 – this piece takes a look at his record, and how he had changed things
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Where are they now?
A look at players who had moved on from County, and were still playing in the FL, and where they ended up
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Ten (and a bit) Years of Keeping the Faith
A look back to the keepers we had seen over the previous 10 years – and an assessment of who, (statistically), was the best
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Almost the Christmas Sell-Out
The cover of TTP 40 says it all – I reflect on the disgraceful approach taken by the Board to the (inevitable) Francis sale
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Kevin Talks to GMR
A transcript of a radio interview in which Francis shows just how poorly he was treated by the Board as his transfer unfolded
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Kevin Francis – An Appreciation
After my pieces in issues 40 and 41 the saga had been concluded. Kevin had moved on to Birmingham. I looked back over his spell at EP
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Where to from here?
Form on the field was poor; there was dissent off the field with fans wondering what was going on. I reflected on events at EP, little knowing that Bergara would be sacked within a month!
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The Numbers Game
Crowds were dropping at EP. The hard won support was drifting away as events on and off the field left an atmosphere of decline. I used a statistical analysis to show this was costing the Club well over £100k a year.
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Money Matters – Your Questions Answered
The financial position at County had long been a mystery. This piece attempts to answer the questions which had frequently been posed in the pages of TTP
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Corporate Hospitality – How The Other Half Lives
A review of the Corporate Hospitality on offer at EP
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1994 – 1995 Revisited
Back in TTP 37 I’d put my tipsters hat on to predict the outcome of Division 2. This piece shows I was the bookies friend!
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That’s Entertainment
A number of TV programmes in the summer of 1995 had left me thinking about who were the great entertainers in my life watching County. I picked my best XI!
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Fanzine Issues
I had received a copy of ‘Survival of the Fattest’. and reported back on a couple of County related issues, as seen by the contributors to “Rub of the Greens” and “The Sheeping Giant”
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The Luck of the Draw
My second contribution to TTP 49 wondered whether o not there was an in-built bias against northern teams in the First Round of the FA Cup. They were significantly more likely to draw a league club than their southern counterparts
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Hat-trick Heroes
A look back over 25 years at the hat-tricks from County players. We all knew that “Les Bradd …. scored a hat-trick at Barnsley”, (referred to in my post about Oakwell), but who were the others?
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TTP – 100 (The very last issue!)
Sitting in Judgement
I reflected on the recent sacking of Andy Kilner and assessed how he had fared. Carlton Palmer was the new incumbent and I considered the return of Colin Murphy as a crucial factor
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