Post by bigfudge on Oct 2, 2014 7:47:32 GMT
Second in our series of Heavenly interviews is our resident legal boffin, Sandbachhatter!
Let's dive straight in shall we...
I have to start with the obvious question. When did you first go to County and did you know straight away that you were a County fan or did you go through a phase of supporting any other teams?
I'm ashamed to say that I was, albeit briefly, a Liverpool fan for a year or two in my youth. I would have been around 8 or 9 at the time. I don't actually recall following them very closely, and I've certainly never been to Anfield, but I do remember wearing a grey and white tracksuit (in true Scouse style) with 'Candy' emblazoned across the front. Obviously, in hindsight, I was just following one of the top teams. (well, THE top team at the time as it would have been 1988/89) like a lot of school kids do, and there was no way I was going to support United, having had inherent hatred drummed into me by my dad since I was in nappies.
Then Italia '90 came along, my love of football blossomed (and I started taking a proper interest rather than just doing what my friends did) and my Dad took me to Wembley for the Port Vale (Autoglass) and Burnley (Play-Off) finals when I would have been 13 and 14 respectively. The Port Vale match wasn't my first County experience, as I had been to E.P. before that, but I think that was when I properly fell in love with County.
During you're time supporting County you'll have, obviously, made a lot of friends. Certainly helped by places like County Heaven. How important do you think a good community feel is to a club like County?
It's massively important. I think, in all honesty, if there hadn't been that sense of camaraderie over the last few seasons, not only would attendances have been far lower than they were, the club most likely wouldn't have survived. We don't go to County to watch the best football in the world, we go because it's in the blood and it's part of us. Without the community spirit, that sense of 'belonging' just isn't there, and the enjoyment factor is very limited.
Prior to my discovery of the old BBC Sport 606 site (which wasn't great but without it I wouldn't have known about County Heaven), I could count the number of people I knew at E.P. on one hand - and most of them were either my Dad's mates or school friends I'd dragged along in the good old days. Now, I've met a load of Heaveners and it's opened up a new element to going to games for me. If I can still enjoy a day out at the footy, after the past few seasons, we must have something pretty special in our fanbase.
Plus, if it wasn't for County Heaven, I wouldn't be one-half of the greatest football programme-writing duo of all time! (Still nothing compared to BigFudge, that guy was great! - Ed)
Sticking with the community feel of the club. In 2009 the club experienced one of it's toughest times to date, administration. The fans really rallied and wouldn't let the club die, part of this was the huge protest march that gathered national attention. Of course you were a key figure in this as the legal voice of the fans, did this feel like a huge honour to you?
I suspect you're overplaying my part just a tad here! (Disagree! - Ed). I knew Dave Schofield through 606 and the original incarnation of County Heaven, and he asked me to help out with organising the march, but my role was originally limited to spreading the word by compiling a team of volunteers to post 10,000 leaflets around Stockport and the surrounding areas. We managed to get them all printed and delivered in a 48-hour turnaround though which was a great achievement. Not sure how many joined the march as a direct result of having seen the leaflet, but I like to think we raised awareness if nothing else.
On the day of the march itself, I was just there to do my bit, and it was only when we got to the offices of Leonard Curtis that a message went through the crowd that Dave was looking for me. I found him at the front and he asked me to go into the offices with him as a legal advisor.
Now, I think we all know that I am by no means a legal expert on such matters, and I pointed this out to Dave at the time, but he stressed it was more a bullying tactic and, if nothing else, some moral support for him. If you can get hold of the ITV coverage which was on the news that evening, you can see me slinking off to one side when Dave is doing his bit to the camera.
Of course, I completely understand that you can't just tell us what happened and what was said in there, but was the whole situation a bit nerve-wracking and was it difficult and/or intimidating speaking with the administrators?
To be honest, I was never formally involved in any legal capacity (in that I was never a party to the negotiations that went on following that meeting) so I'd not be breaching any confidentiality by recounting what was discussed, but in truth we just ran through the list of issues that Dave had prepared (such as their fees, etc). We couldn't possibly have expected them to have full answers for us there and then, but from recollection it was agreed that they would address each point in writing within 14 days. It was nerve-wracking, but not in the sense of speaking to the administrators as they were very approachable in what must have been a bad situation for them too. It was more terrifying to think that there were cameras outside and I was just praying Dave didn't 'hand over' to his legal representative!
On a slightly lighter note, you're known on County Heaven for some of your brilliant anecdotes. What is your favourite anecdote from your time as a County fan?
'Brilliant'? Bless you. Well, if you've read C.H.A.O.S., then you might think that my favourite anecdote would involve a friend of mine (who we'll call Tim because, well, that's his name) but actually I'd say the tale that still makes me laugh even now is the ill-advised drag act booking in the Royal Oak after Luton at home a couple of seasons ago (see Week L of 'C.H.A.O.S. Too' for full details!).
Of the many players you've seen pull on the County shirt, who would make your all-time best XI and is there any room for your old pal BigFudge in there?! (I've played for County Legends dontcha know?)
My all-time XI wouldn't necessarily feature the best players to wear the shirt, but those players who, for one reason or another, form my favourite memories of watching County over 20+ years. I'd therefore go with:
Neil Edwards, Sean Connelly, Mike Flynn, Jim Gannon, Lee Todd, Tommy Rowe, Luis Cavaco, Anthony Pilkington, Stephen Gleeson, Kevin Francis, Andy Preece.
I originally included Carl Baker as, aside from being a terrific player, he is a top man and I will never forget the events at Yeovil away (even though I wasn't there) following the tragic passing of his brother. Sadly, though, I just had to put Stephen Gleeson in as he's my favourite loanee ever, so there was room for Carl as well.
And, of course, I'd bring our super-sub Fudgie off the bench to poach the winner in the last 10-15 minutes! Better than bringing you off at half-time.......so to speak!
A much contested issue amongst County fans, but who would lead Sandy's Superstars (actually that name sounds familiar, don't Google it at work!) to glory?
It has to be Danny, doesn't it? No contest.
You were obviously a huge part of the Macclesfield Walk and really helped get it off the ground. For me, just doing the walk was one of my proudest achievements, you must be immensely proud that your idea got so much attention and raised so much money for a great cause. What did it mean to you personally?
I can't even recall how or when I came up with the idea to be honest (not that doing a sponsored walk is anything particularly pioneering), but I'd taken a look at KidsCan following their joining of the last County Heaven site and just felt like it would be nice to do our bit. At the time, my wife's cousin had just found out that her son - who was around 18 months old at the time - had cancer, and the work that KidsCan do really struck a chord. A sponsored walk is relatively easy to organise and co-ordinate, and doesn't cost anything like some sponsored activities can - for example, abseiling - so everything we made went straight to charity.
I originally set the target for fundraising at £1,000, but with only a week or two to go until the walk we were nowhere near that, so it didn't look like we'd reach the target. I was concerned I'd been unrealistic, but as we all know, on the day of the walk itself the money came flooding in and we raised nearly double that amount in the end - £1,836.25 to be precise! I'm immensely proud of that, and everyone who did the walk on the day. It was tough, but as you'd expect from County fans, there was a great team spirit and no one gave up.
Is there anything like that in the pipeline for this season?
There is indeed. By the time this interview is revealed to the masses, I shall have announced 'Hatters Hike 2015', and shall hope to see even more people take part. It might be hard to drum up as much interest now that our fanbase has shrunk and our press coverage isn't as regular, but I think a target of £1,000 is perfectly achievable again so I'm sticking with it.
Now just a bit of fun to wind down with, which 3 Heaveners would you most like to be stuck on a desert island with and why?
Good question. Will you be offended if I don't say you?! (No *sniffles sadly* I understand - Ed) I'm struggling to narrow it down to three as I've met a lot of Heaveners now and I like all of them! I'll choose Bradninch, as he's a top bloke and the first Heavener I ever met; Gazza as not only is he a top bloke and someone I've known for a long time, but if nothing else we can discuss our mutual love of Eve 6; and Maccy because, well, he's my brother from another mother, isn't he? We're like Ant and Dec, you can't separate us.
For what it's worth, my B-Team (just supposing the first three were eaten by sharks), would be Shropshire so that we could work on further verses to our Scott Duxbury chant; yourself, because there are very few County fans as passionate as yourself and we always have a good laugh; and Sirius because, well, someone has to cook, right?! Plus, we need some eye-candy and she'd look better in a bikini than another_ruined_saturday (who would have made the grade as he genuinely cracks me up, but we've never met in person and he might not like me!).
Ah, bugger, there's Eppy as well who's the nicest chap you could ever hope to meet. I can't do it, I can't pick just three of you!
Apologies to everyone else, I honestly love you all. You're like my second family.
You're setting up a CH 5-a-side team, who gets in and why?
I used to play a bit in goal myself, but on the basis I'm arranging the team (so I'll stick to a purely managerial role), and I've no doubt he's better between the sticks than me, despite being nearly twice my age (!), I'll start my line-up with Lennie 'The Hands' in net. I'd imagine Downy 'The Aussie Aggressor' can still do a job, despite hanging up his boots earlier this year, and I know you play a lot too, so lets have both of you at the back, followed by Jarkko in midfield and Maccy (who I recall prefers a striker's role from his CHAOS stories) up front.
Finally, you're forced to switch places with one Heavner for a whole week, who do you pick and why?
I'd have to say Mrs. Macc so I could find out what it's like to snuggle up with Maccy in bed! Joke, obviously* Erm, I think I'll say Shrops. It'd be nice to feel young again, with Uni (and all that untapped skirt) beckoning, not getting out of breath just by walking up the stairs, no financial burdens other than pocket money, your life ahead of you, fabulous hair - seriously, what conditioner does he use? - I could go on.
And on that bombshell, this appears to be the last question so I shall bid you adieu. Thanks for having me Fudgie, keep up the good work!
*I already know.
Many thanks to Sandy for answering this questions, hilariously as ever!
Let's dive straight in shall we...
I have to start with the obvious question. When did you first go to County and did you know straight away that you were a County fan or did you go through a phase of supporting any other teams?
I'm ashamed to say that I was, albeit briefly, a Liverpool fan for a year or two in my youth. I would have been around 8 or 9 at the time. I don't actually recall following them very closely, and I've certainly never been to Anfield, but I do remember wearing a grey and white tracksuit (in true Scouse style) with 'Candy' emblazoned across the front. Obviously, in hindsight, I was just following one of the top teams. (well, THE top team at the time as it would have been 1988/89) like a lot of school kids do, and there was no way I was going to support United, having had inherent hatred drummed into me by my dad since I was in nappies.
Then Italia '90 came along, my love of football blossomed (and I started taking a proper interest rather than just doing what my friends did) and my Dad took me to Wembley for the Port Vale (Autoglass) and Burnley (Play-Off) finals when I would have been 13 and 14 respectively. The Port Vale match wasn't my first County experience, as I had been to E.P. before that, but I think that was when I properly fell in love with County.
During you're time supporting County you'll have, obviously, made a lot of friends. Certainly helped by places like County Heaven. How important do you think a good community feel is to a club like County?
It's massively important. I think, in all honesty, if there hadn't been that sense of camaraderie over the last few seasons, not only would attendances have been far lower than they were, the club most likely wouldn't have survived. We don't go to County to watch the best football in the world, we go because it's in the blood and it's part of us. Without the community spirit, that sense of 'belonging' just isn't there, and the enjoyment factor is very limited.
Prior to my discovery of the old BBC Sport 606 site (which wasn't great but without it I wouldn't have known about County Heaven), I could count the number of people I knew at E.P. on one hand - and most of them were either my Dad's mates or school friends I'd dragged along in the good old days. Now, I've met a load of Heaveners and it's opened up a new element to going to games for me. If I can still enjoy a day out at the footy, after the past few seasons, we must have something pretty special in our fanbase.
Plus, if it wasn't for County Heaven, I wouldn't be one-half of the greatest football programme-writing duo of all time! (Still nothing compared to BigFudge, that guy was great! - Ed)
Sticking with the community feel of the club. In 2009 the club experienced one of it's toughest times to date, administration. The fans really rallied and wouldn't let the club die, part of this was the huge protest march that gathered national attention. Of course you were a key figure in this as the legal voice of the fans, did this feel like a huge honour to you?
I suspect you're overplaying my part just a tad here! (Disagree! - Ed). I knew Dave Schofield through 606 and the original incarnation of County Heaven, and he asked me to help out with organising the march, but my role was originally limited to spreading the word by compiling a team of volunteers to post 10,000 leaflets around Stockport and the surrounding areas. We managed to get them all printed and delivered in a 48-hour turnaround though which was a great achievement. Not sure how many joined the march as a direct result of having seen the leaflet, but I like to think we raised awareness if nothing else.
On the day of the march itself, I was just there to do my bit, and it was only when we got to the offices of Leonard Curtis that a message went through the crowd that Dave was looking for me. I found him at the front and he asked me to go into the offices with him as a legal advisor.
Now, I think we all know that I am by no means a legal expert on such matters, and I pointed this out to Dave at the time, but he stressed it was more a bullying tactic and, if nothing else, some moral support for him. If you can get hold of the ITV coverage which was on the news that evening, you can see me slinking off to one side when Dave is doing his bit to the camera.
Of course, I completely understand that you can't just tell us what happened and what was said in there, but was the whole situation a bit nerve-wracking and was it difficult and/or intimidating speaking with the administrators?
To be honest, I was never formally involved in any legal capacity (in that I was never a party to the negotiations that went on following that meeting) so I'd not be breaching any confidentiality by recounting what was discussed, but in truth we just ran through the list of issues that Dave had prepared (such as their fees, etc). We couldn't possibly have expected them to have full answers for us there and then, but from recollection it was agreed that they would address each point in writing within 14 days. It was nerve-wracking, but not in the sense of speaking to the administrators as they were very approachable in what must have been a bad situation for them too. It was more terrifying to think that there were cameras outside and I was just praying Dave didn't 'hand over' to his legal representative!
On a slightly lighter note, you're known on County Heaven for some of your brilliant anecdotes. What is your favourite anecdote from your time as a County fan?
'Brilliant'? Bless you. Well, if you've read C.H.A.O.S., then you might think that my favourite anecdote would involve a friend of mine (who we'll call Tim because, well, that's his name) but actually I'd say the tale that still makes me laugh even now is the ill-advised drag act booking in the Royal Oak after Luton at home a couple of seasons ago (see Week L of 'C.H.A.O.S. Too' for full details!).
Of the many players you've seen pull on the County shirt, who would make your all-time best XI and is there any room for your old pal BigFudge in there?! (I've played for County Legends dontcha know?)
My all-time XI wouldn't necessarily feature the best players to wear the shirt, but those players who, for one reason or another, form my favourite memories of watching County over 20+ years. I'd therefore go with:
Neil Edwards, Sean Connelly, Mike Flynn, Jim Gannon, Lee Todd, Tommy Rowe, Luis Cavaco, Anthony Pilkington, Stephen Gleeson, Kevin Francis, Andy Preece.
I originally included Carl Baker as, aside from being a terrific player, he is a top man and I will never forget the events at Yeovil away (even though I wasn't there) following the tragic passing of his brother. Sadly, though, I just had to put Stephen Gleeson in as he's my favourite loanee ever, so there was room for Carl as well.
And, of course, I'd bring our super-sub Fudgie off the bench to poach the winner in the last 10-15 minutes! Better than bringing you off at half-time.......so to speak!
A much contested issue amongst County fans, but who would lead Sandy's Superstars (actually that name sounds familiar, don't Google it at work!) to glory?
It has to be Danny, doesn't it? No contest.
You were obviously a huge part of the Macclesfield Walk and really helped get it off the ground. For me, just doing the walk was one of my proudest achievements, you must be immensely proud that your idea got so much attention and raised so much money for a great cause. What did it mean to you personally?
I can't even recall how or when I came up with the idea to be honest (not that doing a sponsored walk is anything particularly pioneering), but I'd taken a look at KidsCan following their joining of the last County Heaven site and just felt like it would be nice to do our bit. At the time, my wife's cousin had just found out that her son - who was around 18 months old at the time - had cancer, and the work that KidsCan do really struck a chord. A sponsored walk is relatively easy to organise and co-ordinate, and doesn't cost anything like some sponsored activities can - for example, abseiling - so everything we made went straight to charity.
I originally set the target for fundraising at £1,000, but with only a week or two to go until the walk we were nowhere near that, so it didn't look like we'd reach the target. I was concerned I'd been unrealistic, but as we all know, on the day of the walk itself the money came flooding in and we raised nearly double that amount in the end - £1,836.25 to be precise! I'm immensely proud of that, and everyone who did the walk on the day. It was tough, but as you'd expect from County fans, there was a great team spirit and no one gave up.
Is there anything like that in the pipeline for this season?
There is indeed. By the time this interview is revealed to the masses, I shall have announced 'Hatters Hike 2015', and shall hope to see even more people take part. It might be hard to drum up as much interest now that our fanbase has shrunk and our press coverage isn't as regular, but I think a target of £1,000 is perfectly achievable again so I'm sticking with it.
Now just a bit of fun to wind down with, which 3 Heaveners would you most like to be stuck on a desert island with and why?
Good question. Will you be offended if I don't say you?! (No *sniffles sadly* I understand - Ed) I'm struggling to narrow it down to three as I've met a lot of Heaveners now and I like all of them! I'll choose Bradninch, as he's a top bloke and the first Heavener I ever met; Gazza as not only is he a top bloke and someone I've known for a long time, but if nothing else we can discuss our mutual love of Eve 6; and Maccy because, well, he's my brother from another mother, isn't he? We're like Ant and Dec, you can't separate us.
For what it's worth, my B-Team (just supposing the first three were eaten by sharks), would be Shropshire so that we could work on further verses to our Scott Duxbury chant; yourself, because there are very few County fans as passionate as yourself and we always have a good laugh; and Sirius because, well, someone has to cook, right?! Plus, we need some eye-candy and she'd look better in a bikini than another_ruined_saturday (who would have made the grade as he genuinely cracks me up, but we've never met in person and he might not like me!).
Ah, bugger, there's Eppy as well who's the nicest chap you could ever hope to meet. I can't do it, I can't pick just three of you!
Apologies to everyone else, I honestly love you all. You're like my second family.
You're setting up a CH 5-a-side team, who gets in and why?
I used to play a bit in goal myself, but on the basis I'm arranging the team (so I'll stick to a purely managerial role), and I've no doubt he's better between the sticks than me, despite being nearly twice my age (!), I'll start my line-up with Lennie 'The Hands' in net. I'd imagine Downy 'The Aussie Aggressor' can still do a job, despite hanging up his boots earlier this year, and I know you play a lot too, so lets have both of you at the back, followed by Jarkko in midfield and Maccy (who I recall prefers a striker's role from his CHAOS stories) up front.
Finally, you're forced to switch places with one Heavner for a whole week, who do you pick and why?
I'd have to say Mrs. Macc so I could find out what it's like to snuggle up with Maccy in bed! Joke, obviously* Erm, I think I'll say Shrops. It'd be nice to feel young again, with Uni (and all that untapped skirt) beckoning, not getting out of breath just by walking up the stairs, no financial burdens other than pocket money, your life ahead of you, fabulous hair - seriously, what conditioner does he use? - I could go on.
And on that bombshell, this appears to be the last question so I shall bid you adieu. Thanks for having me Fudgie, keep up the good work!
*I already know.
Many thanks to Sandy for answering this questions, hilariously as ever!
