Stockport County FC has surprised a long-time fan in a local hospice with the chance to lift their title-winning trophy.
Stephen Foster has been supporting Stockport County since 1958, and had the same seat at the ground for over 50 years, but he is now currently a patient receiving end of life care at St Ann’s Hospice in Heald Green and unfortunately had to watch this past weekend’s history-making match from his hospice bed.
This sadly meant Stephen missed seeing his beloved team win the National League title and secure promotion back to the Football League in person.
But after seeing a photo of the 79-year-old fan watching the game from the hospice on Twitter, and after hearing just how long Stephen had been supporting the club for, Stockport County decided to put a plan into action and make a visit to the hospice to surprise patients.
They also brought the title trophy along with them, and gave Stephen the “once in a lifetime opportunity” to lift it alongside his heroes.
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And it was all just a day before Stephen’s 80th birthday.
“I’ve been supporting County since 1958,” Stephen said.
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“I’ve seen good matches, and I’ve seen bad matches. I’ve even been to Wembley five times, and then the day they got promoted, I couldn’t be there, but I watched it here at St Ann’s Hospice – but if I had been at the match, I wouldn’t be holding the trophy now.”
Steve Bellis – Club President at Stockport County FC, who brought the trophy along – said: “This is what it’s all about.
“Trophies are for the fans, they don’t belong in cabinets.
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“Someone like Stephen who has been supporting since 1958, that’s a lot of matches that he has watched, and to put a smile on his face was fantastic – it’s about the community, everywhere we take it.
“If we bring a smile to someone’s day, then it’s all worthwhile.”
Stockport County FC won the National League title to secure promotion back to the Football League / Credit: Stockport County FC (via Twitter)
“What a fantastic thing for Stockport County to do for Stephen and the rest of our patients,” added Rachel McMillan – Chief Executive at Stockport County.
“It was really exciting for patients, visitors and staff to have the opportunity to see the trophy and hold it too.
“When they think of hospices, people often think that they are sad places, and of course we have very sad days, but we’re always really focused on making sure we can help support our patients to achieve their goals too – whether that’s being able to walk to the bathroom or sit in our café for a drink.
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“Or hold aloft the cup from their beloved football team.”
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Emily Sergeant -
20th May 2022 
