A Memorable Night For Cheadle Town
Tue 8th February 2011 | Cheadle Town | By Ian Templeman
Faces young and old gathered at the Piccadilly Ramada Hotel in Manchester for Cheadle Town's 50th Anniversary Dinner last Friday night.
Chief Guest was Fred Eyre, ex-Cheadle player, current co-commentator on Manchester City matches on BBC Radio Manchester and accomplished after-dinner speaker.
After a dinner that featured "Brokenbrow Broccoli and Stilton Soup" in honour of present manager Steve Brokenbrow, Fred introduced the post-dinner schedule which started with awards for the Cheadle Town 'Players of the Decades'.
The awards went to:
60s - Roger Dilkes
70s - Jon McArdle (who is the holder of the record for the most number of appearances in a Cheadle shirt)
80s - Gary Connor
90s - Ian Henderson
00s - Aaron Riley, our current captain
After club chairman Chris Davies said a few words, it was time for a musical break as 15 year-old Lauren-Lee Broomhead - daughter of ex-Cheadle player Lee Broomhead and a finalist in a local talent contest - took to the stage and entertained the audience with a couple of songs.
After that it was time for the second tranche of awards, focussing more on those players who hold particular records with the club. Peter Tilley collected his for being the player to score the most in one season (43 goals in 1979); David Charlton and Jon De Pledge got theirs for the most number of goals in one game (both with six goals in 1972 and 1964 respectively).
Jon McArdle made his second visit to the stage to collect his award for most appearances (well in excess of 600 for the club), and finally Fred Eyre got one for the most appearances whilst on tour with the club.
Club President Alwyn Thompson then made a speech, Chairman Chris Davies got his second standing ovation of the evening (surely the only football club chairman to get two in the same night!), and Irish comedian Dusty Young then had everyone chuckling with his traditional brand of humour before we all got a preview of the club history DVD.
The DVD will cost a bargain £20 for three hours of exclusive footage from the club's days as Grasmere Rovers, and from the numerous worldwide tours they have made.
Chairman Chris Davies, the man who started the club in 1961 and who organised the event, said it was a great night and a great way to celebrate the past 50 years.
"Over 250 people came on the night, and it was amazing to see so many people from different eras all gathered together, including seven members of the very first team that played in 1961.
"I formed the club after a 14 year old lad called Barrie Dean knocked on my door and asked me if I would help to start a football club up for the young lads in the area. He was part of that first team, and I hadn't seen him for over 30 years as he moved away from the area and now lives in Nantwich, but he came along and it was great to see him again.
"Although many of the people who attended still live in the area, we had over 50 people who came on the night who travelled from outside Manchester, including two who came over from Portugal.
"I have to admit that as people began arriving, and began meeting up and were obviously so pleased to see one another again, I was quite overcome. It was a great experience, and obviously there were plenty of stories swapped during the evening.
"We are in the process of putting the finishing touches to the DVD, a preview of which was shown on the night. The finished version will also contain footage from the dinner, and we will let everyone know in due course when copies are available."
Karl aka The Pole
Cheadle Town Online Fanzine
www.cheadletownfc.com
A Memorable Night For Cheadle Town
Tue 8th February 2011 | Cheadle Town
By Ian Templeman
Faces young and old gathered at the Piccadilly Ramada Hotel in Manchester for Cheadle Town's 50th Anniversary Dinner last Friday night.
Chief Guest was Fred Eyre, ex-Cheadle player, current co-commentator on Manchester City matches on BBC Radio Manchester and accomplished after-dinner speaker.
After a dinner that featured "Brokenbrow Broccoli and Stilton Soup" in honour of present manager Steve Brokenbrow, Fred introduced the post-dinner schedule which started with awards for the Cheadle Town 'Players of the Decades'.
The awards went to:
60s - Roger Dilkes
70s - Jon McArdle (who is the holder of the record for the most number of appearances in a Cheadle shirt)
80s - Gary Connor
90s - Ian Henderson
00s - Aaron Riley, our current captain
After club chairman Chris Davies said a few words, it was time for a musical break as 15 year-old Lauren-Lee Broomhead - daughter of ex-Cheadle player Lee Broomhead and a finalist in a local talent contest - took to the stage and entertained the audience with a couple of songs.
After that it was time for the second tranche of awards, focussing more on those players who hold particular records with the club. Peter Tilley collected his for being the player to score the most in one season (43 goals in 1979); David Charlton and Jon De Pledge got theirs for the most number of goals in one game (both with six goals in 1972 and 1964 respectively).
Jon McArdle made his second visit to the stage to collect his award for most appearances (well in excess of 600 for the club), and finally Fred Eyre got one for the most appearances whilst on tour with the club.
Club President Alwyn Thompson then made a speech, Chairman Chris Davies got his second standing ovation of the evening (surely the only football club chairman to get two in the same night!), and Irish comedian Dusty Young then had everyone chuckling with his traditional brand of humour before we all got a preview of the club history DVD.
The DVD will cost a bargain £20 for three hours of exclusive footage from the club's days as Grasmere Rovers, and from the numerous worldwide tours they have made.
Chairman Chris Davies, the man who started the club in 1961 and who organised the event, said it was a great night and a great way to celebrate the past 50 years.
"Over 250 people came on the night, and it was amazing to see so many people from different eras all gathered together, including seven members of the very first team that played in 1961.
"I formed the club after a 14 year old lad called Barrie Dean knocked on my door and asked me if I would help to start a football club up for the young lads in the area. He was part of that first team, and I hadn't seen him for over 30 years as he moved away from the area and now lives in Nantwich, but he came along and it was great to see him again.
"Although many of the people who attended still live in the area, we had over 50 people who came on the night who travelled from outside Manchester, including two who came over from Portugal.
"I have to admit that as people began arriving, and began meeting up and were obviously so pleased to see one another again, I was quite overcome. It was a great experience, and obviously there were plenty of stories swapped during the evening.
"We are in the process of putting the finishing touches to the DVD, a preview of which was shown on the night. The finished version will also contain footage from the dinner, and we will let everyone know in due course when copies are available."
Karl aka The Pole
Cheadle Town Online Fanzine
www.cheadletownfc.com
