Centenary

In the season 1975-6 Stockport reached its centenary anniversary. The event was celebrated with a formal dinner at the Belgrade Hotel, Dialstone Lane. The dinner was attended by past and present members and honoured with the presence of the Presidents and Officers of the English Lacrosse Associations.

A Centenary Booklet was produced and widely distributed which describes with detail and humour the second 50 years existence of the Club. Two distinct periods are described, 1945 to 1960, and 1961 to 1975. The distinction between them was that during the period following the war the revival of the Club occurred in austere times, financially certainly, but more importantly there was a distint lack of players. and much devoted work was needed by the then 'old guard' of Stockport. The main stalwarts being Jack Spedding, Alan Henshaw, Gordon Howkins, Sam Wood, Bill Hriely, Geof Mason, and John Greenwood. These members, who's formative playing years had been before the war, were not willing to see the Club fade away and it was their determination that provided the new foundations for the club in the second half of the Twentieth Century.

The later period was the coming of age of the 'new blood' with the likes of Mic Moore, Mic Webber, Dave Eagland, Dave Noden, Roy Johnson, and Tony Clegg, who became and made the new strong playing strength of the Club to take it into and through the second half of the Twentieth Century.

Following are a number of selected extracts from the 1975-6 Seasons Centenary Booklet and have been chosen for their relevance to current times.

'The Lean Years' by John E Greenwood
'It is interesting to note that contrary to popular belief, it was Gowland Robson who started the junior scheme at the club about now (1948], with Les Grainger as his assistant. However, Grainger took over from Robson and is still very actively engaged in fostering lacrosse amongst juniors'. 'In 1957 we once again lost possession of Cale Green in spite of our repainting, seeding etc. Hovever, we were fortunate in obtaining a splendid ground and facilities at Woodbank Park, with the kind cooperation and help of the Parks Superintendent, Mr Burrows.'

'The Junior Section' by Roy Johnson
'Many memories spring to mind when I think of my days as a junior player, and every junior player will have his own. Juniors on entering the senior ranks are often subjected to leg pulling by their senior colleagues, never more so than when they travelled some distance to play a gale (e.g. Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham). On these occasions they were invariably introduced to the Devil Drink, which they consume in vast quantities. On one such occasion fun was being made of one poor lad who had drunk to much and who was paying for his lack of foresight in the usual manner by the road side. Ten minutes later however he was laughing at the expense of áne of his older colleagues who hadn't managed to stop the bus in time. Needless to say neither of them ordered a Chinese take out further down the road in Macclesfield.

Young lads no matter what sport they play, have a great sense of humour all of their own, which can often be seen in their use of nick names. One such name was, 'Hubbies' which didn't refer to his curly hair, but to what once happened to him when competing in a school swimming gala, modesty forbids further detail.'

'The Return Journey' by David E Noden
'It was during the 1969 season that a special committee was formed to look into the possibility of amalgamation with some suitable cricket club. Various possibilities had been explored, meetings had taken place with other club's officials but all had fallen through. Letters were also sent to Stockport Sports Council when out of the blue Ray Chadwick informed the Chairman that George Newton, vice chairman of the Stockport Cricket Club wished to meet us with a view to amalgamation at Cale Green. This was achieved with 'security of tenure' ensuring that at no time in the future could we be ousted.

Since we were back at Cale Green Bill Beeley thought we ought to try to seek out some of our old members and try to get then involved in club life once again. To this end he organised the Stockport Veterans Lacrosse Club, and turned out a team on 19th March 1972, comprising:Jack Griffith, Les Grainger, John Charge, Peter Coups, Frank Moss, John Blakey, Peter Wilkinson, John Etchells, Ken Gosnay, Barry Eagland, Bill Beeley, Fred Pass and Frank Atherton.

One problem which we had not been able to solve over recent years was that of providing referees - David Modem and Peter Coups decided that they would take up the challenge, but in the latter's case it was not to prove possible. Peter Coups had not only been a great club member and captain of our lower teams but had been Cheshire County lacrosse association's Honorary for 8 years. He had retired from this position to take on a higher office an the North's administration when within a month he died of cancer. We were all to miss our friend very much.'

'The Next 100 Years' by David (Ben) Burgess
'The club can boast of home-grown talent achieving the highest honours in the game. Perhaps the most notable of whom, Mic Moore, has over the years taken an active interest an the training and running of junior and youth sides. The (young) Gosnay's and Moore's are now making their presence felt in junior lacrosse and to see superb handling from 8 and 9 year old's is really a joy. One wonders in 25 years hence whether we shall see the young Burgess's, Eagland's and Shaw's turning out every Saturday afternoon and helping to keep up bar profits as their fathers do at present. The next hundred years may show drastic changes, as have the last hundred. Who knows, we may even get an American side to play to our rules~ a thought that will probably send shivers down the spines of our overseas friends. Certainly the next 5 years are sure to bring changes in the laws of the game with more and more international matches being played at all levels,'