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Norman's so proud to have had County's top job

30/ 7/2008

FORMER chairman Norman Beverley has spoken for the first time about how proud he is of what his beloved club achieved during his two-and-a-half years in Stockport County’s top job.

Beverley resigned his former position three weeks ago, to be replaced by Martin Reid, and now it has also been agreed that he will stand down from County’s board altogether at the forthcoming annual general meeting.

Far from leaving Edgeley Park behind though, Beverley will continue his so-far 50-year long fervent support for the Hatters - you haven’t seen the last of him yet!

Beverley said: "I do feel a huge sense of pride when I look back on my tenure as chairman.

"When I took the job on we were rock bottom of the Football League, seven points adrift of safety.

"I knew I had plenty to offer though, and I’d like to think I’ve helped stabilise the club.

"County are in a far better position now then they were after the Macclesfield Town debacle [when Chris Turner’s side were thumped 6-0 at the Moss Rose on Boxing Day, 2005], it’s up to the current board and Martin to sustain where we are now."

Beverley added: "My role in football didn’t just involve me being chairman of Stockport County though.

"I had been chairman of the Supporters’ Trust, and later I was on the national council of the Football Supporters’ Federation.

"Over the years I’ve been able to build up some great relationships and contacts at the Football League and the FA too, and I’ve always worked closely with Stockport Council, who do help the club much more than many of our fans appreciate.

"I consider the Football League to be like a small village containing 72 small houses.

"I’ve got to know the neighbours well, including some of the neighbours in the bigger houses shall we say, and they’ve got to know me, which is nice."

There have been plenty of lows and highs for Beverley since the turn of 2006. He acknowledged the bad times first.

Beverley said: "There have been lows, every time we lost a game.

"There’s always various reasons for that, including the financial aspect, but mainly I just hate it when County lose.

"As for highs, then the Carlisle survival game two years ago was full of emotions.

"There was the low of realising that County could have slipped into non-league, but then the ultimate high when we got the draw and stayed in the Football League.

"Much of the credit for our survival and subsequent upturn in fortunes must go to Jim Gannon, but after the recent Wembley heroics, the feeling was more of relief than a high.

"Relief that the team and everyone around them hadn’t let our brilliant fans down.

"Of course there was the sentimentality too. The lads performed their heroics at Wembley amidst the backdrop of some sad news after the recent deaths of the much-loved Grahame White and Danny Bergara.

"What an unforgettable day we all had at Wembley."

Beverley has got to be one of County’s longest-serving fans.

His dad took him to his first match way back in 1959, but he can’t remember who it was against!