Emil's Blog
Wed 29th January 2014 | Atherton Collieries | By Ian Templeman
This week, resident blogger and Atherton Collieries Secretary Emil Anderson reviews the career of a Colls legend.
LORDY
In May 2008 Stockport County beat Rochdale 3-2 in the League 2 play off final at Wembley and the ascent back up the divisions seemed on. In January 2014 County are competing in the sixth tier of English football – The Skrill Conference North.
What has this got to do with our local non-league football you may ask? Well I will tell you!
If you are a supporter of The Hatters, perusing the papers or internet for info about the club makes depressing reading and only the bravest must surely bother now. However results on the field have improved over the last month or so under the clubs latest managerial team of Alan Lord, Phil Brown and Dave Conlon.
Not big names on a world wide scale you may think, but they do have relevance to local football in the Atherton area. The Three Amigos just happen to be three predecessors to Steve Pilling in the Atherton Colls hot seat. Today I focus on the impact Alan Lord had.
Lordy is a Colls cult figure. He has been manager at the club on three occasions. His initial stint was in the 1993/94 campaign when he was co manager with Steve Walton. The ‘Warlords’ got their team playing attractive football and the committee and fans bought into the project.
The atmosphere around the club was electric and Alan with his front man skills was the catalyst. Unfortunately the campaign didn’t end as well as it started, and Alan moved on at close of the campaign to the disappointment of the rank and file fan.
He returned in September 1998 after ex Bolton Wanderers schemer Brian Smith resigned just three games into the season. With his black book of contacts being fully utilized, Lordy soon got his team competitive and the relegation certainties avoided the drop.
The NWCFL top flight was ultra competitive with teams like Fleetwood, Vauxhall Motors, Mossley and Clitheroe amongst the ranks so just playing against the teams with notably more resources was always character building. Lordy ensured his players didn’t go into these match-ups with inferiority complexes. He left the club for a second time in September 2000 when he joined Atherton LR. It was the worst kept secret in town at the time.
Move forward to November 2004. Colls were in turmoil and needed a ‘Red Adair’ to put the fires out. You’ve guessed it, the club turned to Alan Lord; there was nobody else in the frame. He readily accepted the job for the hat-trick and continued in the role until the last game of the 05/06 season. That day he was afforded a guard of honour by both teams to usher in his retirement from competitive football.
Some flipping retirement that turned out to be, he has not stopped working since and at levels of the game previously alien to him. He has had numerous other stints with Stockport prior to his current appointment.
I might be making this up but I am sure I saw him on TV doing a Nobby Stiles type jig on the Wembley pitch following County’s 2008 victory. He has also worked at Peterborough United and Motherwell under Jim Gannon.
Alan is a bone fide Edgeley Park legend, and hopefully the safe pair of hands the club need at this time.
Alan will always have a special relationship with the Colls – We are his team! His visits to Alder House are infrequent these days because of his other commitments but when he does call on he is lauded like a returning hero. Over a couple of beers we always have a sentimental meander down memory lane.
His managerial career has spanned four decades and it is easier to name the NWCFL clubs round these parts he hasn’t been gaffer at rather than the ones he has. These clubs will all have their own Alan Lord stories, and he is definitely worthy of having a book written about him.
Emil
Emil's Blog
Wed 29th January 2014 | Atherton Collieries
By Ian Templeman
This week, resident blogger and Atherton Collieries Secretary Emil Anderson reviews the career of a Colls legend.
LORDY
In May 2008 Stockport County beat Rochdale 3-2 in the League 2 play off final at Wembley and the ascent back up the divisions seemed on. In January 2014 County are competing in the sixth tier of English football – The Skrill Conference North.
What has this got to do with our local non-league football you may ask? Well I will tell you!
If you are a supporter of The Hatters, perusing the papers or internet for info about the club makes depressing reading and only the bravest must surely bother now. However results on the field have improved over the last month or so under the clubs latest managerial team of Alan Lord, Phil Brown and Dave Conlon.
Not big names on a world wide scale you may think, but they do have relevance to local football in the Atherton area. The Three Amigos just happen to be three predecessors to Steve Pilling in the Atherton Colls hot seat. Today I focus on the impact Alan Lord had.
Lordy is a Colls cult figure. He has been manager at the club on three occasions. His initial stint was in the 1993/94 campaign when he was co manager with Steve Walton. The ‘Warlords’ got their team playing attractive football and the committee and fans bought into the project.
The atmosphere around the club was electric and Alan with his front man skills was the catalyst. Unfortunately the campaign didn’t end as well as it started, and Alan moved on at close of the campaign to the disappointment of the rank and file fan.
He returned in September 1998 after ex Bolton Wanderers schemer Brian Smith resigned just three games into the season. With his black book of contacts being fully utilized, Lordy soon got his team competitive and the relegation certainties avoided the drop.
The NWCFL top flight was ultra competitive with teams like Fleetwood, Vauxhall Motors, Mossley and Clitheroe amongst the ranks so just playing against the teams with notably more resources was always character building. Lordy ensured his players didn’t go into these match-ups with inferiority complexes. He left the club for a second time in September 2000 when he joined Atherton LR. It was the worst kept secret in town at the time.
Move forward to November 2004. Colls were in turmoil and needed a ‘Red Adair’ to put the fires out. You’ve guessed it, the club turned to Alan Lord; there was nobody else in the frame. He readily accepted the job for the hat-trick and continued in the role until the last game of the 05/06 season. That day he was afforded a guard of honour by both teams to usher in his retirement from competitive football.
Some flipping retirement that turned out to be, he has not stopped working since and at levels of the game previously alien to him. He has had numerous other stints with Stockport prior to his current appointment.
I might be making this up but I am sure I saw him on TV doing a Nobby Stiles type jig on the Wembley pitch following County’s 2008 victory. He has also worked at Peterborough United and Motherwell under Jim Gannon.
Alan is a bone fide Edgeley Park legend, and hopefully the safe pair of hands the club need at this time.
Alan will always have a special relationship with the Colls – We are his team! His visits to Alder House are infrequent these days because of his other commitments but when he does call on he is lauded like a returning hero. Over a couple of beers we always have a sentimental meander down memory lane.
His managerial career has spanned four decades and it is easier to name the NWCFL clubs round these parts he hasn’t been gaffer at rather than the ones he has. These clubs will all have their own Alan Lord stories, and he is definitely worthy of having a book written about him.
Emil
