The Colin Cowperthwaite Stand
Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2020 11:32 am
After 20 open-element years it's wonderful to see a roof returning to the Holker End at last. Yes, it might always be "The Holker End" to the older fans amongst us but if we are to give it a more formal title then I can't think of anything more fitting than to christen it "The Colin Cowperthwaite End/Stand/Terrace".
Fate could not have been more cruel than to see our greatest servant of our 119 year history, Brian Arrowsmith, lose his life just weeks before we made it back into the Football League. But equally, as we now depart 48 years of Non-League, this would be an entirely fitting time to celebrate our favourite figure from those 48 years.
The one consolation regarding Brian is that he was alive and present to see the main stand named in his honour in January 2017 before we played Rochdale in the Cup. Well, one would certainly hope Colin has many more years left yet but he is into his 60's now and it would seem appropriate to me that this incredible servant to the club should be honoured . . . . . after all, his CV shows, amongst other things, record appearances for the club, record goals scored, long unstinting service, a vital component of the team that saw us appear – and win – at Wembley for the first time in our history back in 1990. For the benefit of those who never saw him play, he was a deadly marksman who almost always stuck away the chances that came his way, and as a frontman there was never a player who held the ball up so successfully and courageously, standing tall like an oak tree in spite of years and years of being hacked at, and elbowed, by opposing defenders.
Broadly speaking, the way I see it is that there are two crucial factors that should mark out a candidate for such an honour, those being, firstly, performance/achievement levels at the club, and, secondly, the sense of real genuine regard for the club, most often revealed by long service and commitment. Colin surely ticks both boxes. As we leave our Non-League years behind is this not the perfect time to honour a figure who I would nominate as our number one from those 48 years? Brian Arrowsmith and Ray Wilkie have quite rightly, and deservedly, got their names enshrined in the ground; I cannot think of anyone more deserving than Colin for a name on the Holker Street End.
Fate could not have been more cruel than to see our greatest servant of our 119 year history, Brian Arrowsmith, lose his life just weeks before we made it back into the Football League. But equally, as we now depart 48 years of Non-League, this would be an entirely fitting time to celebrate our favourite figure from those 48 years.
The one consolation regarding Brian is that he was alive and present to see the main stand named in his honour in January 2017 before we played Rochdale in the Cup. Well, one would certainly hope Colin has many more years left yet but he is into his 60's now and it would seem appropriate to me that this incredible servant to the club should be honoured . . . . . after all, his CV shows, amongst other things, record appearances for the club, record goals scored, long unstinting service, a vital component of the team that saw us appear – and win – at Wembley for the first time in our history back in 1990. For the benefit of those who never saw him play, he was a deadly marksman who almost always stuck away the chances that came his way, and as a frontman there was never a player who held the ball up so successfully and courageously, standing tall like an oak tree in spite of years and years of being hacked at, and elbowed, by opposing defenders.
Broadly speaking, the way I see it is that there are two crucial factors that should mark out a candidate for such an honour, those being, firstly, performance/achievement levels at the club, and, secondly, the sense of real genuine regard for the club, most often revealed by long service and commitment. Colin surely ticks both boxes. As we leave our Non-League years behind is this not the perfect time to honour a figure who I would nominate as our number one from those 48 years? Brian Arrowsmith and Ray Wilkie have quite rightly, and deservedly, got their names enshrined in the ground; I cannot think of anyone more deserving than Colin for a name on the Holker Street End.
BTW - any photos of progress on the stand?
