Claims to Fame 

Many years ago I played Football against George Best and  adapted the Name Claim to Fame Man. The CTF Logo became my signature and was developed into a record label. Over the years I have collected many stories of my encounters with famous people and while the majority were really nice people and deserved success I decided at the end of the day they were just another member of the Human Race and yet we get starstruck and elevate them to the point of ridiculous. Over the last few years we now have self made celebrities who become what is called influencers and they put videos out with subjects like what they put in their bags while they go off to exotic lands paid for by those who lap it up. They even end up getting free meals and  special treatment and yet many are straight con artists who have manipulated the internet and become so full of themselves that they becoime "Don't you know who I am people" 

So to put the record straight, I am not an influencer or a celebrity. I am the man in the street and hope that if my Music or website go viral I will keep my feet on the ground and never use the phrase "Don't you know who I am". When I meet Celebrities I try and keep a level head and avoid being in awe, they are another Human being and the real stars want you to treat them as Human being, not Gods, as in the final analysis, in my world,    God is the True Star and is entitled to say "Don't you know who I am" . In essence then, my Claims To Fame were once starstruck moments but now they are just stories which I will add in as I remember them. I will put them in alphabetical order to help my ageing memory from repeating myself. Claims to Fames are not always people of course and can involve events and places which may have some essense of interest especially when they bring in memories to others.

So to start off let's assess what a Claim to Fame actually is.

1. Meeting a Celebrity - This should involve some kind of engagement such as getting an autograph, selfie or some form of interaction in a discussion or other sharing experience. To see a famous band on stage from 44 rows back is scarecely a claim to fame as anyone can do that if they buy a ticket 

2. A great achievement such as winning a medal, a world record or being part of a mass gathering that had an impact such as a Choir Marathon. It may be on a small scale but nonetheless important in it's context like holding the record for being the fastest egg and spoon race winner at Primary School (Well I wasnt that person)

3. Creating something that becomes famous in itself such as a song or artwork. Again it may be just a play on local radio but enough to get people to boast about it. 

4. Secondary Claims to Fame can  be indirect such as failing an audition when the successful person went on to become famous.

5. Close encounter Claims are those that never happened but can be interesting in themselves such as nearly meeting someone but the failure to do so was out of your control such as getting on TV and then the series never aired and the celebrity never turned up. Another example of a Close encounter would be seeing a celebrity on a train platform as you travelled through. 

6.Tenuous links - These are not really claims to Fame but little stories that might be of interest to anyone who drops in for a read akin to a book I read called Henry Roots World of knowledge which was an A-Z of interesting observations and useless knowledge. 

The A-Z of my Claims to Fame.

Accrington Stanley F.C. - The Club that refused to Die.

I have a few connections with this Football Club. I was assistant Referee on two ocassions in FA matches (FA Cup and Lancashire Senior Cup) I also Refereed them for 20 minutes in a pre - season Friendly at Ramsbottom F.C. 

I told the guys in th dugout I'd played at Accrington Stanley once.

They chuckled when I told them it was on Guitar in the Social Club. After my next offside decision against them they said I wouldn't be playing there again. 

Aston.(John) When I was about 9 years old I got an autograph  book  and set off to The Manchester United Training ground at The Cliff. On entering the gates the groundsman pointed me toward a Former United player called John Aston who was a player well before my time. He duly signed then said go and get that lad over there who will be a big star one day. I had never seen him before but he signed it - John Aston on the same page. 

Father and son's autographs on the same page .What a scoop. 

John Aston  Senior played from 1946–1954 and John Aston Junior played from 1962–1965 as a youth player and a senior career from1965–1972. His performance in the 1968 European Cup Final was probably his best game ever. 

Andrews (Eamon) - My sister was invited to a showbiz event with a school friend who had contacts. I gave her my autograph book and she came back with a few. Eamon Andrews was a TV presenter best known for "World of Sport" and "This is your life". 

Autism - When I left the secondary School sector I worked with Autism at Inscape House in Salford from 2003-2019. In 2010 I recorded an album "Songs for Autism". I was invited to perform at The Lincolnshire Autism Rally for two consecutive years selling the CD of the songs which was the start of my commercial Music careerThat was also the trigger for setting up my YouTube channel.

Best (George) - Possibly my best Claim to Fame.I played for The Grapes who were challenged to a game by Slack Alice, George Bests nightclub. It was held at University Village Football pitches in Salford, commonly known as He Old Manchester Racecourse. No one expected George to turn up .Sack Alice won 4-3 and of course George scored the winner. The winning goal proved to me what an absolute genius he was. He was weaving around in the penalty area and eventually only had to slot the ball in with half the team on the ground. I was coming in from the left back position and was getting ready to do a full length dive to stop the ball going in. Back in the 1970s you were not sent off for preventing a goal via handball. Just as I was about to stop him scoring he swivelled and hit the ball in the corner I was coming in from. Completely wrong footed I stopped and stuck my left leg out to no avail as the ball passed me and the post in a gap just big enough to get a ball through. He gave me a wry smile as if to say "got you there". If I'd gave actually stopped the goal the claim would have been even greater but I'll settle for it as it stands. I was also present for Best's Debut on the B Team and saw him play for the A team before he moved up to the reserves and first team in what was a very quick promotion.

Blackmore, Clayton - I have two claims to Fame in one. Clayton lived opposite my parents house as our neighbour Mavis Was a club landlady. I also shook his hand after I was assistant referee at Gigg Lane when a Manchester United team played Bury in a mid season friendly. The game was my first appointment having just gained promotion to class 1 and was arranged as united reserves had missed several games due to inclement weather that season. Bury also wanted to trial a Norwegian keeper so the fixture was of beneficial to both signs. More on this under other names.

Bolton FM Radio.  I got a shout out on here after winning a raffle for a V.I.P. trip to Rochdale F C. In the National League. The host was David Dockerty who sponsored the event and is a D J. On the station.Having had a three course meal and half time drinks and cake  we went on the field of play for some photographs which  I believe would be featured in a future club programme. Rochdale won 4-0 against Forest Green and went on to the play offs losing 4-3 in the final. It was a nostalgic trip for me as I started my teaching career in Rochdale and was a fourth official at Rochdale v Mansfield Town in the old Coca Cola Cup.

Paul Bowles (Footballer) Paul Bowles was an outstanding Footballer who played on our first eleven team despite being three years younger. He was already signed as a schoolboy with Manchester United before a full time professional career with Crew Alexandra. I was captain of the first Eleven so to have a future oro in the team was an honour for me. Sadly Paul's career was cut short due to injury. I met him working on the boats at Heaton Park before he got a job back at Manchester United working with football in the community along with Dave Ryan, the goalkeeper in the first eleven team. I met them both when I took my school team to the Jersey Tournament held at the Cliff. We were the worst team but won the Sportsmanship Cup with Inscape House Specialist School. I also referred the final in that tournament so a lot of Claims to Fame. Lou Macari and Gary Neville presented the trophies over the two years of the tournament.

Broughton Cricket Club - One of the oldest cricket clubs in the world and once a rival to Old Trafford for top games. One such game was the Gentleman of the North versus Hentleman of the South which featured the cricketing legend W.G.Grace. it is believed that he carved an autograph in a club table which mysteriously disappeared during the 1970s. I joined Broughton Cricket Club as a Junior and reached the First team before giving up to attend teacher training college. I only played for the first team once. I lived about 100 yards from the ground and one Saturday the second team turned up because they were short. Having not been selected I turned them down as my Mum had just put my dinner on the table. About half an hour after the first team knocked on the door as they were short. I couldn't turn that down but as the Clubs record holder of royal ducks they declared when the 9th wicket went down presumably because they thought I'd be out first ball. To make matters worse I dropped a catch which was an easy one. Despite my batting at this level I did open the batting for the School and on one occasion in a Broughton Junior game I hit 4 consecutive fours to reach 16 not out. My greatest achievement at Broughton was in a second team game when I was brought on as a last ditch attempt to break up a successful partnership. I got 3- for 18 in one over which was quite an achievement with three wickets and three sixes but it did break up the good run for Hyde Cricket Club. If that wasn't bad enough in a Junior game the umpire signalled a wide as my leg spin bowled them out. I can't remember what the decision was but I think it was not out. Am I the only bowler in History to have achieved that occurrence ? Other cricket  stories in Schooldays.

Buzzcocks (The) - I met the Buzzcocks the night after a gig at The Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester where they supported the SexPistols. The gig was at St Bonifaces Youth Club, an small annex outside the Church. The Band used to practice in the old School Building and gave the concert as a thank you to the Youth Leader for giving them space to rehearse. It was attended by a few children aged about 11:or younger and about 4 adults. I was asked to go as I was a trainee Music teacher at the time. I helped carry the A9mps across from the old school and chatted to Howard Devoto and the Bass player who I think was called Garth. I asked Howard what sort of Music they played and he said I'd have to wait and see. I spoke to the Bass player at the interval and suggested they lacked lead on guitar as upto the that point it was all rhythm. I also mentioned the cheap equipment. Pete Shelley was playing a Woolworth Audition guitar which cost about £21 at the time, the cheapest guitar on the market. Garth on the other hand had a really nice custom guitar in natural wood.He told me their sound was meant to be cheap and nasty which it was and apart from a superb rendition of White Heat, White Light by The Velvet underground there was not much to suggest they were going places in that current format. I was wrong on that, but right about the gear as when the appeared on Top of the Pops they had Top gear including a Gibson guitar and a much smoother sound with quality amps and became one of the leading groups in the Punk era. My memory of the event was printed as letter of the month in record collector and I was subsequently approached by an author of the Biography of the band for an update to the bands history as the St.Boniface's gig had not been documented in the annals. I photographed the event but couldn't record the sound as my Dad was not available to bring my big Sony reel to reel recorder to the Club. 

Many years later I met a parent at Parents evening who said he played drums for the Buzzcocks at Bolton Institute. Not realising he was not known in the bands history I put his name in the record collector and just hope he didn't mind. He said he was their original drummer but didn't pursue that line and may have only played as a stand in. I have no reason to doubt his claim as the bands history had a gap in it for the The Bolton Institute gig or gigs and the biographer was indebted for that revelation. I did see Pete Shelley in the community from time to time but never spoke to him. Sadly he passed away in 2018 from a suspected heart attack.   

 Chorley FM - I appeared on Chorley FM Folk Programme with Host James Blatchley with Jamie Mulgrew (See JImmy Cricket) Steve Hyde as Waterdale and one Solo show. The interviews were on and off throughout the show with some live performances and recorded tracks from the current album releases. Chorley FM bit the dust due to some scandals and were taken over by another company in Lancashire and James Blatchley moved to Salford City FM. 

Clitheroe F.C. I was assistant referee at Clitheroe in the Northern Premier League. In itself not really a Claim to Fame but when the crowd sang "Happiness" by Ken Dodd following my first offside flag there was no doubt it was aimed at me with my "Mattress Head" blowing in the wind. I also heard someone shout us that a flag or a tickling stick.That became one of my many nicknames from Football crowds although that one originated from Ann Robinson (See Weakest Link).

Cricket (Jimmy) - Jimmy's daughter Jamie worked at Inscape House , Salford0 where we formed a short lived Folk Duo called Greenwood. We supported her Dad at Blackpool North Pier for several shows and a few other gigs at the Irish Centre in Cheetham Hill among other local venues. We recorded one album called " The Manchester Angel" which was previewed on Chorley FM along with some live performances.  (See also Chorley FM) 

We also acted as warm up for Jimmy's Live video recording at Clitheroe.