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SPORT The long and winding road

Colm Hickey had been manager twice before tak- ing charge for a third time. The long and winding road, They believed in their players and That leads to your door, in all the people who worked at Will never disappear, their club. I’ve seen that road before. Although each of them was the It always leads me here, undoubted leader, they realised, Lead me to your door. recognised and rewarded teamwork. (Lennon and McCartney) It was never about them; it was only ever about the team. IN 1969, The Beatles, recorded Let belong: County and Charl- cessful and unsuccessful, ground- ments leaving the club mired in By doing this they installed belief. it Be. It included The Long and ton Athletic who were both promoted sharing with Sale Sharks and a League One. With belief comes commitment, the Winding Road, their last number this season. period when the former Liverpool The appointment of the current willingness to ‘go the extra mile’ to one hit. Stockport County won their first and Germany midfielder Dietmar manager Lee Bowyer was stop gap, put others before self, to become Its message is mixed, for although league title in 52 years clinching Hamann was installed as manager. but Bowyer has transformed the selfless rather than selfish. McCartney said of it: “It’s a sad promotion and the National League For his part has been team and led it to promotion even This is something that cannot be song because it’s all about the unat- North title with a 3-0 win at sacked twice and the club was placed as the owner was (and is) committed faked. tainable; the door you never quite Nuneaton, in front of a stadium in administration in 2009. to sell the club. There is a phenomenon known as reach. This is the road that you record crowd. Nonetheless, support has remained The fans of Stockport and Charlton ‘the wisdom of the crowd’. Simply never get to the end of,” it has, for The triumph ended County’s six- high and crowds of 6,000 have been have seen their clubs decline and put, this is the old adage that you others, become almost an anthem year stay in the sixth tier of English seen this season. attendances fall. Yet in the midst of cannot fool all of the people all of of resilience, and an expression of football. Charlton Athletic, also had much their despair leaders emerged who the time. hope over expectation. The long-suffering fans now to celebrate having won their League have led them to success. As the crowds realised that the However, whichever way it is in- hope it’s a beginning of a return to One play-off final against Sunder- Jim Gannon and Lee Bowyer have tectonic plates of their clubs were terpreted, either as something which the Football League with promo- land. all triumphed against the odds. moving more joined, and belief grew is always unattainable, or as a mes- tion from the National League in The club was relegated from the How? They both knew their clubs. forging a stronger bond between the sage of resilient optimism, it is the 2020. Championship in 2016. Bowyer was a youth player at Charl- manager, the players, the staff and perfect musical background to the Stockport have been through a lot Since then, its stay-away owner ton who burst into the first team the supporters creating something events of two football clubs that since their 106 years as a Football Roland Duchalet has alienated the before securing a transfer to Leeds more than being a supporter: feeling are slowly climbing the football League club came to an end in 2011. majority of the fans with a series of United. Gannon had played more like a member. ladder to where they believe they There have been takeovers suc- controversial sackings and appoint- than 500 games for Stockport and This creates a sense of ownership and belonging and with that come a greater emotional investment. What does this mean to us today? How can we take the example of Gannon and Bowyer into our lives away from football, away from sport? There is much to learn. We need to believe that although we are in- dividuals, we are all part of com- munities; our family, our school our sports teams our friends and our work. None of us can survive alone. We interact with others all the time and it is in these interactions that we re- veal our true characteristics. Do we believe in our family, our friends our team our school or our employers? Are we committed? Do we ‘go the extra mile’ for others? Are we selfish or selfless? Do we show by our actions that we feel we belong and are willing to invest a little bit more of ourselves for others? At JP2F4S we believe in these values. We promote the core values of tolerance, forgiveness, humility, justice, truth, dignity integrity and service which we believe allow other virtues to flow. And so, no matter where you are on the long and winding road of your life’s journey, a belief in Jesus and a commitment to follow him, will lead you to your [His] door.

n Dr Colm Hickey is the John Paul II Foundation for Sport’s director of education Belief – Stockport County manager Jim Gannon, right, after clinching the title with captain , centre, and Ash Palmer

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