A tribute to Lou Spalding

On the day of Lou’s funeral, we look back at the life of a County legend who helped hundreds of supporters get to away games in all four corners of the country

Apr 02, 2025

Wednesday 2 April 2025

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NEXT HOME GAME: Rotherham United – Saturday 12 April, 3pm

NEXT AWAY GAME: Exeter City – Saturday 5 April, 3pm

Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Wednesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

Unfortunately, due to a prior work commitment, I’m unable to attend the funeral of Lou Spalding this afternoon. I still wanted to pay my respects, however, and in my own way, that comes by dedicating today’s edition to Lou. My thanks to Fingerpost Flyer regulars Ian Brown and Joe Holland for helping me put the following article together, along with Donna Smith, Lou’s niece.

Today’s edition is sponsored by SAW Contracts Ltd. A big thank you to Steve.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 253.75 miles

Total steps so far: 418,084

Total raised so far: £2,292

Total completed streets so far: 474 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

If I was directing a biopic based on the life of Lou Spalding, it would have to start on a coach. On a motorway. An upbeat road-trip-sort-of-song would be playing in the background, and our protagonist would be stood up halfway down the aisle making everyone a cup of tea.

The coach in question, of course, wouldn’t be just any old coach, but the Fingerpost Flyer - a fantastic service providing away travel for County fans since the early 1990s. A bespectacled bloke with a beard making everyone a brew first thing in the morning wouldn’t be the most exciting opening to a movie. But for anyone watching who knew Lou - myself included - that iconic away day image would surely put a smile on their face.

I can’t picture Lou without him walking up and down the Fingerpost Flyer handing out brews to all of his weary travellers. The man made a fair few cuppas in his time. On a full coach, one away day would equal around 50 beverages; 100 if you include the journey home. Over a season that’s about 2,000. Three decades’ worth? That’d break your cup-of-tea-calculator.

Of course, anyone who regularly travelled on the Fingerpost Flyer will tell you it wasn’t just a brew Lou would offer. More often than not, your cup of tea would be served with a gag or two.

Ian Brown shared the following with me: “My regular seat on the Flyer was alongside Lou’s two at the front of the coach. So I was always the first to hear Lou’s latest joke, delivered with 100% enthusiasm to a captive audience. But Lou was far more than a teller of jokes. Most on board the Flyer would be well aware of just how diligent he was when it came to organising trips, usually to their benefit, often going more than the extra mile to help out someone in the County community.”

Lou’s unwavering commitment to transporting County fans from A to B was documented on the BBC during the 2009-10 season (click here to watch the footage). With Gary Ablett’s men rock bottom of League One, just 86 fans made the Tuesday night trip to Swindon in February.

“With just a few days to go until the match there were fewer than 20 signed up for the Flyer,” remembers Ian. “Undaunted, Lou put on a 20-seater minibus and drove it himself through snowstorms and fog to ensure Flyer regulars could watch County fight an apparently hopeless cause, along with the BBC TV crew who travelled down with us. County lost 4-1 but that didn’t matter. We’d been able to support the team thanks to Lou.”

Lifelong County fan Joe Holland was also on that trip to Swindon (he’s also interviewed by the BBC on the clip). I bumped into Joe in the Cheadle End at last night’s game against Stevenage. He also shared a tale of how Lou had helped County fans get to a game down south, although on this occasion there were even fewer passengers than the excursion to the County Ground.

“In 2018-19 we went to Maidstone for the FA Trophy quarter-final replay,” said Joe. “There wasn’t enough interest for a coach, so Lou kindly offered to drive four of us in his taxi. After the game, the rest of the supporters started singing ‘come in a taxi, you must have come in a taxi’ at us!”

That wasn’t the only thing that tickled Joe from the Maidstone trip.

“When we got back to Stockport, somewhere near Roscoe’s Roundabout I think, one of the other chaps started giving Lou directions to his house. This chap couldn’t speak particularly well, and Lou couldn’t hear particularly well. It took us a while to figure it out!”

I’ve spoken to a number of County fans before writing this piece, and I’ve only been made aware of two occasions when the Flyer didn’t run: that Maidstone trip, and a game at Brighton while we were in administration. Considering the Flyer’s been running for over 30 years, you can understand why so many heartfelt tributes to Lou appeared on social media when he sadly lost his battle with cancer last month.

A few days after his death, Donna Smith, Lou’s niece, sent me the following message: “I wanted to extend to you and everyone commenting on your posts a huge heartfelt thank you for the tributes paid to Uncle Lou over the last few days - or Uncle Spook as his great nieces and nephews called him!

“Then, at Bolton, you filled our family with even more pride and love. I live in Ireland but I was listening to the game and to hear the applause was wonderful. Of course we all knew Lou so well, but to see him through the eyes of others is honestly one of the biggest healing moments for me. So thank you, all of you - you all did him proud!”

I spoke to Donna once again last night, who kindly shared further information on Lou’s life.

“When he was six or seven he was given a woodwork kit to play with while his dad did some odd jobs,” Donna told me. “His dad came down a few days later looking for the number for an exterminator thinking he had woodworm. Lou had been practicing drilling holes.

“At around eight his mum got a new tea caddy. She gave him the old one as he asked for it. He filled it with woodlice as pets. He left it in the kitchen and his mum forgot she had a new one so opened it up to make tea. Saw the lice in there and threw it in a panic. Woodlice all over the house for weeks.”

Donna has a daughter aged 21. When she was two years old she’d scream the house down when anyone with a beard was nearby. When they visited Lou, he’d shave his off so he didn’t upset her.

In his adult life, Lou worked as a driver for GM Buses. Working in the office one day after a shoulder injury, he asked for a day off to go and watch County. The company said no, so Lou locked the office and went to the game anyway. He was subsequently fired!

Further driving jobs with Bullocks (who supplied the coaches for the Flyer) and Metro Taxis followed. When Lou finally retired, he’d still be found behind the wheel some days taking special needs children to school.

It’s clear that Lou had a heart of gold, and would happily give you the shirt off his back. Lou provided County fans with many happy memories over the years, and it warms my heart to learn that he had a special moment for himself on the day he died.

“He was unable to speak at the end,” said Donna. “But as we told him the Flyer would live on, he reacted to that. He definitely heard it.”

County make the long trip to Exeter this weekend. I won’t be travelling on the Fingerpost Flyer, as I’m heading down on the Friday for a weekend away with friends. As I don’t drink alcohol anymore, I won’t raise a glass to Lou. I will, however, raise a polystyrene cup of tea to the man who provided away day travel for myself and hundreds of other County fans over the years, always keeping us refreshed as we headed up and down the motorways of England.

➡️ County fans are more than welcome to attend Lou’s funeral today. It takes place at Stockport Crematorium at 1.30pm, with the funeral procession departing from Edgeley Park at around 12.45pm. The wake will also be held at County afterwards.

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Stevenage at home

Photo of the day

RIP Lou. 💙🎩

Today in SK

🎬 Cinema

Three films at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Black Bag (15) at 2.30pm, Conclave (12A) at 6pm, and Becoming Led Zeppelin (12A) at 8.30pm.

➡️ Click here for tickets.

🍔 Food and drink

Happy Hour at Covent Garden Café (SK1) between 1.30pm and 2.30pm. If you spend £20 or more you get to roll the dice, and if you roll a 6 your bill is half price!

The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £5.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £1.50, and 3 for £7 on Jägerbombs. Also, double up for £2 on premium spirits.

Enjoy a coffee and a cake for just £6 at The Dog & Partridge (SK2). The perfect excuse for a catch-up! 12pm - 4pm.

Bitter £2.30 a pint all day at The Cross Keys (SK8). Plus, discounts on certain lagers between 12pm and 6pm.

A number of venues are featured on The Scarf My Father Wore such as The Crown (SK2), The Alexandra (SK3), The Crown Inn (SK6), The Steelworks (SK6), The Three Tunnes (SK7), Flute & Firkin (SK12) and The Ram’s Head (SK12). Support them this month by popping in for a few drinks and a bite to eat.