The life, and death, of a County fan
A tribute to Tony Turner from John K Bilsbury
Thursday 1 June 2023
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and anyone else joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Thursday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
John K Bilsbury shares this wonderful piece of writing with us today, which serves as a fitting tribute to Tony Turner.
Today’s edition is sponsored by Colourtone. As always, a big thank you to Paul.
Des Junior
I’m at an age now where I get to attend funerals on an increasingly regular basis. The difference with the one I attended in May was that I’d never met the bloke involved.
It all began with a phone call from a friend and colleague from my time at Mirrlees Blackstone called Peter Crowle. He asked if I knew a County fan called Anthony Stephen Turner. Tony had been a friend from as far back as the 1970s and Peter knew he’d died recently but he didn’t know what, if anything, had happened after that. I had a look on the internet and found a tweet dated 10 October 2022 from Greater Manchester Police, appealing for relatives of Anthony Stephen Turner, who had died on Silver Street near Piccadilly Gardens in central Manchester.
There was a reply to this, dated 1 March 2023, from Tony’s niece, Sarah Howitt, who said that the family had only just found out that Tony had passed away. I was able to get in touch with Sarah, who told me that Tony was still in the care of Manchester Royal Infirmary and that they were having some difficulty in getting him released so they could arrange a funeral.
The issues were eventually resolved and a short ceremony arranged at Manchester Crematorium for 9.30am on Friday 5 May 2023. It was by no means certain how many of Tony’s family would be able to attend, so I mentioned the story on Yellowboard to see if any County fans wanted to join us in a send-off. In the event, a number of Tony’s family were there including his parents, Brian and Molly, his sister Meg’s partner Ian, his niece (and goddaughter) Sarah and her aunts Shelagh and Christine.
County were represented by several fans, some who knew him personally and some who just wanted to ensure he had a fitting tribute. Those who knew him in the 1970s included my friend Peter Crowle, along with his wife Clare, Shaun Hanley, Dave Johnson, Adrian Caville (who was his employer for a while), Dave Espley, Margaret (Tony was her first boyfriend), Paul Birkett and a couple of others whose names I didn’t catch. Some reporter I am.
The ceremony was a brief one. The opening music was a Slade tune I’d never heard before – “The Shape of Things to Come” – which I gather was very Tony. The eulogy and prayers were led by the Reverend Robert Fielding, an NHS chaplain. The closing music chosen was “Silver Machine” by Hawkwind. I couldn’t help thinking that it was a pity they hadn’t chosen the single edit of the song as the version chosen took an hour and a half to get going, which meant we all sat there for ages rather than filing out.
As we were sat in the car about to leave, Tony’s family were next to us and Janice, my thoughtful other half, took the opportunity to hand Tony’s father her County scarf as a memento. He looked genuinely moved as he carefully rolled it up.
As I mentioned at the start, I never knew Tony but having spoken to people who did, it seemed to me that because he moved around so much and had a gift for making friends wherever he went, lots of people know part of his story but few, if any, know all of it. I can’t claim this to be a comprehensive picture of the man but I hope it will give a flavour of a full and varied life.
Anthony Stephen “Tony” Turner was born in Long Eaton in 1956. His father was a navigator with the RAF, becoming an air traffic controller when he left the service, and the family moved around all over the show as his duties dictated. The last of several schools was the same as mine, Bramhall Grammar.
After leaving school he had several jobs locally, including with WH Smith and Cantrell & Cochrane, the pop bottlers. He had ambitions to become a rock journalist and was a regular fixture at gigs with Margaret, Shaun, Dave Johnson and others. Margaret remembers Tony introducing her to Meatloaf when he was at the height of his powers. Tony was one of the few that actually were at the original Sex Pistols gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall. His mate Jon “The Postman” Ormorond gained the stage after the gig and treated the audience to a rendition of “Louis Louis,” a much repeated "act" which was often backed by Tony on bass playing the distinctive riff.
Fame and fortune as a music writer proving elusive, Tony decided to train as a chef at Salford. His developing culinary skills were a great asset at his shared house. Peter would buy ingredients from the van that sold fish in Mirrlees’ car park on a Thursday afternoon and Tony would cook the “inmates” a meal on Friday evening. Paid work at this stage included long shifts at Donatello, the Italian restaurant at Heaton Moor lights on the A6.
This was the stage of his life when Tony was most active as a County fan. He was a regular at Edgeley Park and if County were away he would get the train to Northwich and support Northwich Victoria. Peter recalls Tony arriving in the pub on Friday and Saturday nights itching to hold forth on the subject of various referees’ shortcomings and unconventional parentage.
Tony loved animals. He raised guinea pigs from the time the family moved to Woodford and he could finally have proper pets. When he lived and worked in Salcombe he kept them on the roof terrace. When Tony spent some time living with Meg and Ian during 2021 he became inseparable from their dog Jack, and the pair were a feature of the Woodley and Bredbury areas on their walks. In the colder weather, he would proudly wear the Stockport County bobble hat Sarah knitted for him as he’d arrived in the UK with no suitable winter clothing. Tony was an ordained Reverend with a faith he once described to Sarah as "the spirit in the sky, and the rainbow bridge". He was confident that there was a bar somewhere just out of sight where family and friends were waiting for him with a cider and he’d be reunited with his mates and all the animals he'd ever known and loved.
By 1990, Tony had moved to the warmth of Bermuda and was working as a chef at the Palm Reef Hotel. An article in the Stockport Express Advertiser dated 10 November 1993 described a meeting between several Stopfordian expats at the Robin Hood pub near Spanish Point. Tony was featured, along with other County fans including Yellowboard regulars Steve Ball and Mark Evans. The article reports that Tony and Mark travelled home for the 1993 Autoglass Trophy final at Wembley where County lost 2-1 to Port Vale. Dave Espley remembers meeting Tony, a subscriber to The Tea Party fanzine, in Sportspages in Manchester, possibly during this visit.
A year or so later, Tony left Bermuda for the United States. After studying at the University of California and the California Culinary Academy, he found work at Eilat Café, a kosher establishment in Boca Raton, Florida. That must have been quite a challenge for a non-Jew with no previous experience of the laws involved but the food there gets good reviews even though it’s no longer trading!
Tony’s next gig was as a “Food Creator” at the Lion & Eagle Pub, also in Boca Raton. The pub prided itself on “almost traditional English food with a twist”. There’s no doubt that Tony ran the pub’s socials – why else would its Facebook page promise a live stream of “My wonderful Stockport County v Torquay on Sunday” in May 2021? Edgeley Park may have been far away but Tony still managed to get his fix by supporting his local team, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, who played in the North American Soccer League. There must be something in the local air that attracts people from Stockport, as County legends Ken Fogarty and Terry Park played for the Strikers in the late 1970s, as did another County old boy, George Best. The team last competed in the 2016 league but at the end of that season the owner withdrew his funding and that was the end of that.
A love of animals is a lifelong thing and Tony’s didn’t desert him in Florida. During Hurricane Wilma he found a half-drowned orphaned kitten – Tony named her Wilma and brought her home. He was a great supporter of manatee protection in Florida; he and Sarah jointly adopted a manatee called Phyllis.
As far as his friends in Stockport were concerned, Tony next appeared on home turf undergoing treatment in the Alexandra Hospital. Peter and Clare visited him there and found him in good spirits, albeit somewhat concerned about how much health insurance he had in place to continue treatment. Things went quiet after that, and everyone assumed that Tony had returned home to Florida. It was therefore a great shock when it was found that he’d passed away in Manchester. It appears he had been refused entry into the USA because the requirements had changed after his initial arrival in the country. While trying to arrange his return, he’d been working somewhere in the Piccadilly area where he eventually passed away.
So that was Tony Turner. We never met but he was a doting godfather to Sarah and Stephanie, a skilled cook, a County fan, a rugby player, liked animals, loved music and above all he made lots of friends wherever he went. I like to think we’d have got on, had we but met.
Rest in peace, Tony. Animo et Fide.
Give your car a lick of paint
Granted, Stockport used to be a little rough around the edges. But the town’s getting a good old lick of paint these days, with fancy new offices, apartments, bars and restaurants springing up. You can’t be driving up and down the A6 in a tatty car with chipped paintwork, so give your car a nice lick of paint too. Colourtone is your go-to company for that. They’ve been servicing the automotive and industrial markets in Cheshire and Greater Manchester for decades, and carry an extensive range of car paint and industrial paints.
Visit colourtone.com for further details.
Today in SK
🍽 Food and drink 🍽
How do you fancy a nice iced cappuccino today? Head down to Coffee Block (SK1) for their CUBO espresso over ice, filled with shaken milk and topped with chocolate! Open till 5.30pm.
The Armoury (SK3) have just launched their new cocktail menu. Mark Stott definitely wouldn’t mind a Red Wine Cobbler, and Lee Todd’s going to be getting stuck into a Lounge Lizard or two. There’s eight cocktails to try in total; head down today to see which one tickles your tastebuds!
Taster Thursday at TRUNK (SK7). Three tapas dishes and a glass of sangria for £20 from 5pm.
🎶 Free jukebox 🎶
The Nelson Tavern (SK1). From 6.30pm.
🎱 Free pool 🎱
The George & Dragon (SK7). 6pm - 9pm.
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Photo of the day
Edgeley Park, Stockport
Big Kev and Jason Lee have their photo taken with an excited County mascot before a home game in the 90s.
Excellent article John, a very good friend and will be sadly missed. He did get to attend a few County games after he returned to England. The last time I saw him was at the Leicester City League Cup match, just a few days before he passed, he told me that he was arranging a new visa so that he could return to the States. RIP Rev TT
Beautifully written, my hubbie and I really enjoyed hearing about Tony's interesting life and although we also didn't know him we feel like we do now :)