60-year-old amateur football team gears up for 100th match abroad
By Jake Meeus-Jones
An amateur football team formed in Stockport more than 60 years ago is gearing up for its 100th match abroad - and once played in front of 65,000 people.
Christopher Davies, 81, formed the team, Grasmere Rovers, in the early 1960s after a local boy knocked on his door and asked him to be the manager for a group of lads.
He managed the team and they started off playing in local Saturday and Sunday leagues.
By 1963, Christopher had a "desire" to take the team abroad - and arranged matches in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Their games abroad quickly spiralled, and by 1964, Christopher had wrote a letter to FC Barcelona asking if they could find a local team to play them.
When Barcelona wrote back telling Chris telling him they'd field their youth team, he was stunned, and despite Christopher's team taking a 1-0 lead, they were hammered 17-2.
Over the next 30 plus years, Christopher managed to organise games all over the world - including once playing in front of 65,000 spectators in Mexico and going up against the Jamaican national team.
While Christopher regularly reunites with his old players, he is keeping the team going and hoping to field an U21s team in four games in Seattle, US, in June - to take their tally to 100.
Christopher, a former stockbroker, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, said: "It's been quite a story.
"The game at the Azteca has got to be the best for me - tiers upon tiers of stands.
"I walked onto the pitch and I remember kicking a football into the net and just saying 'I've scored a goal in the same stadium as Pele'.
"We have a reunion every year where we get together, and there a lot of players who I'm still friendly with and they were a big part of my life."
Christopher named the initial team after the road he lived on - Grasmere Avenue - but for the players he took abroad, they played under the name 'Manchester FC' - for the avoidance of any doubt as to where they were from.
He said: "Everyone paid their own fare.
"The teams we took varied in strength - sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker.
"Nowadays, it's a bit more difficult to organise the games with foreign clubs."
Over the years, Manchester FC have met countless famous faces on their trips abroad - including one of the greatest players of all time, WHO, and Christopher even claims he bumped into notorious criminal Ronnie Biggs in Brazil.
They played against the Jamaica national team - managing to draw 0-0 - as well as becoming the first and only British team to play in Cuba live on TV and in front of a 25,000 strong crowd.
They became the second British team to play in China in 1987 and strutted their stuff in New Delhi, India, in 1988, and were invited by the Indian Prime Minister to the palace after the game.
But the icing on the cake was a game at the iconic Azteca stadium in Mexico City against former Cruz Azul players - where they played in front of 65,000 spectators.
Christopher also says they played a game in Brazil in 1991 organised by Brazilian legend, Jairzinho.
Christopher said: "We travelled all over - to the Caribbean, the Americas, the Far East, Africa,
"We also played a team called Elche in Spain in 1967 and they were managed by Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano.
"There were 5,000 people there, and we won the game 1-0 - our first win abroad.
"We also had a game organised in Haiti, becoming only the third team to play there.
"We should have also had a game in Burma, but that was postponed due to riots.
"But in Brazil, the courier in our hotel was married to an English guy called John, and we were due to go to the Maracana to watch Brazil play Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier.
"He asked if I could get an extra ticket for a friend, and it was for Ronnie Biggs.
"He came to our hotel and came to watch the game with us - I was sat speaking with him for hours."
Focus has now turned to hitting the 100 mark on games played - but they require sponsorship.
Christopher said: "The team this year of U21s is strong, but we need to get sponsorship for the players' airfares.
"We're on 96 and we're trying to get to Seattle in June.
"Gordon Hill, who used to play for Manchester United and England, is helping to organise for us."
Grasmere Rovers eventually became Cheadle Town Football Club in 1983 - which currently plays in the North West Counties League Premier Division - separate to the group of players Christopher is hoping to take to Seattle.
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