2007 Gala Dinner - Saturday 22nd September 2007

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The Manchester Allstars American Football players and staff went their different ways when the club disbanded in 1990. It would be a long 16 years until plans were re-laid to organise a fitting celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Budbowl Championship game. Some kept in touch but most had never seen their former team-mates in this time.

To this end, a ‘Mini Reunion’ was held at Boundary Park, Oldham in September 2006 with 20 players in attendance. This was to test the water for a future large scale event and the evening proved to be a great success with friendships being renewed and tales re-told. There was real enthusiasm in the room for a full-scale bash in another 12 months time.

A committee of organisers was duly formed and regular meetings followed to fine tune the plan of action for the event. The Avant Hotel in Oldham was selected as a perfect central location with all the necessary facilities. It was decided to name the event a ‘Gala Evening’ and to throw out an invitation to players, backroom staff and fans alike. In addition that money should be raised for a worthy charitable cause.

The months of 2007 soon flashed by and it was with trepidation that the big night approached. Would it all work, would anyone turn-up, would we all recognise eachother?

Would we have enough room to park our wheelchairs and zimmerframes?

In the end we needn’t have worried – it proved to be a brilliant evening. There were plenty of nerves on the day from the organising committee and some frantic dashing about but in the end the plan came together without a hitch. 100 people were in attendance including players, WAGs, and fans.Guests of Honour Jim Nendel and Rick Bolen who flew in from the USA especially for the occasion and we were honoured to have them there..

The function room looked magnificent with the tables laid out superbly and decked out in blue and white Allstars colours. The walls were adorned with banners and action posters and a focal table laid out with team memorabilia and trophies. Thanks are due to Jo Fitzpatrick and Gina Hamilton for the dressing of the room.

Early on it proved difficult to get everyone seated as many of the players hadn’t seen eachother for nearly two decades and were keen to renew old acquantancies. However the room lights were soon dimmed and a highlight film brought the room to a hush and set the scene for the evening. Following this came the welcoming speeches from ’85 Head Coach Gordon McGlathery and Team Owner Dave Leach. More noisy behaviour was quickly quelled by Gordon threatening to give the players puke sprints!

A superb 4 course dinner then followed which was to be the centrepiece of the evening and this was enjoyed by all. At the end of the meal Ruth Jagger from the “When you wish upon a Star” Charity gave an overview of their work with sick children and a poignant and touching DVD was shown. This local charity carries out caring and compassionate work and the Manchester Allstars are proud to be associated with them.

A fun ‘Heads and Tails’game then took place to raise funds and a total of £708.04 was collected and presented to Ruth by Dave Leach (not sure where the 4p came from). Paul Boomer’s son Nathan was the winner and was presented with a food and wine hamper.

Next came the climax of the evening with the “Hall of Fame” awards. This was presented in expert style by Gordon McGlathery. A total of 40 players and backroom staff voted for this and you could cut the tension in the room as each winner was announced. Every recipient came forward to rapturous applause be presented with a certificate by Dave Leach. The winners were:

Offensive MVP - Nick Gough

Quarterback - Rick Bolen

Offensive Lineman - Mike Dickenson

Running Back - Nick Gough

Wide Receiver - John Anderton

Tight End - Carl Fletcher

Defensive MVP - Paul Boomer

Defensive Lineman - Dave Watterson

Linebacker - Paul Boomer

Defensive End - Lee Cadman

Secondary - Steve Booth

Special Teams MVP - John "Odin" Smith

Back Office MV Assistant - Dave Leach

Special Award

Most Influencial Coach - Jim Nendel

The fans in the room saluted the winners in their own inimitable style by chanting the players names and even sounded airhorns – the Allstar supporters’ noisy trademark. All were worthy winners and were met with plenty of banter from their ex team-mates.

The evening was brought to a climax with three superb speeches from Gordon, Jim and Rick. All recalled fantastic times and great friendships shared 20 years ago with their trans-atlantic comrades. Gordon also thanked Paul Ashton and Carl Fletcher-Poole for having the foresight and imagination in developing the Allstars website which ultimately led to the Gala Evening itself.

Jim and Rick with particular emotion summed up their days in the UK as the “best times of their lives” and wondered if other teams would be having similar re-unions. It was a measure of the respect and friendship of the Allstar organisation that we could reconvene 20 years later and pick things up so easily. It was if the years had just rolled away and we were back again at Boundary Park for a vital regular season match-up. Rick Bolen even joked that he felt he should be studying his playbook for the game tomorrow.!!

The evening then wound down with a disco and later on the players retired to the bar for further revelry and refreshment. A number remained there until 6.30am Sunday morning chatting and swapping stories. Only two hours later Rick Bolen was transported to the airport for his long flight home to west coast USA. Talk about a flying visit..!!

Without question it was a fantastic evening and drew great praise from everyone in attendance. All were adamant that this should be the start of new things to come. Team bonds and friendships can be re-enforced and strengthened with more events in the future. Certainly no-one wants to wait another 20 years to meet again!!

Plans are already afoot to put together another Allstars adventure in 2008. Watch this space for an upcoming announcement…