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Dean staying loyal to his beloved Shakers

by Frank Wood
6/ 8/2008

LOTTERY winner Dean Hardman has been helping pay the wages at his beloved Bury Football Club.

Dean and his partner Stella Kelsall won a staggering £6.75M on the Euromillions in 2006, and Dean vowed he would never stop supporting the Shakers.

Despite the attractions of bigger clubs and his new racehorse-owner lifestyle – Dean owns the colt Stanley Rigby named after his grandfather – he has stayed true to his word, not just by cheering them on at every match, but also by pumping money into the cash-strapped club.

He paid the wages of an on-loan player as the Shakers fought successfully to avoid relegation in 2007. But since that battle was won, he has continued to donate enough cash to pay another player’s wage.

The amount Dean contributes for a Shakers’ player has not been disclosed either by Dean or the club. But the whole club, says press officer Gordon Sorfleet, look on Dean as their super-supporter.

Gordon said: "He’s a true Shakers’ fan through and through. He has been since he was a lad and I’m sure he always will be. The club is very grateful to him for the help he has given us."

As well as saying a personal thank you to Dean, players have promised to hold football days at the pub Dean and Stella still own, The Crown Inn on Bury Street.

The first of those is on Sunday, August 17, when there will be all kinds of soccer-themed attractions, including penalty shoot-outs with the Bury players.

Stella said: "Dean is absolutely loopy about Bury Football Club. The only time he misses a match is if we are abroad on holiday. We are both really excited that the Bury players have offered to come to the pub for our football fun days and we are hoping a lot of Shakers fans will come as well as our regulars and their families."

Other dates have still to be fixed.

Although Dean and Stella still own The Crown, they have taken a back seat and employ a manager for the day-to-day running of the pub.

But, until a fortnight ago, they were busy again behind the bar for a whole month between one manager leaving and new manager, Tracy Hanlon, taking over.

Although they admit to taking a few more holidays than they used to, life goes on very much as normal, despite the fact that the interest alone on their winnings makes them super-rich.

Even if they had put their winnings into a run-of-the mill savings account paying six per cent, they would draw more than £400,000 a year!