Fans united in Ernie tribute

MICHAEL YARWOOD’S weekly look behind the scenes at Boundary Park
THE Ernie Cooksey flag is continuing its tour of League One and beyond.

A group of Latics fans who had the flag made to celebrate Ernie’s life, and also to raise awareness of the cancer which killed him, have taken it to every Athletic game this season.

One of the supporters, Mark Winterbottom, also follows England abroad and had an odd experience when the Ernie flag went on its travels to the World Cup qualifier in Belarus.

Mark said: “We were on the main street in Minsk when a couple of local lads asked to hold the flag for a photo.

“When they went on to the street they were totally mobbed with locals – mainly girls – wanting their pictures taken with the flag.

“We ended up having a 10-minute photo shoot which also led to a number of photographers from local papers and the Reuters news agency snapping away.

“I haven’t seen any of the pictures in the press, but they may well have been used abroad.”

England beat Belarus 3-1 with two goals from Wayne Rooney and another from Steven Gerrard – but not before Mark and his friends had tasted one of those “what a small world” moments.

He recalled: “We were outside the ground when a gentleman came over and asked if it would be okay for him to take a photo.

“Of course we agreed, and he then explained he was the chief scout at Grays Athletic and actually had a number of pictures from Ernie’s funeral on his mobile phone.”

Ernie was playing for Grays when he received the news that he was suffering from malignant melanoma. He later died, in early July, at the age of 28.

Visit www.ernieflag.co.uk.