Our good friends at Shotts Bon Accord go to the polls on Thursday to determine their country’s future. A momentous day for Scottish history and one that got me thinking.
Just imagine if us North Westerners were offered a similar opportunity.
The late Mancunian innovator Anthony H Wilson had clearly thought about it while he was still with us and even commissioned the Factory Records’ designer Peter Saville to come up with a North West flag (the top left corner of an existing St Georges flag).
And he wasn’t wrong about much. In terms of popular and social culture the North West has always been leaps and bounds ahead of other non-London regions of the UK.
Just look at the music Manchester and Liverpool have given the world for a start. From The Beatles to The Smiths, from Mersey Beat to Acid House, we’re the pioneers. No one comes close.
Football too. We invented the game here for heaven’s sake. Manchester United and Liverpool are the two biggest and most successful clubs in British football boasting an honours list and history that others can only dream of.
The civic rivalry between the two cities though would mean that in the event of independence we might have to follow the lead of Australia and base our Canberra between rivals Sydney and Melbourne. Which in our case would probably be Warrington. Imagine that.
Our own North West Counties Football League would already be in place as our national league which could be expanded to accommodate the other North West clubs. 75,000 attendances for cup games against United at Brookburn Road and the AbbeyStad? Better get some temporary stands, Derek.
As for a national anthem who could argue with the Coronation Street theme? Synonymous with North West life for decades it would be a fitting choice.
So tonight at the thinking man’s Manchester derby cast an eye over the back of the covered stand towards town to Beetham Tower and beyond and ponder. This land could be truly ours. What a wonderful thought.
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