High Jinks for Mary in Cyprus with England C!

Pic: Pinnacle

CYPRUS may well be a fair old trek from the north west of England, but nothing was going to stop pensioner Mary Jinks flying out – she had to watch Andy Halls!

The 85-year-old former headteacher started sponsoring the right-back when he was a Stockport County youngster.

Halls, now at Macclesfield, was one of a few Hatters that superfan Mary would spend her well-earned pension on.

She keeps tabs on their careers even when they’ve moved on, regularly watching Stalybridge Celtic and Hyde, and has even vowed to be at footballer turned pro-boxer Matty Mainwaring’s first fight.

Mary jokes: “The government give me all this money so I might as well spend it.”

So when she found out one of her boys had been selected for the game with Cyprus U21, she booked a few days away, packed her signed Andy Halls shirt and jetted out to Larnaca.

“All the lads she’s stayed supporting try and give her something back,” Halls said. “She’s got a heart of gold. I’m grateful she supports me. I gave her one of my shirts from my debut in Turkey and signed it.

“I thought she might frame it, not wear it! When I went to her house with a birthday present, she’s got all these signed shirts so maybe she doesn’t have enough room! It shows what a nice person she is that she’d come all this way just to support me.

“When she first mentioned coming I didn’t think she’d end up doing it. But she came out on her own to support me. After all the years of her doing it, it’s really nice.”

Mary was the talk of the travelling fans, meeting FA officials and Conference chairman Brian Lee, before watching Halls come off the bench for his third cap.

“I didn’t know he was playing in Turkey until it was too late, but I went to the game against Estonia at Halifax and enjoyed it,” she said.

“I’m an ex-teacher so I like to know about all their families. Andy knows he’s my number two. Number one is Matty Mainwaring – I’m going to go to his first boxing match!”