WITH a name like Ellesmere Port Blues, you may expect this supporters club to be for fans of Everton or perhaps Chester, in fact their heroes play nearly 40 miles away.

The unveiling of a plaque dedicated to legendary football player, manager and Ellesmere Port native Joe Mercer at the town's Civic Hall in November last year created a somewhat unexpected legacy when it brought together a group of Manchester City fans living in the area. As Manchester City manager, Mercer won the Second Division title, First Division title, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winner's Cup during a very successful six-year period with the then Maine Road club between 1965 and 1971.

Now, the celebration of his legacy in his home town has inspired another group of football fans.

Club Secretary, John Carrol, said: "I thought I was the only one here! There's more of us than I thought, the plaque being unveiled for Joe Mercer brought together a few fans who didn't even know each other and its off the back of that that we've formed this group."

The 48-year-old, who is originally from Chorlton in Manchester, had lived in Jersey for just over two decades before moving to Ellesmere Port.

"I used to run a supporters club in Jersey also, I helped to set it up over there. We went from about five people sat in a pub to having nearly 70 members.

"We used to do a lot of fundraising and worked to make it more of a family club. We brought the Premier League trophy and the FA Cup over to Jersey, which was a task. We used to bring ex-players over and organise quiz nights too."

After meeting at the Chester branch of the official supporters club, John and Ellesmere Port Blues chairman Rob Allen decided to create a separate group for the town. Despite being just over a month old, the group are now recognised by Manchester City as an official supporters club and have members ranging from children to those in their 80s.

Mr Allen was recently given the all-clear after a battle with bowel cancer and the Ellesmere Port Blues are planning to raise money for the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, a dedicated charity for the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre where Rob received treatment.

"Every year [in Jersey] we got one of our members to choose a different charity which was close to them and we would fundraise for that year for that particular charity.

"All of the proceeds from our events would go to that charity and we want to bring a bit of that to this club too. We'd like to to be a charitable, family orientated club, rather than just being blokes sat in a pub."

The Ellesmere Port Blues have also secured former City hero David White as an honorary chairman to provide a link with the Manchester club for help with future events, trophy displays and ex-player visits.

John says that he would also like to reach out to local grassroots football teams to give them the opportunity to see the trophies up close.

"It would great for them to see what it looks like and see some of the names engraved on it. We had the original Premier League trophy over [to Jersey] the one which goes on top of the team coaches and it's a piece of history.

"It's dented to bits and it costs thousands to repair it each time someone drops it. I actually had it in the back of my little fiesta, which was one of those 'pinch me' moments."

A season ticket holder, John visits as many home games as he can but says that the Ellesmere Port Blues will also give other fans who may not be able to go as regularly, or prefer to watch matches with their children, a space in which to do so. With the group receiving more enquiries to join each day, they hope to grow their membership and use this to help local causes.

Commenting on City's season so far, John said: "It's going pretty well. Pep has signed on for two more years which is fantastic. Arsenal are obviously setting the trail this year but we're keeping up with them.

"If you ask any City fan, they want to win the league first. I went to my first game when I was about eight and saw 30 years of us winning nothing, so it's still unreal for me really even after 10 years."