Everything about Stockport County F C totally explained
Norman Beverley |
manager =
Jim Gannon |
league =
League Two |
season =
2007-08 |
position =
League Two, 4th
(promoted via play-offs) |
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_whitehorizontal|pattern_ra1=|
leftarm1=0000DD|body1=0000DD|rightarm1=0000DD|shorts1=0000DD|socks1=FFFFFF|
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_darkbluehorizontal|pattern_ra2=|
leftarm2=C7B78B|body2=C7B78B|rightarm2=C7B78B|shorts2=C7B78B|socks2=000099|}}
Stockport County Football Club is an
English football club based in
Stockport,
England. They will play in
League One, the third tier of the
English football pyramid in the 2008-09 season. Their home stadium is
Edgeley Park, and are nicknamed
The Hatters, although are usually referred to by supporters simply as
County.
Formed in 1883 as
Heaton Norris Rovers., shortly after they merged with a similarly named club, Heaton Norris F.C., and on
24 May 1890 changed their name to
Stockport County Football Club to reflect Stockport becoming a
County Borough. They joined
the Football League in
1900, and have competed in it continuously since
1905. Having spent most of their history in the lower reaches of the Football League, the 1990s were notably successful, with the club competing in the
First Division for five seasons. Instability on and off the pitch led to Stockport quickly tumbling back down the leagues, narrowly avoiding a drop into the
Football Conference in
2006.
History
Stockport County were formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers by members of the Wycliffe Congregational Church, and played their first recorded game in October the next year. The club adopted 'The Hatters' as their nickname, owing to Stockport's history as the centre of the Victorian hat-making industry, a nickname that's shared with
Luton Town.
Stockport played in the
Lancashire League until 1900. They then gained admission to the
Football League Second Division. Unfortunately, the club finished in the bottom three for their first four seasons and at the end of they failed to gain re-election. They spent one year in the
Lancashire Combination, won the league, and were re-admitted to the Football League. County were fortunate that, despite an awful campaign that saw them end the season bottom of the Second Division, which would normally have seen them face re-election, they were placed in the brand new
Third Division North. The Hatters won the league at the first time of asking in, but struggled and soon returned to the bottom division where, barring a couple of seasons, the club would stay for more than 40 years. The season saw goals galore, 115 in total, including a 13-0 win over
Halifax Town, which still stands as a Football League record. In County won the Third Division North, but failed to gain a foothold in the
Second Division, finished 22nd out of 22 and were relegated.
The 1950s brought little league success, but were notable for some fine goalscoring by Jack Connor, whose 140 goals are still a club record, including 13
hat-tricks, two instances of 4 goals in a match, and two of five goals in a match. When the regional Third Divisions were to be combined into national
Third and
Fourth Divisions after the campaign, Stockport managed to finish in the top half of the Third Division North and so were placed in the following season's national Third Division. Just one season was spent at this level, Stockport were demoted and didn't return until winning the Fourth Division in . After being relegated in, the 1970s and 80's consisted of little other than mediocrity or struggling against re-election. The introduction of automatic promotion & relegation between the Football League & the
Conference wasn't a good sign for Stockport and, in they'd just 6 points from 13 games and faced a real prospect of
non-League football, exemplified by crashing out of the
FA Cup to
Caernarfon Town.
Colin Murphy was brought in for his second spell as manager, County gained 45 points from their final 31 games and survived, although Murphy left shortly after the end of the season, and
Dave Jones was appointed manager. The campaign proved to be the most successful in the club's history, finishing 2nd in the Second Division and reaching the semi-final of the
League Cup, knocking out three
Premiership teams (
Blackburn Rovers,
Southampton &
West Ham United) on the way before losing to
Middlesbrough 2-1 on aggregate. Jones left for Southampton, and a succession of managers were unable to build on the success of the 1990s, former England international
Carlton Palmer failing to stop County being relegated in or to build a team capable of challenging for a return in subsequent seasons.
Sammy McIlroy followed as manager in 2003 but more poor results led to his sacking, and the appointment of
Chris Turner just one year later. Another relegation followed, and Turner himself lasted just one year in charge, resigning after a 6-0 defeat to local rivals
Macclesfield Town that left County five points adrift of safety & facing a third relegation in just four years. Former player
Jim Gannon was placed in charge, initially as caretaker-manager, led the club to safety in and sustained a promotion challenge the next season, eventually missing out on the
League Two playoffs on goal difference. The season was more successful, and despite losing an
FA Cup match to
non-League Staines Town, County finished 4th and beat
Rochdale 3-2 in the play-off final at
Wembley Stadium.
Colours and Crest
Stockport County's traditional kit colours are blue & white, although they've played in other colours throughout their history. Originally competing in blue & white striped jerseys and white shorts, they experimented with red & white stripes in the early 1900s and from the mid-1930s to mid-1960s played in white jerseys & black shorts.
No set pattern has been established for the clubs use of blue & white as main colours, at various times playing in a white jersey with a blue band and blue shorts; blue jersey with white pin stripes and white shorts; a short experiment with an
Argentina-style kit, light blue & white stripes with black shorts, after the
1978 World Cup, which was abandoned after the outbreak of the
Falklands War; and a return to blue & white striped tops with blue shorts in the 1980s. The current kit, manufactured by
Diadora, is a blue shirt with a white horizontal band, blue shorts & white socks. The away kit is the same style, with inverted colours; white jersey with a blue band, white shorts, blue socks.
The club badge is based on the achievement of arms of the
Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It was further altered slightly in 2006, to resemble the town's arms even more closely, including the
Latin motto
Animo et Fide, which translates as
With Courage and Faith.
The blue shield is taken from the coat of arms of the de Stokeport family, from whom Stockport derives its name. The twin-towered castle above the shield is
Stockport Castle, which stood until 1775.
» For a list of historical kits, see HistoricalKits.co.uk
For further details of the crest of Stockport, see Manchester-UK
Grounds
Heaton Norris Rovers originally played home matches at the Heaton Norris Recreation Ground, then at various locations in Stockport until settling at a park on Green Lane, Heaton Norris, in 1889. The nearby Nursery Inn served as the team's home, with players using a barn as changing rooms.. Stockport County have played home games there ever since, celebrating the centenary in 2002.
The first major development at Edgeley Park was the construction of the
Main Stand on the Hardcastle Road side of Edgeley Park, initially holding 500 seats. This was a timber structure, and was destroyed by a fire in 1935, taking most of the club's records with it. It was replaced by a new stand one year later, which stands today, seating just over 2,000 and containing players' changing rooms and some club offices. On the opposite side of the ground is the
Popular Side (often shortened to
Pop Side). The first structure on this side of the ground was a small, covered enclosure with a capacity of 1,400. This was replaced with a larger stand in 1927, and in one
FA Cup match against
Liverpool held 16,000 people. In 1978 the rear of the stand was dismantled and capacity halved, and in the early 1990s the Popular Side was made all-seater. It currently holds 2,200.
The first
Cheadle End, built in 1923, was a small, covered timber stand with room for 3,000 people until it was made all-seater in 1967. It was demolished in 1985 after the
Valley Parade fire, and replaced by a shallow, concrete terrace. In 1994 an entirely new stand was contsructed and was opened in July of that year with a 2-2 draw with
Manchester City, seating 5,200, containing conference & banqueting facilities & club offices. The
Railway End, formerly an uncovered terrace that could hold up to 6,000 in its heyday, was the last part of Edgeley Park to be converted to seating in 2001, making the ground all-seater. Maine Road has since been demolished to make way for a housing estate and, ironically, Edgeley Park is now shared with Sale, who own the groud.
In March 2008, County launched a campaign to raise funds to enable them to buy the ground back from Sale Sharks. The www.groundforapound.com site raised £50,000 within a week of opening, with a target of £1m.
Honours
Football League
Other Competitions
Lancashire League Champions: 1899-1900
Lancashire Combination Champions: 1904-05
Manchester Senior Cup Winners: 1897-98, 1898-99, 1914-15, 1922-23
Cheshire Medal Winners: 1922-23, 1924-25, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1930-31
Cheshire Bowl Winners: 1933-34, 1948-49, 1952-53, 1955-56, 1956-57,
1958-59, 1960-61, 1962-63
Cheshire Friendly Trophy Winners: 1965-66, 1966-67
Cheshire Premier Cup Winners: 1969-70, 1970-71
Youth Competitions
Puma Football League Youth Alliance Cup Winners: 2006-07
The UMBRO Cup Winners: 2007
Club Records
Team Records
Biggest win: 13-0 vs. Halifax Town, 6 January 1934, also a Football League Record.
Biggest away win: 7-1 at Bradford City, 18 September 1965
Biggest defeat: 0-7, nine times, most recently 6 October 1986 vs. Sheffield Wednesday
Consecutive wins: 9, 2006-07
Consecutive away wins: 8, 2007-08
Consecutive wins without conceding a goal: 9, 2006-07, also a Football League Record.
Consecutive defeats: 11, 2001-02
Consecutive games scored in: 30, 2007-08
Consecutive League games scored in: 26, 2007-08
Highest Attendance: 27,833 vs. Liverpool, 11 February 1950
Player Records
Most goals (season): 47 by Alf Lythgoe, 1933-34
Most goals (career): 140 by Jack Connor (1951 - 1956)
Most hat-tricks (career): 17 by Jack Connor (1951 - 1956)
Most appearances (career): 555 Andy Thorpe (1978 - 1986, 1988 - 1992)
Most international appearances (Caps) - 9 Jarkko Wiss, Finland (2000 - 2002)
Youngest player: Chris Coward, aged 16 years 31 days vs. Sheffield Wednesday, August 23, 2005
Most consecutive clean sheets: 9 by Wayne Hennessey, 2006-07, coinciding with club record for consecutive wins
Oldest player: Alec Herd, aged 40 years 47 days vs. Crewe Alexandra, December 25, 1951
Nine Game Winning Run
Stockport County F.C. currently hold the record for winning Football League matches without conceding a goal, namely nine.
Wayne Hennessey, who was on loan to Stockport at the time from Wolves, kept all the clean sheets in his first nine games in professional football. He made his footballing debut against Boston United where Stockport won 2-0. The players involved in the record-breaking run are below:
Wayne Hennessey, Robert Clare, Michael Rose, Ashley Williams, Gareth Owen, Stephen Gleeson, Jason Taylor, Adam Griffin, David Poole, Damien Allen, Anthony Pilkington, Tony Dinning, Dominic Blizzard, Liam Dickinson, Adam Proudlock, Tes Bramble & Anthony Elding.
During this time Wayne Hennessey got the League Two Player of the Month Award and Jim Gannon was candidate for the Manager of the Month Award twice.
Support
With both Manchester United and Manchester City around 7 miles from Edgeley Park, Stockport County have always struggled for local support. Even during the season crowds averaged around 20,000 less than local rivals City, who were a division below County at the time.
As the two Manchester clubs, the closest clubs to Edgeley Park, have rarely been in the same division as Stockport County, they've no traditional local rivals, instead having occasional adversaries from further afield. In the early 1990s two notable rivalries began, with matches against Burnley and Stoke City having added edge for supporters. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Stockport and Manchester City were often in the same division, although with different fortunes since 2002 this rivalry has also diminished somewhat. Burnley, Man City and Stoke are cited as Stockport County fans' biggest rivals.
Although the club has had great misfortunes on the pitch from onwards, crowds have continued to be rather healthy. In fact, during the 2005-06 season home attendances (that is, given attendances minus away support) increased slightly on the season before, helped by a 10,006 crowd against Carlisle on the final day of that season. Away support increased in recent seasons, due to a combination of lower ticket prices, improved results and the close proximity of sides such as Bury, Rochdale & Macclesfield Town, with Stockport's away support outnumbering home supporters on a number of occasions, and was the highest average since the club's last season in the First Division.
Vocally, the support from Stockport fans has often been cited by manager and players as inspirational & a boost to the team during play, and for the 2006-07 season led to squad number 12 being allocated to the 'Blue & White Army', the nickname for supporters. Stockport fans also have a wide variety of songs, being ranked 7th on FootballChants.org for number of individual chants.
Stockport are one of a number of teams that have looked to use their support to back them beyond the turnstiles and shirt sales. Groundforapound.com has been launched with the intent of selling up to 1 million pixels to anyone who wishes to purchase a pixel upwards. This money will go towards raising £1 million as a deposit on the £4.5 million purchase of the ground.
Current squad
As of 27 April, 2008.
Notable former players
Johnny Warren
Brett Angell
Sean Connelly
Kevin Cooper
Mike Flynn
Kevin Francis
Harry Hardy
Chris Marsden
Andy Mutch
Alan Ogley
Andy Preece
Micky Quinn
Arthur Wharton
Len White
Shefki Kuqi
Jarkko Wiss
George Best
Ed Brookes
Jim Gannon
Paul Jones
Peter Ward » See also:, Hall of Fame
Club staff
First Team Manager: Jim Gannon
Assistant Manager: Peter Ward
U18 Team Manager: Craig Madden
Goalkeeping Coach: David Felgate
Centre of Excellence Manager: Mick Wiblin
Player Development Manager: Alan Lord
Club Physio: Rodger Wylde
Assistant Physio: Dan Crawford
Fitness Coach: Ben Cooper
Club Masseur: John Bishop
Football In The Community Mike Smith
Recent managers
Jim Gannon 2006 - Present
Chris Turner 2004 - 2005
Sammy McIlroy 2003 - 2004
Carlton Palmer 2001 - 2003
Andy Kilner 1999 - 2001
Gary Megson 1997 - 1999
Dave Jones 1995 - 1997
Danny Bergara 1989 - 1995
Asa Hartford 1987 - 1989
Colin Murphy 1986 - 1987 » For a full list of managers, see StockportCounty.net
Further Information
Get more info on 'Stockport County F C'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://stockport_county_f_c.totallyexplained.com">Stockport County F.C. Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
