STOCKPORT COUNTY F.C.

'Stockport County Football Club' are an English football club based in Stockport, England. They play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football pyramid. 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 F.C.', shortly after they merged with a similarly named club, Heaton Norris F.C., and on 24 May 1890 changed their name to 'Stockport County F.C.' to reflect Stockport becoming a County Borough Stockport County - From the Nursery, , Peter, Freeman, , , ISBN 0-9537558-0-0 . 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, competing in the Football League First Division (2nd Tier) for five seasons. Instability on & off the pitch led to Stockport quickly tumbling back down the leagues, narrowly avoiding a drop into the Football Conference (5th Tier) in 2006.

History

Stockport County were formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers by members of the Wycliffe Congressional Church, and played their first recorded game in October the next year. The club adopted 'The Hatters' as their nickname Stockport County: A Complete Record, , , Freeman & Harnwell, Breedon, , ISBN 187362672X ; later updates from [1] as applicable, owing to Stockport's history as the centre of the Victorian hat-making industry, a nickname that is 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^[1], including a 13-0 win over , which still stands as a Football League record^[2]. 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^[3]. 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 was not a good sign for Stockport and, in they had just 6 points from 13 games and faced a real prospect of non-League football, exemplified by crashing out of the FA Cup to . 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.
Danny Bergara was appointed as manager in March 1989, quickly transforming the team and automatic promotion was gained in . The next three seasons saw County make the play-offs, but failed to result in another promotion. In March 1995 Bergara was sacked after an altercation with then chairman Brendan Elwood^[4], 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 (, & ) on the way before losing to 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 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.

Colours and Crest

Kits for the 07-08 season.
Top: Home, away, 3rd kits.
Bottom: 1st & 2nd goalkeepers' kits.

Stockport County's traditional kit colours are blue & white, although they have 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^[5]; 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.

Several historical Stockport County crests.
Top: 1978-1988, 1989-91
Bottom: 1994-2006, 2006-present

The club crest is based on the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It was further altered slightly in 2006, to resemble the town's crest even more closely, including the Latin motto ''Animo et Fide'', which translates as ''With Courage & 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

Main articles: Edgeley Park

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.
In 1902 the club required a larger ground and moved to Edgeley Park, then home of Stockport Rugby League Club, who went out of business three years later^[6]. 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 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 it's heyday, was the last part of Edgeley Park to be converted to seating in 2001, making the ground all-seater.
In late 2000 the club considered moving to Maine Road, the former home of rivals Manchester City. The potential move was unpopular with supporters, and protests were staged after it was suggested that the club would change its name to Man-Stock County after the move. Ultimately the protests were not necessary as Manchester City Council decreed that Sale Sharks would make better tenants^[7]. Maine Road has since been demolished to make way for a housing estate and, ironically, Edgeley Park is now shared with Sale.

Honours

'Football League'

★ 'Division Two'

★
★ Runners Up:

★ 'Division Three (North)'

★
★ Champions: ,

★
★ Runners Up: ,

★ 'Division Four'

★
★ Champions:

★
★ Runners Up:

★ 'Football League Trophy'

★
★ Runners Up: 0-1 vs. Stoke City

★
★ Runners Up: 1-2 vs. Port Vale

★ 'Division Three (North) Challenge Cup'

★
★ Winners:

★
★ Runners Up:
'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

Club Records

'Team Records'

★ Biggest win: 13-0 vs. Halifax Town, 6 January 1934

★ 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 wins without conceding a goal: 9, 2006-07 Also Football League Record.

★ Consecutive defeats: 11, 2001-02

★ 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

Support

County supporters

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^[8].
As the two Manchester clubs, the closest clubs to Edgeley Park, have rarely been in the same division as Stockport County, they have no traditional local rivals, instead having occasional adversaries from further afield. In the early 1990s two notable rivalries began, with matches against and 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^[9].
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 beforeStockport County official match programmes, 04/05, 05/06 & 06/07 seasons., 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 , & , with Stockport's away support outnumbering home supporters on a number of occasions. The season saw the club average the fourth highest average attendance in League Two^[10], and was the highest average since the club's last season in the First Division^[11].
Vocally, the support from Stockport fans has often been cited by manager and players as inspirational & a boost to the team during play^[12]^[13], 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^[14] for number of individual chants.

Current squad

''As of 14 August, 2007'':

Notable former players

★ Harry Hardy

★ Brett Angell

★ Luke Beckett

★ Kevin Cooper

★ Kevin Francis

★ Chris Marsden

★ Andy Mutch

★ Alan Ogley

★ Micky Quinn

★ Arthur Wharton

★ Len White

★ Shefki Kuqi

★ Jarkko Wiss

★ George Best

★ Ed Brookes

★ Jim Gannon

★ Paul Jones
:''See also: , Hall of Fame''

Club staff

★ First Team Manager: Jim Gannon

★ Assistant First Team Manager: Peter Ward

★ U18 Team Manager: Craig Madden

★ Goalkeeping Coach: Dave 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''

References

1. http://www.stockportcounty-mad.co.uk/footydb/loadlgt.asp?SsnNo=63&TeamNo=499
2. http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/RecordGoals/0,,10794,00.html
3. http://www.stockportcounty.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PastPlayersDetail/0,,10419~399201,00.html
4. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20001012/ai_n14351172/pg_2
5. http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Stockport_County/Stockport_County.htm
6. http://www.stockportcounty.premiumtv.co.uk/page/EPHistory/0,,10419,00.html
7. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/1054881.stm
8. http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/aveeng99.htm
9. http://www.footballfanscensus.com/issueresults/Club_Rivalries_Uncovered_Results.pdf
10. http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/current/aveeng.htm
11. http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/stpc.htm
12. http://www.stockportexpress.co.uk/news/s/217/217219_only_sing_when_were_winning_county_shout_loudest_win_lose_or_draw.html
13. http://www.cheadlender.com/thefans.htm
14. Football Chants Top 10

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STOCKPORT COUNTY F.C.

History

Colours and Crest

Grounds

Honours

Club Records

Support

Current squad

Notable former players

Club staff

Recent managers

References

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