Stockport County v Aldershot Town by Duplexity Artwork

Official Matchday Programme

vs Aldershot Town Saturday 13th February Kick-off 3:00pm

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Stockport County FC Edgeley Park, Hardcastle Road, Stockport, SK3 9DD

Chairman: Mark Stott Chief Executive Officer: Jonathan Vaughan Directors: Mark Stott (Majority Shareholder), Jonathan Vaughan, Ken Knott, Mark Dawson Club President: Steve Bellis Brand and Communications Director: David Ancell Director of Operations: Richard Simkin Life Presidents: Angela White, Robert Smith Bewley, Arthur Collister, Steve Cree, Richard Hill, Mike Flynn, George Hudson, John Rutter Director of Football: Simon Wilson Club Ambassadors: John Fitzpatrick, Freddie Goodwin, Alan Ogley Head of Football Administration: Alex Cowdy First-Team Manager: Simon Rusk Assistant Manager: Dave Conlon Assistant Manager: Mark McGhee Goalkeeping Coach: Karl Lenaghan Physio: Luke Smith Strength & Conditioning: Nick Donnelly Kit Manager: Richard Landon First Team Scouting Consultant: Alan Lord Head of Performance Analysis: Sean O’Callaghan Club Doctor: Amjad Choudry Head of Commercial and Ticketing: Olivia Hanvey Conference and Events Manager: Melissa Ellison Retail & Photography: Mike Petch Online Shop: www.stockportcounty.com/shop Marketing Manager: Alice Gregory Content Executive: Carl Gozem Media Executive: Liam Richardson Ticket Office (matchdays only, from 12:30pm): Sarah Dibben Stadium Safety Officer: Steve Walker Facilities Stadium Maintenance & COVID Manager: Rick Hinks Head Groundsman: Mike O’Brien Community Foundation: Dave Wardle Website: www.scfcfoundation.com Junior Supporters Club: Ian Butterworth, Brenda Williams Stockport County Lottery: Tom Quayle Historian & Statistician: Ian Watts & Marcus Heap Website: gogogocounty.org Stadium Announcer: Kenny Boxshall Turnstile Manager: Pete Kidd Half-Time Draw: Tony Malone Mascot Supervisor: Louise Mellor Customer Relationship Management Executive: Theo Bielby Videographer: Dan Powell

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Editor: Keith Chapman Editorial Contributors: Andy Monks, David Ancell, Alice Gregory, Neil Simms, Gareth Evans, Steve Beswick, Mike Petch, Paul Dean, Olivia Hanvey, Ian Watts, Mark Heys, Luke Smith, Liam Richardson, Ian Butterworth, Brenda Williams, Greg Hall, Jon Keighren, Oshor Williams, Steven Davies, Dave Wardle, Stephen Kenneth, Steve Bellis, Sam Preston, Alex Cowdy, Sam Byrne, Ian Brown, Chris Ridgway. Thanks to: Victoria Rogers at Aldershot Town FC. Design by: Daniel Parker, Duplexity Artwork. Stockport County FC is the trading name of Stockport County 2010 Ltd (7254012), which is wholly owned by Stockport Community Leisure Company Ltd (7240006), a private company limited by shares. The registered office is: Edgeley Park, Hardcastle Road, Edgeley, Stockport SK3 9DD

Inside... 05 20

Club Honours

Football League Division Two Runners Up 1996-97 Football League Division Three (North) Champions 1921-22, 1936-37 Football League Division Three (North) Runners Up 1928-29, 1929-30 Football League Division Four Champions 1966-67 Football League Division Four Runners Up 1990-91 Football League Two Play-Off Winners 2007-08 Football League Division Two Play-Off Finalists 1993-94 Football League Division Three Play-Off Finalists 1991-92 Football League Trophy Finalists 1991-92, 1992-93 Football League Division Three (North) Cup Winners 1934-35 Football League Division Three (North) Cup Finalists 1933-34 Lancashire League Winners 1899-1900 Lancashire Combination Winners 1904-05 Cheshire League Runners-Up (Reserves) 1909-10, 1927-28, 1936-37 Manchester Senior Cup Winners 1897-98, 1898-99, 1914-15, 1922-23 Cheshire Senior Cup Winners 1905-06, 1914-15, 1965-66, 2015-16 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, 2010-11 Vanarama National League North Winners 2018-2019

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Simon Rusk Hello, and welcome back once again to Edgeley Park.

A warm welcome as well to Danny Searle, his coaching staff, and all the players at Aldershot Town ahead of today’s game. I’d also like to welcome back Tom Walker to the Club, after he joined on loan from Harrogate in the week. Tom’s enthusiasm to play for this football club again was clear to see, and I’m really pleased to have been able to add a player of his quality to the group – the cover we have in the squad will serve us well over the remainder of the season. It’s great to be at home again this weekend. To have a good run of games at Edgeley Park so early in my time here has been important, as good home form

will be crucial to achieving our aims this season. Last Saturday’s win against Yeovil was a good start to that extent. We had to fight hard in that second half to come away with three points, but we dug in deep and fully deserved the three points – credit to the players for the character they showed in delivering an important clean sheet. Today we face another big test against an Aldershot side in good form, with four wins from their last six games in all competitions. It’s another game where we need to be at our best to come away with all three points. After a rare midweek without a

game, it’s been great to have a clear week of training with the group, and to have the chance to get to know them more individually – their attitude since I’ve come in has been really good, and I’m enjoying working with them. That mini-break away from match action this week was important to prepare ourselves, as we now enter an incredibly busy period of the season, and we’re going to really need to draw upon the strength of the squad over the coming weeks and months to continue our push up the league table. Enjoy the game today. Simon 05

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Club News Stockport Food Fund

Stockport County FC and Sector3 and have joined forces once again with the launch of the Stockport Food Fund, part of the #KeepStockportCaring campaign. With a total of £50,000 available, the fund is aimed at supporting local projects tackling food poverty. One in four parents across the UK have skipped meals to make ends meet and in a report by End Child Poverty it was found that in 2019 ‘15.2% of children in Stockport are living in households below the 60% median income, before housing costs’, which is an increase since 2015. By working with local VCFSE’s and providing vital funds to organisations on the frontline, Sector3 and Stockport County aim to ensure money is invested in the community to support Stockport’s most vulnerable residents.

Win a signed ball or a copy of Football Manager 2021 during the stream Be in with a chance to win a signed ball by all County players or a copy of Football Manager 2021 during our home game today! All you need to do is tweet a picture of your match day set-up at home with the hashtag #CountyAtHome. The best images will feature on our live stream and we’ll announce the winners on Twitter after the game.

Tom Walker returns to County on loan We are pleased to announce the return of Tom Walker to the Club, with the attacking midfielder signing on loan from Harrogate Town until the end of the season. Former Bolton midfielder Tom, 25, returns for his third spell at Edgeley Park, having first joined the Club in 2017. After spells at County and FC United of Manchester, Walker made the move to Salford City in 2018, playing a key role in The Ammies’ back-to-back promotions to the EFL. He then returned to Edgeley Park in October 2019 on a three-month loan deal, appearing 17 times and scoring six goals. Following the end of his loan spell in January 2020, Tom had a brief spell at AFC Fylde, before moving to League 2 Harrogate in the Summer. Manager Simon Rusk said: “I’m delighted to welcome Tom into our group. His addition will add quality and competition in forward areas, and will also improve the depth in what will be a demanding run-in to the end of the season.”

Liam Hogan It’s almost a year ago to the day since County captain Liam Hogan made the move to Edgeley Park from the Football League. Liam arrived at County as a serial promotion winner, having played a huge part in Salford’s recent side through the leagues, helping them first to the National League North title before lifting the National League play-off trophy at Wembley in 2018/19, following a 3-0 defeat of AFC Fylde in the final. The central defender made an instant impression on the County faithful, scoring the winner on his debut in a 1-0 win over Bromley at Edgeley Park. He ended up making five appearances before the 2019/20 season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, with County unbeaten in all of them. Liam was named as Club Captain prior to the start of the 2020/21 season, and has played a key role in County’s push at the top of the National League table as the campaign reaches the halfway stage.

The Hatters, buoyed by the return of Tom Walker earlier this week, head into this afternoon’s game in confident mood, having emerged from a tricky contest with in-form Yeovil Town last weekend with three points and a clean sheet. Liam, who saw his Sutton red card rightly rescinded, was delighted the Hatters quickly put the disappointment of the Sutton game behind them in the best possible way. “We were pleased with the win,” said Liam, who began his senior career in Stockport with Woodley Sports. “Every team has pressure during a game and Yeovil did in the second half, but we weathered the pressure well. To a man from the front downwards the lads worked their socks off. After the Sutton game, which was a bit of a mad one, we’ve reacted with a win and kept a clean sheet, which is pleasing. 09

“As a group we have access to each game post-match. I’ve watched the Sutton game back and I thought we controlled the game. We created chances, but didn’t take them. If one of those goes in then things could have been different. The red card cost us, and realistically took away any hopes of us getting something from the game. I genuinely tried to make an attempt to play the ball, and won the ball. It was so disappointing to be sent off, but everyone can make a mistake, managers and players, we all do. I think if he had just taken his time, talked to the lads around him, and thought about his decision, then he may have come to a different outcome. But we bounced back against Yeovil. We are a resilient group and I have every confidence that we will do well this season.” It’s been the most challenging of seasons so far for The Hatters, with a global pandemic leading to teams playing in front of empty stadiums, and an unexpected managerial change mid-season. Liam cannot praise the squad enough for the way they have dealt with these challenges and the progress they have made during the season. “It’s still early days but we’ve made good progress,” he said. “I’ve been impressed by Simon, he’s won this league as a player and I’m sure the fans will see a few of his tweaks in the weeks ahead. Simon and Mark have done their homework on the lads and I’ve been impressed by his management. Mark has great experience

in the game and he passes a lot of that knowledge on to us. We’re also pleased that Dave Conlon, Nick, Luke and Karlos are still involved. They know all about the club and what it’s about. “We’ve got a great group and we want to keep moving forward. We’re very lucky, we are still working and playing when it could be worse. We just want to deliver for the fans and we’ll be doing everything we can to do that. We can’t wait to see them back at Edgeley Park and on our travels. “Playing behind closed doors has been hard. You notice the fans not being there. They get right behind you and help you get back up if the pitch if you are struggling. Our travelling fans travel in great numbers so we’re missing out on that support to help you during games.” Aldershot Town arrive on SK3 determined to repeat last season’s double over County, but Liam feels that will go out of the window today, and home points are crucial if the Hatters are to seriously trouble early pace-setters Torquay. “Our home form is not quite where it is needed to be,” added Liam. “On paper, we should be looking

Any superstitions? Yes, I put tape on my left hand before every game. Best moment of your career? Lifting the National League Play-Off final trophy at Wembley for Salford. Favourite TV programme you’ve watched? Money Heist. Last item you purchased? A bouncy castle for my daughter. Best game you’ve played in? West Ham at home this season. Best advice you’ve been given in the game? Never have two bad days on the trot. One rule you would change? Anything to improve or remove VAR. to pick up three points, but we know Aldershot will be difficult opponents. I played alongside Mo Bettamer briefly when we were both at Salford, and he will be a threat today. The game should be good to watch. “The lads have approached our previous games against Woking, Sutton, and Yeovil really well. We all trust each other when we are out on the pitch and we are all focused on the job in hand.” 11

Welcome...

Aldershot Town We welcome Aldershot Town to Edgeley Park today, a club who did the double on County last season and who boast an incredible unbeaten record against us at their Recreation Ground home.

The Shots’ most recent victory against County came last season, a 2-1 home triumph in December 2019 continuing a remarkable sequence of success dating back to our first-ever meeting sixty years earlier. In 26 games at the Recreation Ground since, Aldershot have won 21 times, drawing five. Thankfully, today’s game takes place here at Edgeley Park where County hold the much better record, losing to The Shots just three times in 26 matches. One of those three losses occurred in our last campaign though, with the Hampshire club great value for their 2-1 win on a sunny September Saturday. It was a game of outstanding strikes, with Harry Panayiotou and Alefe Santos The Shots’ marksmen, firing home a sumptuous volley and a bullet from distance respectively. That double over County contributed towards a tally of 46 points in 39 games for Aldershot last season, which ultimately left them 18th in the table when the season ended abruptly. It was manager Danny Searle’s first season in charge at the club, having joined from 12

Nickname: The Shots Founded: 1926 (formed as Aldershot Town in 1992) Stadium: The EBB Stadium Capacity: 7,100 Address: The EBB Stadium, High Street, Aldershot, Hampshire. Postcode: GU11 1TW Distance from Edgeley Park: 218.6 miles (3 hours 38 minutes) Current league position: 13th

Braintree Town in May 2019, and was a solid, if unspectacular start to his reign. This time around Searle’s Shots are higher up the table, with a record of eight wins, three draws and nine defeats placing them 13th at present. Of those eight victories, arguably their best two came within a week of each other in November, when a 1-0 win at home to Notts County was followed up by an impressive 2-1 victory away at Altrincham. Beating two promotion chasers highlights the quality in Aldershot’s ranks, though the remaining six victories have all been against teams lower down the table, indicating a struggle against higher-placed opponents.

The Hampshire club’s form in 2021 has been strong so far, with four wins from six games in all competitions. Striker Mo Bettamer scored match-winning goals in recent games against Solihull Moors and Barnet and he has six in 19 so far this season. He also bagged the DID winner at the Recreation Ground against YOU County last time we met. The Londoner KNOW? has a Libyan father and in November of In 12 seasons at last year he made his international début level, Aldershot this have fin ish ed top of league, for Libya in an African Cup of Nations lost in the play-off final and qualifier, grabbing a goal to make the twice lost in th e playoccasion even more memorable. off se mi-finals.

The Gaffer: Danny Searle Danny joined the Shots as manager in May 2019 after spending the second half of the 2018/19 season in charge of Braintree Town. Searle holds a UEFA Pro Licence and has coached in the Academies of Chelsea, Charlton Athletic, Southend United and, lastly, West Ham United, where he was their Academy’s Head of Coaching. Searle joined Braintree in 2018 as Assistant Manager to Hakan Heyrettin and took over as First Team Manager when Heyrettin joined Maidstone in January 2019. In his short tenure in charge of the Iron they beat both Play-Off finalists Salford City and AFC Fylde and drew at the title-winners Leyton Orient on the final day of the season. Unfortunately for the Iron their upturn in form wasn’t enough to keep them in the division and they were relegated along with the Shots (who were subsequently reprieved) - but he departed Braintree as a popular figure and is held in high regard by fans and staff there.

Bettamer has briefly been joined up top by two renowned forwards this season, sharing striking duties in October with 34-year-old former Scotland international Ross McCormack, whose transfer fees have totalled a whopping £23m in his career, and more recently with Ricky Miller, the ex-Peterborough and Port Vale man. Miller was named National League Player of the Year in 2017 after a remarkable season for Dover in which he scored 45 times in 46 games. He was also the Conference North Player of the Year earlier in his career whilst on the books at Boston. The star striker immediately endeared himself to Shots supporters, making a goalscoring début to secure a win over Woking on January 2nd, just 24 hours after joining the club. Miller and his mates should be refreshed after an 11-day break since their last game, with their recent FA Trophy match with Chesterfield called off due to a positive Covid test at the Derbyshire club. Chesterfield have subsequently withdrawn from the competition, gifting The Shots a bye into the quarter-finals. That game is just a fortnight away, though in this most hectic of seasons Aldershot face a further three challenging league fixtures after today’s game, before hosting Hereford in their Trophy tie. After County come home games against Solihull Moors and Wrexham, before a Tuesday trip to Maidenhead. Right now, The Shots are just four points away from the last play-off place, so February could well be a pivotal month in their season. Some valuable points gained in the following four matches could make participation in a play-off push a real prospect, with all the excitement of the cup to complete the month. If Searle can guide his men to another three points against County today it could be the start of a fabulous fortnight for Shots’ supporters. 13

The Players JERMAINE ANDERSON (b:May 1996 s:Dec 2020) Midfielder who was a youngster with Arsenal and progressed to senior football with Peterborough United. Loan moves to Doncaster Rovers and Bradford City followed, and when released he joined the latter permanently. MO BETTAMER (b:Apr 1993 s:Oct 2019) Forward who started with Watford before moving on via London Tigers, Hayes & Yeading United, Hampton & Richmond Borough and Bedfont Town to Al-Ahli Benghazi of Libya. Returning to the UK, he signed for Staines Town and was then with Braintree Town and Barnet. who loaned him to Welling United. KILLIAN COLOMBIE (b:Nov 1995 s:Sep 2020) Started as a youth with Paris Saint-Germain and AS Montigny-le-Bretonneux before moving to study in the USA where he figured for Iona Gaels and Sporting Kansas. He plays as a right-back and can cover in wide midfield. TOBY EDSER (b:Feb 1999 s:Sep 2020) Joined after leaving his only other permanent adult club Nottingham Forest. Having progressed through their academy after earlier being connected with Fulham and Charlton Athletic, the attacking midfielder had loan spells with Woking twice and Port Vale. ALEX FINNEY (b:Jun 1996 s:Dec 2018) Central defender who started at Leyton Orient, with a loan at Bishops Stortford before moving to Bolton Wanderers. Next he joined Queens Park Rangers but was loaned out to Maidstone United, before making that move permanent. MIKE FONDOP (b:Nov 1993 s:Nov 2020) Striker who joined after playing for Wrexham and Chesterfield. He began with Stanway Rovers before

Jermaine Anderson

moving on to Billericay Town, Margate, Oxford City and Guiseley. They loaned him to FC Halifax Town before his switch to Wales. The Dragons sent him on loan to Maidenhead United. GEORGE FOWLER (b:Dec 1997 s:Jan 2018) Product of Ipswich Town, where he made the first team. After being loan to the Shots this defensive midfielder joined them permanently. DINESH GILLELA (b:Jan 2000 s:Feb 2021) Defender who progressed through the ranks at AFC Bournemouth after joining them as a youngster from Watford. He is on loan from the Cherries, having had a similar spell at Billericay Town, and can play across the defence. RYAN HALL (b:Oct 2000 s:Jul 2020) Academy keeper who had figured for Newport of the Isle of Wight, and then progressed in three years at the Shots to sign a first professional contract. CHIKE KANDI (b:Oct 1993 s:Aug 2020) Forward who spent his youth career at Birmingham City, Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion and Brighton & Hove Albion. The last of these sent him on loan to Bognor Regis Town. He made his way to Dagenham & Redbridge via Woking and Leatherhead.

Dinesh Gillela

LEWIS KINSELLA (b:Sep 1994 s:Jan 2018) Left-back who was with the Academies at Arsenal and Aston Villa. He had spells out on loan at Luton Town and Kidderminster Harriers. He switched to Colchester United later moving on to today’s visitors initially on loan.

KODI LYONS-FOSTER (b:Oct 1996 s:Jun 2019) After experience with Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, this central defender joined Bristol City. He returns to the Shots after being with them two seasons ago. He finished that season with Whitehawk, before moving to Braintree. ROSS McCORMACK (b:Aug 1986 s:Sep 2020) Forward who began with Glasgow Rangers after joining from Hillwood Boys Club. A loan spell with Doncaster Rovers preceded moves to Motherwell and Cardiff City, later joining Fulham from Leeds United and on to Aston Villa. Whilst with them he was loaned to Nottingham Forest, Melbourne City, Central Coast Mariners and Motherwell. RICKY MILLER (b:Mar 1989 s:Jan 2021) Forward signed after time out of the game since leaving Port Vale. Started with Charlton and Woking, then worked his way through non-league with spells at Stamford, Corby Town, Spalding United, Boston United and Wealdstone amongst others. He still had plenty more additions to his CV but found his way back to Boston before moving on to Luton, Dover Athletic, Peterborough and Vale. JOEL NOUBLE (b:Jan 1996 s:Jul 2020) After being connected with Chelsea and Millwall, became a scholar and pro with Dagenham. The forward then had loan spells with Thurrock, Grays Athletic, Welling and St Albans City, before moving on to Bishop’s Stortford. His further career saw returns to Grays and Thurrock, before stints with Haringey Borough and Concord Rangers. SHADRACH OGIE (b:Aug 2001 s:Oct 2020) Central defender or left-back who broke into the Orient first team during the 18-19 FA Trophy run. They have loaned him to Bishop’s Stortford and Dover Athletic in recent seasons, and he joins the Shots on a similar deal.

Shadrach Ogie

JAMES ROWE (b:Nov 1991 s:Jul 2017) Midfielder whose early development was with Southampton and Reading, with loan stints at Oxford City, Basingstoke Town and Lewes. His career has continued with Forest Green Rovers, Tranmere Rovers and most recently Cheltenham Town. BEN SHROLL (b:Oct 2000 s:Sep 2020) Academy central defender who signed first team forms for this season after a year with the Shots. He previously played with the Raynes Park Vale and Metropolitan Police academies, He headed back to Met Police on loan during October.

HARRY PANAYIOTOU (b:Oct 1994 s:Jul 2019) Winger who headed to Aldershot after a spell with Greek side Aittitos Spata. Before his time abroad he had been with Leicester City, on loan at Port Vale and Raith Rovers, then in non-league with Barrow, Salford City (loan) and Nuneaton Borough.

MITCH WALKER (b:Sep 1991 s:Jun 2019) Goalkeeper signed after seven years with Dover Athletic. He started with Brighton, being loaned out to Eastbourne Borough and Welling before his move to Dover.

JOE RABBETTS (b:Jul 2002 s:Oct 2020) The left-back, who can also play further forward, has been at the club since the age of 11 and worked his way through the academy system. JOSH REES (b:Oct 1993 s:Jul 2020) Started with Arsenal, leaving to join Nottingham Forest after loan experience with Brentford. From Forest he was sent out to Nuneaton Town and Torquay United, the midfielder then switched to Braintree and Chelmsford City with two spells at Bromley split by time with Gillingham.

CRAIG TANNER (b:Oct 1994 s:Dec 2019) Winger who started with Reading, before joining AFC Wimbledon and Plymouth Argyle twice on loan. He joined the Shots from next club Motherwell.

ALFY WHITTINGHAM (b:Jul 1998 s:Jul 2019) Midfielder whose first club was Havant & Waterlooville. That side loaned him to AFC Totton and Petersfield Town before he moved on to Hungerford Town.

Alfy Whittingham

REECE WYLIE (b:May 2002) Midfield player who came through the youth system at the Shots to a first-team squad place. 15

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MACAULEY SOUTHAM-HALES

Rebellious Jukebox Gareth Evans selects Aldershot on the County Rock-Ola, and presses play to discover a link with, and test the credentials of… MICKIE MOST. So, what’s the connection? For the first time in County’s National League home schedule since the turn of the year, this feature’s subject was born in the town whence our visitors hail. Life began for Michael Hayes, the son of a regimental sergeant-major based in Aldershot, 83 midsummers ago - before the family moved to London during the early 1950s, and young Michael, on turning 21 towards the end of the decade, changed his name to Mickie Most. He went on to become a hitmaker, firstly as a briefly-shining pop star in his own right, but subsequently - and far more significantly - as one of the UK’s most successful record producers, amassing in the process a fortune estimated at £50 million upon his death, from cancer, in 2003. A money-maker, then. But Rebellious, too? Let’s ‘Take Five’…

Life began for Michael Hayes, the son of a regimental sergeant-major based in Aldershot, 83 midsummers ago 1. The ‘Elvis of South Africa’ The description was Most’s - and confined to success in a part of the Commonwealth that was to become a republic two years after he had moved to Johannesburg, during 1959, with his South African wife Christina - but there’s no denying that he was stellar as a singer down there. Fronting Mickie Most & His Playboys, and churning out a succession of well-received contemporary American covers, he achieved 11 consecutive Number One singles in South Africa - before returning to the UK in 1962, doing no more than trouble the lower reaches of the Top 50 with ‘Mister Porter’, and deciding to focus his career on areas of the music industry other than performing. 2. Making it during the ‘60s Having produced records for his own band in South Africa, Most had effectively - if unknowingly - paved the way for his future. And with a preference for singles over albums, going back to his teenage years listening to skiffle, R&B and early rock & roll hits on the radio, he focused his efforts on understanding what constituted a good one-off

track, as well as how to create an arrangement that would be distinctive over the airwaves. So it was that, in 1964, he recognised the hit potential in a traditional folk song that, in ‘House of the Rising Sun’, was to spawn a massive and classic charttopper on both sides of the Atlantic for Newcastle combo, The Animals. Three years later, Rock guitarist, Jeff Beck, rightly or wrongly, became best known in the pop world for party singalong ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ - produced by Most, whose recording process also created careers during the ‘60s for Donovan, Herman’s Hermits, Lulu and The Nashville Teens. 3. RAK-ing it in during the ‘70s In 1969, and with a new, rockier mood enveloping music, Most continued to nail his colours to the pop mast by creating RAK Records and RAK Music publishing - naming his ventures after the racks where records were strategically placed in the supermarkets and petrol stations to which he had sold the discs in an early job following his return from South Africa. Again, he displayed his knack for placing the right song with the right singer(s) - so much so, in fact, that the first 27 singles issued on RAK were all Top 50 hits. And the acts he discovered - including Hot Chocolate, Mud, Suzi Quatro, Racey and Smokie - thrived accordingly. The 1980s were less prolific for RAK and Most although they did launch the musical careers of everyone’s favourite landscape gardener, Kim Wilde, and new kids on the pop block, Johnny Hates Jazz, a band for whom Wilde sang backing vocals on ‘Turn Back the Clock’ and Most’s son, Calvin Hayes, played keyboard and drums. 4. Most-akes - but no regrets The longest-lasting RAK band was Hot Chocolate - although the chart chances of one of the band’s best-known hits were originally scuppered by Most,

He focused his efforts on understanding what constituted a good one-off track, as well as how to create an arrangement that would be distinctive over the airwaves

who, in 1975, made it the B-side of ‘Blue Night’, a single that failed to register interest anywhere. One remix later during the year, and ‘You Sexy Thing’ was only kept off the Number One spot by Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, inspired a delicious cover version by Leeds indie-rockers Cud in 1987, and, 10 years later, formed a staple part of ‘The Full Monty’ soundtrack. Earlier in his production career, Most had made a hash of putting together the 1967 ‘Little Games’ album for The Yardbirds - which failed to earn a release in the UK - although all was apparently forgiven by the band into which they subsequently evolved, as Led Zeppelin’s status as Rock Gods was developed and enhanced through the RAK Management enterprise that Most formed with the Zep’s infamous manager Peter Grant. 5. Oh, Most we fling this filth at our pop kids? Most’s uncanny knack for unearthing hit material and marrying it to the right artists earned him, perhaps unfairly, a reputation for producing pop fluff, and - worse still - laying the blueprint for Stock Aitken Waterman’s Hit Factory in the late 1980s and the various boy bands and girl groups who unleashed a plague upon the charts into this century. But Most’s approach to pop went beyond the ‘studio factory’ and pin-up appeal. Just witness his television production, in 1978, of ‘Revolver’ - a programme devoted to punk - or, a little earlier, his brutally honest assessments of shiny new wannabe talent as a judge on ITV’s ‘New Faces’. As the man himself once said, in identifying the kind of material to prompt the ringing of record-shop cash registers: “There has to be that bit of magic…”. Rebellious Jukebox Rating:… (Forty) Eight - Crash! 19

Liam Dickinson

Phoenix From The County Flames Liam Dickinson earned his place in the County history books when he scored his famous goal that secured County’s first-ever win at Wembley, in our 2008 League Two Play-Off final victory over Rochdale. And what a season the striker had for the Hatters, scoring 21 League goals as County celebrated promotion to League One, and deservedly securing the Club’s Player of the Year award. “It is every boy’s dream to score the winning goal at Wembley,” said Liam. “I still get goosebumps now just talking about it. It was just such a special day to be a part of. “It was such a great team to be part of. The togetherness of the team, we were all in it together. At many clubs you get divides, but we did not have that at County. We were all young lads, the oldest was Gaz Owen at 24! The one thing was we were just getting started and I believe that had we been allowed to stay together then we would have gone far. We had some great players, Ashley Williams, Anthony Pilkington, Jim McNulty, Tommy Rowe, Stephen Gleeson, and they are memories that will always stay with me.”

I still get goosebumps now just talking about it. It was just such a special day to be a part of 20

County was Liam’s first professional club and after impressing during a trial in November 2005, he was signed by Chris Turner, before finding his way into the first team under Jim Gannon. He made his debut on 2nd January 2006 as a 71st-minute substitute against Cheltenham Town at Edgeley Park, scoring just five minutes later in a 2-2 draw. Liam hit the ground running and he went from strength to strength at County, but it was his seven goals in the 2005-06 season which played a big part in the Hatters’ survival in League Two. “It was great that the fans took to me straight away,” says Liam. “Seven goals in that part of the season, scoring in front of the Cheadle End, the fans loved me and I loved them. It was great to be a part of it.”

It was the following season - 2007-08 - where he really came to prominence as a County player, hitting the net 21 times from 32 starts. He scored the decisive goal against Paul Lambert’s Wycombe Wanderers in the second leg of the playoff semi-final of Edgeley Park and then scored the winner against Rochdale at Wembley, firing County to promotion into League One. That form saw Dicko leave for Derby County the following summer, the start of a Football League career that included spells at Leeds United, Brighton, Barnsley and Peterborough. “Those memories will never leave me,” he said. “I’ve been back to watch a few games in the Cheadle End with the fans, but it’s difficult as post-football I now spend time with my kids after missing out while I was playing. “Looking back on my career I tried my hardest. I had no regrets. I played for some great clubs. Derby is also a massive club and perhaps one regret is I didn’t stay there for another year. Nigel Clough came in and said I was in his plans but the chairman wanted to sell me. I was frustrated. I wasn’t getting much game time but I felt that things could have been different had I stayed for another year. At Blackpool, I scored goals and Brighton was a great club and I enjoyed many good nights out down there!”

THE GAME: Rochdale 2 County 3 THE DATE: 26th May 2008 THE COMPETITION: League Two Play-Off Final THE MOMENT: Scoring at Wembley was a boyhood dream. I can remember the goal step by step. The ball was played over the top to Anthony Pilkington, he played it across to me and I beat the ‘keeper at his near post. It was my favourite County memory and goal. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Liam returned to Edgeley Park for a short spell back in 2013, playing 13 games and scoring once, before departing for Stalybridge Celtic. But he made many lifelong friends during his time at County, including Michael Raynes, Paul Turnbull and James Tunnicliffe, and many more. “We were a close-knit group, we built such a bond at County. Michael Rose, I’ve got massive respect for him, he’s a fantastic player and person, Pooley is still out in Dubai but we still manage to keep in touch.” This season has been such a challenging season for everyone connected with the Club, as County aim for promotion back to the Football League during a global pandemic, which has hit the Non-League industry hard. Liam believes that the Hatters are more than capable of achieving promotion from a highly-competitive league. “We’re more than capable of achieving promotion back to the Football League,” said Liam. “The Club have invested in players and they have a vision. Simon Rusk has worked at a great club in Brighton and I wish him well.” Liam regularly contributes to the hugely popular County Podcast, hosted by Chris Ridgway, where they interview a current or past County player, which he says he thoroughly enjoys. “It’s nice to talk about County and football. We’ve had some great players on, and it’s great to talk about our memories and have a bit of banter. These are difficult times and many people are struggling but I hope it does help lift people because we enjoy doing it. Chris Ridgway hit the nail on the head recently, he said football is a release, going for a pint, meet your friends or family, cheer on the team, win, lose or draw. It’s been nice to catch up with people like Raynesy and Gary Dicker, and I’m trying to get Wardy on!”

Stockport County Colts & Junior Academy Under-8s Manchester Youth Super League This week we take a look at one of our most exciting teams with bags of potential to grow into high-level footballers. Our Under-8s play in the Premier Division of the Manchester Youth Super League against some of the most talented young players around. Coaches Jake Loftus and Paul Lundy take the team and in line with the club’s philosophy encourage players to be confident and calm on the ball as well as focusing on a possession-based game. This is not to say that these players don’t show individual skill, in fact, quite the opposite as many of these boys excel in 1v1 situations. Despite an incomplete pre-season the boys started off their campaign with a number of good performances against Oldham Athletic, Elite FC, and Sapere Aude Academy. Despite the results not always going our way we began to see improvements in performance as the players got used to how we wanted them to play. It would only be a matter of time before these performances lead to wins and these came in the form of an emphatic futsal victory 13-2 as well as a fantastic cup run knocking out some fantastic teams along the way. Unfortunately, the boys fell short 5-4 in the cup final just before Christmas despite a wonderful performance with some fantastic goals. Off the back of this performance, the boys were invited to play at Manchester City’s CFA facility where they once again showed how far they’d come running out 7-4 winners. I know the boys are as desperate to get back playing as we are coaching, and we look forward to seeing this special group grow over the coming months and years. Jeremy, goalkeeper: We call him ‘the cat’ which just about sums up Jeremy, an outstanding young goalkeeper who is as fearless as he is agile. The league’s best for a reason! Daniel, defender: Tenacious in the tackle and a leader at the back, Daniel thrives in 1v1 defensive situations often coming out with the ball and starting our attacks. Jack, defender/midfield: Jack and Daniel made up a fantastic duo in our cup run. However, Jack has the versality to play anywhere on the pitch (and has!). His technical ability is coming on leaps and bounds as well as his ability to play out from the back.

Alex, midfield: a box-to-box midfielder who has a fantastic engine as well as an incredible eye for a pass. Alex will pop up all over the pitch turning the ball over, finding a defencesplitting pass and arriving on the end of a cut-back are just some of his skills. Leo, midfield: a more recent addition to the team, who we couldn’t be happier with! His ability to play a number of positions is largely due to his football intelligence and versatility! Since Leo has joined it’s been no coincidence that our good performances have turned into results. Oscar, midfield/forward: a wonderfully gifted technician on the ball, who can beat a man, find a pass and score a goal. A true number 10 who on his day is unplayable! Arthur, midfield/forward: When the long blonde hair is tied up we know Arthur means business. Despite his size Arthur puts fear into opponents with his relentless pressure. Arthur also has a fantastic ability to pop up in the right positions in front of goal as he showed at the CFA. Jayce, midfield/forward: our leading goalscorer and LW extraordinaire, if Jayce isn’t beating his opponents with his blistering pace, he’s outwitting them with his skill. With an eye for goal I know he’s working hard on his right foot to add another dimension to his game. Keep it up! Luca, forward: Luca has a fantastic football brain, he reads the game well and knows when to hold up the ball and when to move it quickly. In the box his poaching skills are second to none and I know we’re going to see lots more goals in the future from him! Jake Loftus Assistant Head Coach

Supporters’ Co-operative We made reference in the programmes for Boreham Wood and Notts County games of contact that had been made to the Supporters’ Co-operative by Stockport’s Garrick Theatre, and we are pleased to give this update.

It is a couple of years since the Garrick did a performance piece called ‘Stockport Voices’ - a series of monologues about life in Stockport, based on interviews with people who live/work in the town. The Co-operative were happy to get involved, and in this regard Supporters’ Co-operative member Phil Robinson did much good work to put together some County content for what was a very interesting and worthwhile project.

Well, the Garrick and ourselves think that the time is ripe to revisit this excellent idea, and this time focusing ‘Stockport Voices’ exclusively on County within the theatre groups ‘Festival of Theatre’. There is a rich vein of history to go at - a lifetime of material, but it’s not just the team but reminiscing about the characters, the incidents, the places, you remember - the where... when... that will make it live! Tell us about your County memories, but first send in your

contact details (phone/e-mail) to peter.towey@hotmail.co.uk The Garrick will ultimately use the stories from the Co-op members plus other County fans, and collate these into a script, either using the County story tellers (if they are up for it) or actors for a Zoom performance initially, and then... who knows?! We think this is great idea, and we hope you agree and join us in putting it together! 23

Official Partners of The National League

County Ladies Under-16s season so far...

Our new U-16s team, ‘The Hatters’

As all of our teams are currently unable to play matches or train, it’s a good time to catch up with some of our Junior Coaches to find out how their season has gone so far. This week, Dan Dewar, who runs our Under-16s team in the Cheshire Girls’ League, Mid-Cheshire Division, tells us how they’ve been getting on... The girls, coaching staff, and parents, were really looking forward to the 2020-21 campaign, coming off the back of a potentially double-winning season at Under-14s (cut short due to Covid). The team were unbeaten in the league and into

the cup semi-final before the season was prematurely ended in February. The vast majority of the squad made the transition up to Under-16s (SCLFC don’t run an Under-15s team) and we were hoping to get a couple of squad additions to keep numbers strong. However, none of the coaching team expected to have 36 players attend training when football returned in July! This has allowed us to field two teams at this age group. The newly-formed Hatters were to play in the South Manchester Girls’ League Under-16s Division Two. After the initial challenges of creating a new team the players

Our U-16s Cheshire Girls’ League team

have settled well and are in midtable, having won two and drawn two of their games prior to the suspension of football due to the latest lockdown. The established Under-14s team from the previous season were entered into the Mid-Cheshire League Under-16 Division One, and, as we entered lockdown, the girls had won seven from seven, scoring an amazing 43 goals and conceding just five. The coaches and players cannot wait for football to return so we can continue to work together and develop further. Dan, Hayley, Paul and Josh (Under-16s coaching team)

For anyone interested in joining the club to play or train with any of our teams contact details are on our website, stockportcountylfc.com or follow the link from the SCFC site. Follow us on Twitter @SCLadiesFC, Instagram @stockportcountylfc and Facebook at Stockport County Ladies FC.

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The Mad Hatter’s Quiz with Paul Dean

TRIVIA

WHO AM I?

1. To which team did Aldershot sell goalkeeper Tony Lange in 1988 for a fee of £150,000? 2. Who is the only player to captain his team to English top-flight title wins in three separate decades? 3. Who is the only player to score in a Manchester, Merseyside and Glasgow derby? 4. How old was Michael Owen when he scored for England against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup? 5. Who succeeded Bobby Moore as permanent England captain in 1974?

I played on the wing for the Hatters, making 191 appearances between 1947-58, scoring 33 goals.

6. Which former Ipswich and Arsenal great managed Aldershot? 7. In which year did Jimmy Meadows lead the Hatters to be Division Four champions? 8. Andy Thorpe played as a central defender for the Hatters, but what position did he start at?

H M E R C K M U F G Y Y U B F J Q L M F

V X L T U W X O W J C R T D Y I C O G R

T P L K E N H I E U I A H W H N H A E I

D N E Q W A O D I E K O J I L C N Z Q I

W D R J S K S J R O M U G G F A A E W L

A Q I E O N J Y M K A N V C E C H T K Y

K J N S E A F P B T F E O E R Y K S X M

O O Q U R Z A O X F H T E S H P W L O C

J J R I W N S B G O R I E C R A K N M K

I A H R Y P E M Z Y V O U L W E R E O A

I T A A S G W C O T P B B I O E D F R N

X C W K J X M H D H E X J E A G A E G J

L L O R I S N L O D H M G L R B N Q A K

Z S U E U O Z A G L B B Y W I T A I N U

J F M V T B U M C Z D E S A U O S N M Y

R Y V W R A G E T I B I N S O N W O R X

J U O K O O Q L A U V S N L B L J R N O

E L X M K M O A F L K G Y G F Q E C B L

K A R C Y X L V S I K N G L D T X J N B

Answers:

M M B C F G B F J S U Y W A V R F H F G

Who Am I? Ken Finney

AURIER BELLERIN BRUNO CECH DEBUCHY DIOUF EDERSON FABIANSKI FOYTH HOLDING JONES KARIUS KENNY KOMPANY LAMELA LLORIS LOWTON LUIZ MINGOLET MONREAL MORGAN ROBERTSON SON TERRY ZANKA

Trivia 1: Wolves. 2: Tony Adams. 3: Andrei Kanchelskis. 4: 18. 5: Emlyn Hughes. 6: Brian Talbot. 7: 1967. 8: Right-back.

WORDSEARCH

GAME CHANGER footballfoundation.org.uk

Commercial Lynx Taxis sign up as our official Programme Partner We are pleased to announce that Lynx Taxis have become our official Programme Sponsor for the 2020/21 season. Lynx Taxis is a very well-known taxi firm that operates in the north-west, with a large fleet of taxis as well as many executive vehicles, Lynx Taxis are brilliant for airport transfers, family travel or the VIP treatment. They pride themselves on their low fare policy with no inflated prices after midnight. Customers of Lynx Taxis are also able to use an app to track their cab’s arrival time, as well as being able to order a taxi 24 hours, 7 days a week. The Club are very excited to have Lynx Taxis as their Official Programme Sponsor. Our award-winning programme is filled with exclusive interviews, club news, quizzes and written columns from the manager, chairman and commentator and is viewed by thousands of fans before every home game. Each week there’s new stories and reports, as well as an in-depth article on the opposition, which includes past match results and a view from the

opposition’s camp. Digital programmes are available to view on the Club’s website before every home game, for those who would like a hard copy, they are also available to purchase from our online Club shop. As well as being big fans of the Club, Lynx Taxis also have an advertising board on the Cheadle End. We’d like to thank them for their continued support over the years and we hope to see them at Edgeley Park soon.

County partner up with PulseRoll The Club are excited to announce a new partnership with PulseRoll, a company who specialise in vibration training and recovery. PulseRoll have provided the Club with two massage guns, as well as two mini massage guns and the equipment will be introduced into the players’ postmatch recovery sessions. County’s physiotherapist, Luke Smith, tells us how beneficial the new massage guns will be for the players: “The pulse rollers are now used daily on players to treat muscle soreness and fatigue. The pulse guns are an excellent addition to our treatment selection and help with maintaining an excellent squad availability record. The players have really bought into these products and

use them during training in our recovery rooms as well as on the coach on the way to and from away games.” Ben Hinchliffe, County’s goalkeeper, tells us why using equipment like this is important for recovery: “This kind

of equipment is key when it comes to alleviating tension and recovering after a game or a strenuous training session. I use the massage gun after every game and it really helps to relieve any aches before getting a session in with our physio, Luke.”

Uber Eats to sponsor today’s game We are delighted that Uber Eats are our Official Match Sponsor for today’s home game, not only that, they have provided a £10 off discount code for all County fans, visit our website for the code and to read the Ts&Cs.

Steve Bellis Metal Oxen, George Formby and Uncle Sam! May I begin by wishing you ‘Xin Nian Kuai Le’ which all my Chinese friends and China lovers will know means ‘Happy New Year’ in Mandarin, the language spoken by more than 915 million people around the world. This year is the year of the Ox, or to be more exact, the year of the metal ox? I didn’t realise until recently that some years represent animals made from different substances. I wonder if there is a year of the rubber rabbit? That would be interesting.

It was a nice service but it nearly started disastrously for me as I overheard the funeral director asking one of the family if they wanted any of the mourners to carry the coffin. Now I have a bad shoulder following an accident in the players’ bar at County four years ago when I attempted to slide down a bannister while celebrating a 1-1 draw against Nuneaton. So the idea of carrying a coffin filled me with dread. What if I dropped it?

I glanced around and noticed that including me there were only five potential carriers and they needed six. Thankfully my brother was late (as usual) and the Funeral Directors took charge and carried Harry on his final journey. Speaking of that accident in the players’ bar (which also resulted in a detached retina) this was partly the fault of my good friend Lynda, known affectionately as Leggy Lynda.

The bad news is that if you were born in the year of the Ox then this could mean bad luck for you this year. So if you were born in 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 or this year, then you’re an ox and probably won’t win the lottery. The Ox represents hard work so it’s sounding like a fun year already. It didn’t start well for me and I’m not even an Ox... I’m a snake (no comments, please). My first appointment on the morning of Chinese New Year was to attend a funeral. It was for my uncle Harry (one of those uncles who wasn’t really an uncle but we called him uncle... we all have them, but obviously not all called Harry). 30

George Formby... my friend had one of his grills!

She started the sliding down the bannister game and did it perfectly, landing like an Olympic gymnast while I ended up landing on my head. Well, Lynda might be more athletic than me (who isn’t!), but on a country walk last weekend she showed that she certainly has her blonde moments. I was talking about my Uncle Harry and how he looked like George Formby. To my shock, Lynda said ‘Oh, George Formby, yeah, I know him’. I was amazed that she knew someone who played a ukulele singing daft songs in the 1930’s and 1940’s. I asked how come she knew of him, she looked at me like I was an idiot and said: “Durrr, I’ve got one of his grills.” As if this wasn’t bad enough, we then got talking about food and in particular desserts. I was explaining how my mum used to give us Angel Delight with crushed biscuits on top. Lynda responded by saying: “Mmm, I loved Angel Delight, my favourite flavour was butternut squash.” I think she meant butterscotch. Anyway, back to this afternoon and if this game is on then the management and ground staff are deserving of great credit. It’s been so cold Monica Lewinski has just been blowing her hands. Or, as I used to say to my wife: “It’s colder than a mother-inlaw’s kiss.” (Probably one of the reasons I am now divorced.) Beast from the East 2 has taken its toll over the last week or so bringing ridiculously cold

Cricket... it’s not a game for the United States!

temperatures to the length and breadth of the UK.

American cousin, aptly called Uncle Sam.

We are keen to get the game played and build on the win here against Yeovil last Saturday to maintain our push for promotion back to the Football League.

Sam asked about the game as my father was watching it.

We are boosted by the return of Tom Walker who has joined us once again on loan until the end of the season from Harrogate. It is Tom’s third spell with us and he is probably getting sick of me welcoming him to Edgeley Park. He is a quality player and a great lad so it’s good to see him back with us. It will be an early start for me today as I intend to get up in the early hours to watch the Second Test between England and India in Chennai. With an excellent win behind us in the First Test it promises to be an exciting series. Every time I watch cricket I think of my late father who once tried to explain the game to an

He told Sam it was day three at which our American uncle nearly collapsed in shock. “Day three?” he blurted, “how many days does it last?” “It’s a five-day game,” my father responded. “Well,” Uncle Sam continued, “who is going to win?” “It looks like it will end in a draw,” my father replied. At which point my Uncle was absolutely speechless. Baffled, he exclaimed: “You play for five days and nobody wins? That sucks.” I don’t think test cricket will ever take off in the United States. Finally, a warm welcome our friends from Aldershot in the knowledge that they will provide stern opposition. We also wish them a very safe journey back down south. 31

Opposition View This weekend’s view from the visitors is 26-year-old Shots supporter James Rogers. How do you assess your season so far? We’ve had good patches and bad patches throughout the season, resulting in our current mid-table position. A little bit more consistency would see us making a strong push towards the play-offs. What have been the highlights of your season so far? Doing the double over our local rivals, Woking, over Christmas, beating Notts County at home and signing Ricky Miller who is a proven striker at Conference level - he’s already having a positive influence on the team. What are your hopes for the season? I’d like to see us finish in the top half of the division, and maybe a trip to Wembley in the FA Trophy. Which Aldershot players are the ones to ‘watch out for’ this afternoon? Mo Bettamer who is already on double figures in goals, Josh Rees who is a consistent and solid midfielder and the ever-

Mo Bettamer is one to watch out for this afternoon

improving Kodi Lyons-Foster in central defence, he’s made real progress this season. What are your thoughts on Stockport County? I think you are a consistent team with a very loyal fanbase.

A little bit more consistency would see us making a strong push towards the play-offs 32

Do you have any memories of games against County? I’ve been watching the Shots for 18 years and we’ve not played you much in that time! However, I remember a tight home win over yourselves in March 2011, Damian Spencer scoring for us in the 90th minute, the only goal of the game! What is your prediction for the game? I think it will be a hard-fought, 1-1 draw.

Terrace Talk Last weekend’s cold snap meant that many National League games fell victim to the weather, but County managed to be one of the exceptions and took full advantage with a 1-0 win against Yeovil Town. Alex Reid was again on target with the match-winner to take his tally for the season into double figures and it was the perfect tonic following on from the disappointment of the result against Sutton United the previous Tuesday. Today’s opponents Aldershot Town have had a couple of games postponed themselves in recent weeks and this will be the first time Danny Searle’s team have been able to play since defeating bottom club Barnet at the start of the month. The Shots had been due to take on Chesterfield in the FA Trophy last weekend but it emerged that one of the Spireites’ players had produced a positive COVID test and as such the game was called off an hour before kick-off. Last week Simon Rusk managed to add to the Stockport ranks with the arrival of defensive midfielder Will Collar from Hamilton Academical. Will has been playing up in Scotland for the Accies for the past couple of years but knows the manager from their time together down at Brighton & Hove Albion. Also, the management have been able to secure a couple of the younger players to professional contracts in recent weeks with Adam Owen and Jack Hinchy committing their

Last week Simon Rusk added Will Collar to the Hatters’ ranks

immediate futures to County, Adam signing for the rest of the season and Jack staying for an initial eighteen months. Everyone at County will be wishing the three players well for their time at the club which it is hoped will be a long and successful one. Jack has already got game time with the first team in recent weeks against West Ham United no less, so the opportunities are there for younger players to make the first team. There is a lot of competition from around the North West to sign younger players and the

trappings of the Premier League may prove lucrative for the short term, but at clubs like County there is a better chance of being given first-team opportunities and therefore maturing as a footballer rather than being stuck in the cycle of U23 football. Last season against Aldershot went the way of the Hampshire side as they claimed a 2-1 victory at Edgeley Park in a game best remembered for Alefe Santos’ long-range blockbuster and a County consolation from Joe Piggott who netted in one of his two games for the club whilst on loan from Wigan Athletic. 33

The County Years

1984

County Historian Ian Watts delves into the archives to bring you some of the Hatters’ more memorable moments from years gone by. Opening game We began the year with a Monday afternoon Division 4 clash against Hartlepool United. County: Mick Salmon, John Rutter, Steve Sherlock, Dean Emerson, Paul Bowles (Graham Jones), Andy Thorpe, Oshor Williams, Clive Evans, Mike Quinn, Tommy Sword, Tony Coyle. There was only one goal and County claimed the points thanks to Graham Jones coming off the bench and putting the ball past Eddie Blackburn in the second half, for his second and final goal for the club. The majority of the 1,799 crowd would see their side in an unusually high 11th place in the following day’s papers. First debutant For the next game on Saturday 6th January a new man made his debut. John Kerr (SCAN 874) had been brought in on loan from

John Kerr in action

Bristol City as leading striker Micky Quinn was due to start a two-game ban. Kerr struck twice in the game against Reading with Quinn also scoring. Sadly, that was the only game they played together as Quinn was sold to Oldham. John, signed as his replacement, scored a decent if not spectacular number of goals for us before being sold to Bury. He tragically died at just 46. Summer business The season ended with a rare top-half finish and a Centenary celebration match against Manchester City. With a small squad there was not much room for changes. Jones moved on (joining Runcorn), and Nigel Smith left again, he was back in October, budgets were

The Iron’s player/coach Steve Cammack, who was to join County in 1986, scored the only goal of the game after 14 minutes. Our hosts also included future Hatter Mick Matthews.

County centenary badge

still tight and the only players coming in were midfielders Steve Buxton from Wrexham and Paul Hendrie from Halifax Town. Last debutant Player turnover was a little different in those days of one substitute. On 14th December Andy Crawford became only the eighth debutant of the season. He played in a 5-1 home win over Chester City, his most recent previous side, to earn SCAN 884. The winger went on to score twice in eight games before moving on to Torquay in February.

Most appearances in calendar year Dean Emerson & Mick Salmon 50 (everpresent), Clive Evans 49 Most goals in calendar Mick Salmon year John Kerr 14, Steve Taylor 11, Tony Coyle 8 Worst run 6 without win (5th to 27th October) D1 L5 Best run 5 unbeaten (22nd September to 5th October) W3 D2 The man in charge Former youth coach, assistant manager and long-time groundsman Eric Webster was the man making the on-field decisions. His record was more impressive than many of his predecessors and in various spells as caretaker or this permanent spell this he has a knack for picking up free transfers who improved the side.

Andy Crawford

Closing game Boxing Day against Scunthorpe was to prove to be our last game of the year, as a scheduled game at Halifax was called off as they had 10 of their 16 players suffering with a virus. County: Salmon, Evans, Rutter, Emerson, Sword, Thorpe, Mike Power, Hendrie, Kerr, Crawford (Sherlock), Coyle.

And finally... Cup football this year saw a first-ever game in what is now the EFL Trophy, and it ended with a first home penalty shoot-out – losing 0-3 to Crewe. So quickly on to the more impressive performance in taking Liverpool to extra-time in a two-legged League (Milk) Cup Second Round tie before going down to extra-time goals from Michael Robinson and Ronnie Whelan. That second-leg was allegedly the first time Liverpool substituted Kenny Dalglish during a game without injury being involved. Thanks to all the anonymous donors who have supplied images for this article.

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YEOVIL TOWN

Reid 24’

Saturday 6th February | Vanarama National League | Edgeley Park

The Hatters’ second home match of the week saw them bounce back to edge out in-form Yeovil, thanks to Alex Reid’s 13th goal of the season midway through the first half. The game’s decisive goal came just after the half’s midway-point, as Reid brought a long clearance by Ben Hinchliffe under control, and slotted calmly past Adam Smith to put the Hatters ahead. The contest ended with a touch of late drama, when Lee Collins, in the final minute of added time, launched a late tackle on Man of the Match Macualey Southam-Hales, and was shown a straight red card. 37

Sam Byrne It’s been another eventful week at Edgeley Park for Simon Rusk - despite a rare full week of training without a midweek fixture to navigate along the way. Taking last Saturday’s deserved 1-0 win over Yeovil in front of the BT Sport cameras into account, it really feels like we’ve seen a bit of everything in the early days under the new Hatters boss. A blistering attacking display at Woking earned a big three points in Rusk’s debut, before that controversy and misfortune against a Sutton side who deservedly won at Edgeley Park soon after. Rusk has come to County with a reputation for attacking football with his Brighton Under-23 side, and fans have seen a glimpse of that with the romp at Woking but Saturday’s narrow win over The Glovers is the one which really impressed me the most. To borrow one of the most obvious clichés going, those tight, sometimes scrappy wins are the ones which see sides promoted come the end of the season. By no means did the visitors lay siege to Ben Hinchliffe’s goal, but The Hatters - led superbly by captain Liam Hogan who headed everything away - had to contend with a fairly sustained spell of possession and pressure and stood up to it all well. Defenders will tell you how much they treasure a 1-0 win and the clean sheet that goes along with it! 38

County were led superbly by Liam Hogan

The return of Tom Walker will be a welcome shot in the arm

The big attacking displays and routs of the socalled weaker sides are more about the icing on the cake for me - you want to see your side grinding out wins when their backs are against the wall and when then need the points the most, and it’s a promising sign that we saw County’s ability to do so under Rusk. Make no mistake, league leaders Torquay will be feeling the pressure not just from County but from high-flying Sutton and Hartlepool, too. That was

You want to see your side grinding out wins when their backs are against the wall and when then need the points the most

perhaps typified by Gary Johnson’s side again dropping points this midweek, this time in a late home draw with Wealdstone at Plainmoor. There’s a hell of a lot of football still to be played (which seems bizarre to say in mid-February!) and doubtless plenty of twists and turns to come - but County are just starting to put themselves in a really good position and ready for an onslaught on those top spots with games still in hand. Aldershot have proven to be something of a bogey side for The Hatters down the years, but the return of Tom Walker may just be a welcome shot in the arm for Rusk and company. Harrogate loanee Walker scored six goals in a hugely successful spell with County last season, and was integral to taking The Hatters from 17th to 5th in the National League - and his desire to play for the club is clear to see, with the former Salford forward even making a beeline to have a catch-up with the County contingent in last year’s 1-0 loss at Notts County. Fans will enjoy watching Walker performing on the Edgeley Park stage once again - and let’s hope he can be a big part of a County side making massive gains in the league table once again! 39

Physio

Luke Smith Good afternoon everyone. This week we have Mark Kitching unavailable due to a back issue which we are currently working extremely hard to rectify. He has been progressing very well and hope to see him back very soon. The new addition of Tom Walker will certainly help maintain a fantastic and strong squad to help go through this period of a lot of games in a short period of time. Enjoy the game.

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SNAPPED! r Mark McGhee Simon Rusk and Assistant Manage k in the run-up to during training at Carrington this wee this afternoon’s game.

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COUNTY JUNIORS

S P O N S O R E D B Y:

Hello again. This afternoon we welcome Aldershot Town to Edgeley Park for another home game before another run of games on the road. Our visitors today are in mid-table in 13th place, but just seven points behind ourselves. It just shows you how close this league is this season and that there is a long way to go. That is if the season is to continue. I looked at the line drawing the league issued on the three voting methods, I think you need a degree to understand! Maybe by the time you read this programme things might be clearer, personally I would like to see the season continue if at all possible A warm welcome to Will Collar, our new signing, who has worked with our manager down at Brighton. We hope he enjoys the rest of the season with us and will be a welcome addition to the squad. Over the years of watching County there are always highs and lows. That was emphasised last week. After a great away win at Woking we came down to earth with a bump with a home defeat against close rivals Sutton United. The first 25 minutes I thought we were on top, but then started to go wrong with the gift of the first goal. A side as well organised as Sutton were then not going to allow the points to slip away. In the second period we just didn’t seem to get going in front of goal. After an appeal at least the harsh red card was rescinded and Liam was available against Yeovil last Saturday. Back to the Yeovil game, and a battling performance ensured all three points. A great goal by Alex beating three defenders put us ahead before Yeovil came back strongly in the last 20 minutes, but we held out for the win.

Mascot Sienna

Age: 9 months (10 months tomorrow!) Favourite players: John Rooney and Alex Reid Favourite song: The scarf Sienna is looking forward to attending her first-ever game at Edgeley Park when we can, and to give Vernon Bear a big hug!

Welcome our latest new member Olive!

That’s all for this week. Ian Butterworth 47

All Past Players Following on from the successful All Past Opponents feature that has run over the last few seasons, we begin our All Past Players series which profiles the men who have worn the County shirts of various colours over the years. The basis of these articles will be the years of research done by those who were or have been official or unofficial historians of the club. Starting back in the 1960s with Simon Myers, through Peter Freeman and Richard Harnwell and on to Marcus Heap and Ian Watts. These researches eventually led to Peter’s books and then to the Stockport County Appearance Number (SCAN) scheme. BILLY BOLTON. Born in Sutton, Cheshire, this halfback had played his football in Macclesfield before joining the Hatters. He had figured for Baptists, St Georges, and more senior sides Macclesfield and Hallefield. He gave good service during his two years with County, being a regular in the side, before heading back to the silk town. When Nantwich beat County in the Cheshire Senior Cup, BILLY BETTELEY impressed so much they signed him in December 1898. The 5ft 5in tall player won the Manchester Senior Cup in his first season and the following summer claimed a Lancashire League Champions medal. Billy had 48

the distinction of scoring the first Football League goal for the club in the 2-2 draw at Leicester Fosse. Goalkeeper in that first EFL match, JAMES MOORES started out with hometown side West Kirkby, playing for more prominent sides Chester and Rock Ferry, before joining County. He was to go on to play nearly 70 games for the club including 28 in that first season at in Division Two. Leaving in the summer of 1901, he returned to Chester. Born in Manchester, centre forward JOHN PATTERSON came in for our Lancs League championship season and stayed for three years. He had figured for Rusholme, and another Manchester side Talbot, before joining Manchester City in 1896. Failing to claim a first team place he moved on to County. After 24 League games in 1900-01 he managed just seven in the second League season, and despite 11 goals for us in non-league he struggled to find the net at the higher level. John was next spotted in the Stalybridge Rovers ranks.

It was seen as something of a coup when County announced they had signed MARTIN JOHN EARP. An amateur who had two spells for Nottingham Forest, and played for Everton in Division 1 plus matches for senior amateur side Corinthians. He chose to end a seven-year spell with Sheffield Wednesday to take a player/coach role at Green Lane. The full-back was to play 17 games in a County shirt before the lure of Baden Powell’s South African Police force proved too much of a counter attraction to a continuation of his football career. Outside-right HAROLD STANSFIELD came to prominence playing for the Berry’s Association, a firm who worked on the chemical blacking of metal. He had scored 37 goals for the renowned works team in the Lancashire Combination, which earned a move to Preston North End in 1899. Four games later he was back with Berry’s but on PNE’s retained list. When County signed him they ended up in front of a League enquiry as Preston reported County for an illegal approach. County were exonerated but ordered to pay Preston a fee of £12 10s. He had a season away with Wigan before returning and impressing enough to be lured south by Tottenham Hotspur.

Player

Debut

Signed From

G Massey

03.01.1898

Unknown

Billy Bolton

15.01.1898

Hallifield

Clibborn

29.01.1898

Unknown

George Kitchen

12.03.1898

Buxton

Wilks

09.04.1898

Unknown

Arthur Goddard

23.04.1898

Christ Church

Harry Johnston

03.09.1898

Third Lanark

Charles Saer

03.09.1898

Leicester Fosse

Tommy Hulme

17.09.1898

Unknown

J Pugh

17.09.1898

Earlestown

Lomas

08.10.1898

Buxton

Billy Betteley

22.10.1898

Glossop

Frank Chesworth

22.10.1898

Nantwich

S Morrow

22.10.1898

Unknown

Harry Smith

22.10.1898

Nelson

James Moores

18.02.1899

Rock Ferry

Billy Parker

29.04.1899

Heaton Norris

John Patterson

09.09.1899

Manchester C

J Woodhouse

16.09.1899

Southampton

William Harding

30.09.1899

Macclesfield

Seale

14.10.1899

Unknown

G Davies

21.10.1899

Unknown

Jim Trotter

04.11.1899

Stockport Rugby Club

Howcroft

18.11.1899

Unknown

W Yates

16.12.1899

Stalybridge Rov

Percy Pickford

06.01.1900

Macclesfield

Harold Singleton

27.01.1900

Macclesfield

Andy Limond

03.02.1900

Unknown

Jack Earp

01.09.1900

Sheffield Wed

Billy Smith

01.09.1900

Manchester C

Harry Stansfield

01.09.1900

Berry’s Employees

William Brown

15.09.1900

Blackpool

Edwin Downie

15.09.1900

Chesterfield T

Joe Butler

29.09.1900

Junior team

John Hulligan

06.10.1900

White Star W

George Jarrett

20.10.1900

Unknown

Jack Foster

03.11.1900

Unknown

Thomas Brookes

24.11.1900

Berry’s Employees

Peter McLachlan

24.11.1900

Heaton Mersey

Len Ashworth

15.12.1900

Rochdale

Glossop

Wigan U

Clapton Orient

Crewe Alex

County Heaven Hatter in Macc writes: Afternoon, everyone - and greetings from Edgeley Park for a third successive match in our February schedule.

Sandbach Hatter writes: Son of a Gun?! That’s bang out of order, Maccy! I’d respond with a cheap Shot of my own but, having rifled through my list, I fear we might get fired!

A climatically wintry but metaphorically warm welcome, too, to our visitors from Aldershot. Thus far, 2021 has thrown up a good few contests with bogey teams from the past decade or so - with varying fortunes for County against outfits we had hitherto yet to beat. Victory at Woking after five attempts was preceded here by a first-ever share of the spoils with Boreham Wood, and followed by defeat, also in SK3, at the hands of Sutton whose defence, as an additional challenge, we have still never breached in nearly five hours of trying.

Moving swiftly on, regular readers (yes, both of you) will be aware that my half of our article is always dedicated to everything County Heaven, the forum to which myself, Maccy and dozens of other Hatters belong. Indeed, we’re welcoming newcomers on a regular basis, and, if you haven’t yet paid us a visit, you’re really missing out.

And we now once again entertain a club boasting an unbeaten record against us - at least in its current guise (which, I am shocked to realise, turns 30 next year!). The ‘Shots’ were one of three sides - The ‘Wood’ and Solihull being the others who achieved a ‘double’ at our expense last term, although, hopefully, our return to winning ways, and much-improved showing, against Yeovil in front of the TV cameras at EP seven days ago will stand the team in good stead to break a hoodoo today. Whatever the outcome this afternoon, though, Good Friday’s reverse-fixture will present another, longerstanding, historical test. We failed ever to register a triumph at The Recreation Ground over the ‘old Aldershot’, too! So much, then, for today’s visitors. Over now to my esteemed fellow Son of a Gun, who is ready to call the Shots on all things Heavenly! 50

After all, which other forum guarantees you a warm welcome upon joining, interesting (and sometimes rather silly) topics to debate, as well as your own personal greeting when it’s your birthday? I discovered this myself, upon turning 41 earlier in the week, and, whilst it might only be a little pop-up message to some, now that I’m in my forties a little pop-up is perhaps the best I can hope for. But, while my own special day passed by with only moderate celebration (cheers very much, COVID), a far more significant birthday was recently celebrated among our members, because County Heaven itself turned ten! Yes, it’s a full decade since Sheff Hatter first set up our little corner of t’internet, upon the closure of the old BBC 606 site. So, here’s to County Heaven, and all who sail in her. May we enjoy many more years of fun and friendship together! That’s it for now. Take care of yourselves, and each other. Animo et Fide. www.countyheaven.com

Chris Ridgway

Imagine Radio Good afternoon everybody, hope we’re all doing well and looking out for each other. Potential gunslinger today as a leaky Aldershot team come to town, one however that knows where the back of the net is! This week on the show we spoke about the players, specifically the not so new boy Tom Walker, who arrives for his third spell with the club, and the now fairly established new boy, Macauley Southam Hales - a man who has just had to extend his ‘Man of the Match Gin’ shelf. Macca joined Matty and myself, and you could instantly see why he was a ‘Stockport County’ type of player. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with, and even get to know some of the greatest footballers in the world - there’s not too many of them that will happily jump straight into banter on a show when they’re in fairly new territory. It’s that mentality that has produced Macca into the player is now. He told us that for the first few weeks of his County career, he was so quiet that ‘no one even knew he was here!’, he then went on to clarify he’s now one of the more confident of the dressing room! That sense of selfacknowledgment also translated into his football career, he speaks about how he was out the door

He’s lightning on the ball, can ignite a game at the flick of a switch and is a real ‘fan friendly’ type player - but there’s more. He brings out the best in players around him. We saw examples last time around with Elliot Osborne, if he can have the same impact and raise our already impressive levels then there’s no reason County can’t propel forward as title contenders.

Welcome back to Tom Walker

of Cardiff at 21 years old, having been there since the age of nine and then having to move into men’s football, while getting a job at the same time. Having had a spell out the team, I can imagine he’s the kind of player to use that as motivation, work on his game and is now one of the star performers. We also welcome back Tom Walker, and there’s a couple of reasons I’m excited to see Tom back.

The main reason I’m excited about this Tom Walker signing though, is the length of the loan. Signing until the end of the season gives us a really good opportunity to get to know Tom and embed him into the team. Another statement from the new board, no messing - we want promotion ASAP. I’m ready for today, even though we’ve only had a week since the last game, it feels like it’s been forever. Maybe it’s just me, workloads in other areas piling up, lockdown fever or other, I feel like I’m needing the County fix more than ever at the moment, even if it is a strange one. On to the next one, hope everyone is staying safe - and happy Valentines Day from me and Jon!

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Oshor Williams Just in case it escaped anybody’s attention, we are currently celebrating National Apprenticeship Week with this year’s theme entitled ‘Build the Future’. Given the impact of COVID-19 on the prospects of young people all over the country let’s hope that Government actions match the rhetoric of that slogan. When I was about to leave school, young people were generally labelled as academic or vocational. The academics were pushed along a route of ‘A’ Levels and university whereas the vocational youngsters entered the world of work, either securing direct employment or in many cases through Apprenticeships. In the 1960s and 1970s, apprenticeships were materially different to most of the programmes on offer today. Fuelled by the needs of Britain’s manufacturing industry apprenticeships, particularly those which required practical skills, flourished. In the early twentieth century there were around 340,000 apprenticeships a year and by the 1960s over a third of all school leavers entered an apprenticeship. Unfortunately, as core UK industries together with government funding declined so did access to high-quality training through the apprenticeship system. There is one industry in which entry into training and employment is still accessed through apprenticeships and that is football. Upon leaving school most young players enter the game as an apprentice undertaking a demanding two-year programme of football development and mandatory education in line with an accredited framework. 52

Most Premier League and EFL clubs sign at least 10 apprentices each season so the throughput is massive, but sadly the wastage is substantial. In an average year around 50% of those completing a football apprenticeship will fail to secure a professional contract and exit the game. When I first walked through the gates of Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough’s famous old stadium, in 1974 things were materially different. Few clubs signed more than six apprentices a year and your status at the lowest end of the food chain was firmly fixed. Unlike the present day there was no government funding to support football apprenticeships and subsequently no obligation for continuing education. The six ‘newbies’ together with the second-year apprentices were classified as ‘ground staff’ and when we weren’t training, the day was spent servicing the needs of the senior players or maintaining the stadium under the supervision of the Head Groundsman. We had to report to the ground at 8:30am and usually left at 5:00pm. Bearing in mind that even if we trained in the afternoon, most of our working day involved menial duties such as laundering kit, cleaning boots, keeping dressing rooms and club premises spotlessly clean, and sweeping the terraces. During the close season whilst senior players enjoyed the luxury of 6-7 weeks soaking up the sun, playing golf and adopting

My apprenticeship days at Middlesbrough

inappropriate refuelling regimes, apprentices spent all but two weeks of the summer tending the pitch and repainting the ground. You had to undertake any task or chore demanded by the groundsman, the management team, or the senior players. This extended to directors who would often request that one of the apprentices clean their car. I remember the old Chairman, Charles Amer, parking his gold Rolls Royce in front of the players’ entrance and requisitioning two of ‘the boys’ (myself and another apprentice) to give it a wash. As I truculently sponged the bonnet with soapy water, I can vividly recall the feeling of resentful servitude which coursed through my 16-year-old brain. In my mind’s eye I visualised myself jumping behind the wheel and crashing the exquisitely beautiful machine into the nearest wall. But as I emerged from my childish reverie, the mature logical me reasoned that repaying the damage would put a huge dent in my £6 a week wages and I subsequently dismissed the idea.

told us that we were all ‘parasites’ until we broke into the first team and made a material contribution to the club. Whilst that may seem harsh, we knew where Jack was coming from and we also knew that his great hope was that we would all fulfil that aim and indeed make a telling contribution to our own future as well as that of Middlesbrough FC. The reality was that half of us, including myself, were released at the end of our apprenticeship programme corresponding to that 50% attrition rate which has altered little since 1974. So, during this year’s Apprenticeship Week, I am going to pay tribute to all those aspiring young players approaching the end of their twoyear apprenticeship programme. Try not to measure success solely by the securing of a professional contract, but also by the training, skills, qualifications and unique experiences your apprentice journey has provided. Enjoy the game.

When we were introduced to the Manager, legendary World Cup hero Jack Charlton, he

Osh 53

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Deadly Duos Steven Davies

Laurent D’Jaffo and Tony Dinning Good afternoon and welcome to everyone reading today, especially Aldershot who are our guests at Edgeley Park where we are going to talk about another set of deadly duos! These are two players who played together during the 1999/2000 season, although one of the players loved his time at County that much he came back for a second spell. Laurent D’Jaffo was a French striker who was brought in by Andy Kilner via Bury making his full debut away to Portsmouth, previous to ourselves he played in the French leagues with Montpellier and Red Star (Paris). He scored his first goal for the Hatters in a win against Birmingham which was on his home league debut, and netted again in his next game against Barnsley. Although not a player who comes to the front of most fans’ memories when asked to name ex-strikers D’Jaffo scored 8 goals in his first 17 games before injury cut his season short. Tony Dinning

Now a player who was already established with ourselves at this time was fans’ favourite Tony Dinning, Tony had come to County in the mid-90s signed by Danny Bergara after starting off in the Newcastle youth team. Soon becoming a firstteam regular his presence on the pitch earnt him a reputation of a colourful character, who was not scared to put in a tackle or score a goal either. He helped us win promotion during the 1996/97 season and also became our regular penalty taker due to the fact he could keep a cool head. His most famous goal in a County shirt was probably a penalty as well when he put one past Weaver against our blue neighbours at Maine Road scoring what would Laurent D’Jaffo be the winner.

A £700,000 move followed which saw Tony Dinning move to Wolves where he played under ex-County boss Dave Jones, before a £750,000 move to Wigan followed where he helped them win promotion. D’Jaffo who also had left around the same time went on to play for Sheffield United and then in the Scottish league for Aberdeen before moving into the football agent side of things. Fast forward to 2006 and Jim Gannon brought Tony Dinning back for another spell where he played in over 30 games scoring some cracking set pieces and free kicks. I’ve seen Tony around EP a few times and he came back to play at Edgeley Park for one last game in a Mike Flynn testimonial against a current County side in 2014, I for one will always remember that night at Maine Road with the “Weaver wobble” after what was probably one of the best away games I have ever been to. 55

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Talking Football Sam Preston

Every year, we’re told by various pundits that the FA Cup has lost its magic. Critics ponder what can be done to return the famous old trophy to its former glory. That line of thought has almost become accepted wisdom. Year in, year out, the pundits go through the motions in their critique – but does it still ring true? The honest truth is the FA Cup is basically fine as it is right now. Non-league teams still get a thrill out of an unexpected run to the competition proper. Ask Chorley. Ask Marine. Their joy was unconfined as they made it through round after round and that was without fans in the ground to see any of it. The FA Cup still throws up the same old stories as ever; the same giant-killings and the same opportunities for unheralded players to shine.

The FA Cup still throws up the same old stories as ever; the same giant-killings and the same opportunities for unheralded players to shine Marine’s FA Cup run took them to a tie with Tottenham

Sheffield United are this season’s strugglers enjoying a welcome distraction

When the Third Round rolls around, managers up and down the country make wholesale changes to preserve their squads for the league. But does it dilute the spectacle that much? On the whole, those changes increase the chances of a shock in the early rounds. And that approach represents a risk for any manager. Most fans would rather see their team attempt a cup run if it means they finish 14th instead of ninth. For EFL clubs in a promotion race, that pragmatism is understandable. And the country’s biggest clubs still take the competition seriously. There’s an accepted ‘big six’, which Leicester have arguably gatecrashed now. That’s seven hugely ambitious and wealthy clubs, before we even mention Everton, Aston Villa and West Ham – the list goes on – for whom the FA Cup represents one of a handful of chances to win silverware every season. That desire to scoop silverware was laid bare by the Toffees’ clash with Tottenham on Wednesday night. A 5-4, 120-minute epic which should go down in modern cup history. Of course, it was a crying shame no fans were in the ground to see it. That may prevent it going down as an all-time classic, passed down through generations of fans saying ‘I was there’.

But the cup remains as capable of providing those special nights as it ever was. Some modern touches leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Round five taking place in midweek. The final kicking off at 5:30pm. Respecting tradition in those instances would be welcome changes but failure to do so does not mean the cup is in crisis as we were told every single season without fail. Every year, it provides a welcome distraction for a side struggling in the league. This time around, it’s Sheffield United. Every year, it gets fans of at least one club dreaming that their trophy drought could finally be over. Everton are in that boat this season. Nothing will ever top Leicester’s 2016 Premier League win, but a first-ever FA Cup victory would be tangible reward for the club’s continued progression since then. Manchester United are desperate for a trophy to underpin the progress made by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Their fans won’t be saying the cup doesn’t matter as much these days if they lift it in May. There is plenty wrong with modern football, but the FA Cup’s health isn’t as dire as the coverage of it would have you believe. 59

The Hatters v The Shots

Facts & Figures Head to Head

Goals scored

Previously at EP

Played (all competitions): 52

County: 65

Played (all competitions): 26

County: 13

Draws: 15 Aldershot Town: 24

First competitive meeting

Draws: 10 Aldershot Town: 101

Aldershot Town: 3

Last time out

Saturday 31st October 1959 Division 4 Aldershot 1 County 0

Previous games Saturday 21st December 2019 National League Aldershot 2 County 1 Saturday 14th September 2019 National League County 1 Aldershot 2

They played for both clubs

Richard Brodie

Chris Allen, Chris Blackburn, Richard Brodie, Aaron Brown, Antonio German, Anthony Pulis, Anthony Tonkin, Roy Young.

Aldershot Town 2 County 1 Vanarama National League Saturday 21st December 2019 The Hatters’ three-match sequence of pre-Christmas wins in all competitions came to an end at the Recreation Ground – a ground from which they have never emerged victorious in 26 attempts over the last 60 years – after Aldershot Town edged the encounter by the odd goal in three. Devante Rodney’s strike shortly ahead of the hour cancelled out an early first-half opener from the ‘Shots’, who went on to claim all three points, and achieve a ‘double’ over County, through a winner that was awarded by Referee Richard Hulme after a flag had been raised for offside. Team (4-2-3-1): Hinchliffe; Minihan (S Walker, 79), Palmer, Arthur, Garratt; Turnbull (Capt.), Keane; Rodney, Osborne (Thomas, 71), T Walker; Mulhern (Bell, 61). Unused Subs: Cowan, Ormson. Booked: Mulhern. Attendance: 1,891 (202 representing The Twelfth Man).

2020-21

CHE

Statistics W 6 7 5 4 7 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 6 4 4 2 4 3 3 2 3 1

D 3 2 2 3 1 2 3 5 2 1 3 2 1 0 1 4 3 1 1 1 3 1 2

Home L 2 3 2 2 3 4 2 2 3 3 5 3 4 1 4 3 3 3 5 9 4 5 7

F 19 19 19 12 19 10 12 13 6 17 19 18 11 13 18 13 7 19 13 15 11 9 5

D 2 1 2 1 2 4 2 2 4 2 2 4 2 2 2 1 2 3 4 2 0 0 1

Away L 2 3 2 3 2 3 5 3 2 3 1 4 5 6 4 5 6 6 4 4 6 6 6

Goals

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2

Subs

Goals

Subs

Starts

0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 16 2 3 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 14 3 2 1 4 4 0 0 16 1 1 4 15 2 2 1 16 0 1 4 14 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 10 2 1 1 16 3 9 3 17 0 9 1 7 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 1 3 10 1 1 5 7 0 1 0 - 30 23

2 0 3 1 0 6 0 1 0 5 0 5 0 6 1 6 4 3 2 0 6 6 5 2 0 6 5 2 -

0 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 3 3 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 3 -

0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 14

F 23 10 11 18 6 17 16 16 15 11 12 14 17 8 12 10 12 8 12 7 10 3 9

A 11 8 10 12 5 15 17 14 8 12 6 12 17 15 13 15 19 20 17 8 21 17 25

W 13 11 10 10 10 9 9 8 8 9 8 7 8 8 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 3 2

D 5 3 4 4 3 6 5 7 6 3 5 6 3 2 3 5 5 4 5 3 3 1 3

Total L F 4 42 6 29 4 30 5 30 5 25 7 27 7 28 5 29 5 21 6 28 6 31 7 32 9 28 7 21 8 30 8 23 9 19 9 27 9 25 13 22 10 21 11 12 13 14

Total

0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A 20 20 17 20 14 25 23 22 14 26 23 25 30 18 23 24 28 40 31 34 38 35 44

GD 22 9 13 10 11 2 5 7 7 2 8 7 -2 3 7 -1 -9 -13 -6 -12 -17 -23 -30

Play-Offs: Elimination Round (5th v 6th, 4th v 7th)

Cup Starts

Josh Barnes Nyal Bell Richie Bennett Louis Britton Will Collar Ryan Croasdale Jordan Downing Harvey Gilmour Max Greenhalgh Ben Hinchliffe Jack Hinchy Liam Hogan Jack Hopkins Connor Jennings James Jennings Jordan Keane Mark Kitching Lois Maynard Sam Minihan Adam Owen Ash Palmer Alex Reid John Rooney Macauley Southam-Hales Finley Stanyer Jamie Stott Adam Thomas Jordan Williams Own goals Total

W 7 4 5 6 3 6 5 4 5 5 4 3 4 2 3 2 4 2 2 2 3 0 1

Play-Offs: Semi-Finals (2nd v 5th/6th, 3rd v 4th/7th) League

Player Roll-Call

A 9 12 7 8 9 10 6 8 6 14 17 13 13 3 10 9 9 20 14 26 17 18 19

Subs

Promotion

P 22 20 18 19 18 22 21 20 19 18 19 20 20 17 18 19 20 19 19 21 18 15 18

Biggest Win

Goals

National League Team Torquay United Hartlepool United Sutton United Stockport County Notts County Altrincham Wrexham Eastleigh Boreham Wood Maidenhead United Bromley FC Halifax Town Aldershot Town Solihull Moors Chesterfield Woking Dagenham & Redbridge Wealdstone Yeovil Town Weymouth King's Lynn Town Dover Athletic Barnet

Starts

# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

STERFIELD FC

2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 19 4 4 2 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 23 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 20 4 3 2 5 4 0 0 22 1 1 4 19 3 2 1 19 3 1 5 16 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 16 3 3 1 22 4 13 3 22 1 14 1 9 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 2 8 11 1 1 7 10 0 1 0 - 44 27

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2

Most Goals

Highest Attendance Lowest Attendance Top Goalscorer

Pts 44 36 34 34 33 33 32 31 30 30 29 27 27 26 24 23 23 22 20 18 18 10 9

L W L D W D L L D L W L L L W L L W W L D L L

Form Last 6 Matches D D W L D W W L W W D W D L W W D W L W L D W W W D W W W L D W D D W W W D D W D D L W W W D W W L L D W L W W D W D L W W L L W W W L D L W L W D D D L D D L W L D D L L L L L D W L W L L W W L L W D W L L L D L L W L L L L L L

Relegation

National League Records Saturday 12th December 2020 Chesterfield 6-0 Barnet Tuesday 13th October 2020 Wealdstone 2-5 Stockport County Saturday 17th October 2020 Wealdstone 4-3 Wrexham Wednesday 2nd December 2020 FC Halifax Town 5-2 Barnet Saturday 26th December 2020 Torquay United 6-1 Yeovil Town Monday 28th December 2020 Weymouth 3-4 Torquay United Saturday 23rd January 2021 Wealdstone 3-4 Aldershot Town Saturday 26th December 2020 Torquay United 6-1 Yeovil Town 1,323 Tuesday 15th December 2020 Weymouth 2-3 Wrexham 337 Michael Cheek (Bromley) 11 = 9 Goals + 2 Penalties Jamie Stott in action against Yeovil Town

# 1 3 23

National League Fair Play Team Notts County 20 Stockport County 23 Yeovil Town 55

2 2 3

Pts 100 112 250

Cut off dates for number of yellow cards in league matches only, cups are different: 5 = Following 23 fixtures, 10 = Following 37 fixtures, 15/20 = End of the season Automatic league suspension starts next match after an offence, automatic cup suspension starts next match after an offence in the same competition Yellow cards are specific to each competition, red cards apply across all competitions All details up to date as of Thursday 11th February 2021

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2020-21

Fixtures & Results Date Opposition October 2020 Sat 3 Torquay United Tue 6 FC Halifax Town Sat 10 Dover Athletic Tue 13 Wealdstone Sat 17 Chesterfield Sat 24 Chesterfield Tue 27 Solihull Moors Sat 31 Weymouth November 2020 Wed 4 Chesterfield Sat 7 Rochdale Sun 29 Yeovil Town December 2020 Sat 5 Bromley Tue 8 Barnet Tue 15 Notts County Sat 19 Guiseley Tue 22 Hartlepool United Sat 26 Altrincham Mon 28 Wrexham January 2021 Sat 2 Altrincham Mon 11 West Ham United Sat 16 Notts County Tue 19 Dagenham & Redbridge Sat 23 Boreham Wood Sat 30 Woking February 2021 Tue 2 Sutton United Sat 6 Yeovil Town Sat 13 Aldershot Town Tue 16 Maidenhead United Sat 20 Eastleigh Tue 23 Notts County Sat 27 Chesterfield March 2021 Sat 6 Weymouth Tue 9 Solihull Moors Sat 13 Dagenham & Redbridge Tue 16 Barnet Sat 20 Sutton United Tue 23 Eastleigh Sat 27 Hartlepool United April 2021 Fri 2 Aldershot Town Mon 5 Bromley Sat 10 Wrexham Tue 13 King's Lynn Town Sat 17 Maidenhead United Sat 24 Boreham Wood Tue 27 King's Lynn Town May 2021 Sat 1 FC Halifax Town Mon 3 Wealdstone Sat 8 Dover Athletic Sat 15 Torquay United Sat 22 Woking Sat 29 Yeovil Town

Comp Score A H H A A H H H

Att Pos

NL NL NL NL NL FAC4Q NL NL

0-1 2-1 3-0 5-2 2-1 1-1 0-0 1-2

- 21 Hinchliffe - 10 Hinchliffe - 6 Hinchliffe - 2 Hinchliffe - 1 Hinchliffe - - Hinchliffe - 2 Hinchliffe - 2 Hinchliffe

Minihan Minihan Minihan Minihan Minihan ³ Minihan Minihan Minihan

Jennings J Southam-Hales ¹ Stott Jennings J ¹ Stott ¹ Stott ³ Stott Stott ²

Maynard Maynard Maynard Maynard 1 Maynard Maynard Croasdale Maynard

Palmer Palmer Palmer Palmer Palmer Palmer Keane Palmer 1

Hogan Stott Hogan Hogan Hogan Hogan 1 Hogan Hogan

Kitching Kitching 1 ² Kitching ² Keane Kitching 1 ² Thomas Thomas Kitching

H FAC4Q A FAC1 H FAC2

4-0 2-1 3-2

Keane Keane Keane

Stott Stott Stott

Croasdale Croasdale ² Croasdale ¹

Palmer Palmer Palmer 1

Hogan Hogan Hogan

Thomas Kitching Kitching ³

A A A H A A H

NL NL NL FAT3 NL NL NL

2-0 2-1 0-1 3-1 0-4 1-1 2-0

Thomas Minihan Minihan Keane Minihan Minihan Southam-Hales ¹

Jennings J Jennings J Williams Southam-Hales ¹ Williams Williams Stott

Maynard Maynard Maynard Croasdale Croasdale Maynard Maynard

Keane Keane Palmer Palmer Palmer Keane Keane 1

Hogan Hogan Hogan Stott Hogan Hogan Hogan

Kitching ³ Williams ¹ Kitching ¹ Kitching Kitching Kitching Kitching

H H H A H A

NL FAC3 FAT4 NL NL NL

2-2 0-1 1-2 2-0 1-1 4-1

4 4 4 3

Hinchliffe Hinchliffe Barnes Hinchliffe Hinchliffe Hinchliffe

Southam-Hales ¹ Minihan 5 Southam-Hales ³ Minihan Keane Minihan

Stott Williams ³ Jennings J ¹ Stott ² Southam-Hales Southam-Hales 1 ¹

Maynard Maynard Maynard Maynard Maynard Maynard

Keane Keane Palmer 1 Keane Palmer Keane

Hogan Hogan Stott Hogan Hogan Hogan

Kitching Kitching Williams Kitching Kitching ¹ Kitching

H H H A A H H

NL NL NL NL NL NL NL

0-2 1-0

5 3

Hinchliffe Hinchliffe

Minihan Southam-Hales

Southam-Hales Stott

Maynard ² Croasdale

Keane Palmer

Hogan Hogan

Kitching ¹ Williams ¹

A A H H A H H

NL NL NL NL NL NL NL

A H A H H A A

NL NL NL NL NL NL NL

A H A H H A

NL NL NL NL NL NL

Hinchliffe Hinchliffe Hinchliffe

1,031 11 Hinchliffe 792 5 Hinchliffe - 10 Hinchliffe - - Barnes - 13 Hinchliffe - 9 Hinchliffe - 4 Hinchliffe

Key:

CHE

STERFIELD FC

Bold = Goalscorer 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 = 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th / 5th Sub / = Yellow / Red Card = Penalty, * = Own Goal = Lost 6-7 on Penalties, = After Extra Time # = West Ham United additional unused substitutes: Jennings J, Stott

Rooney Rooney Rooney 2 Rooney 3 ³ Rooney Rooney Rooney Rooney Rooney 2 Rooney 1 ¹ Rooney 1

Bennett ² Bennett Bennett ³ Bennett 1 Bennett Bennett ¹ Bennett ² Bennett ³ ² Bennett 1 ¹ Thomas Thomas ²

Jennings C ³ Jennings C ³ Jennings C ¹ Jennings C Jennings C Keane Jennings C ¹ Croasdale

Reid ¹ Keane Keane Reid ² Keane Reid ² Reid Reid ¹

Jennings C Reid 1 ³ Jennings C Reid 1 ³ 4 Jennings C 1 Reid

Barnes Barnes Barnes Barnes Barnes Barnes Barnes Barnes

Stott Jennings J ² Jennings J ² Kitching ¹ Jennings J ² Jennings C ² Hopkins Jennings C ²

Keane ¹ Croasdale Croasdale Croasdale ³ Croasdale Croasdale ³ Owen Keane

Thomas ³ Thomas 1 ¹ Thomas ³ Thomas ² Thomas ³ Southam-Hales Southam-Hales ¹ Thomas ³

Bell ² Reid ³ Reid 1 ¹ Bell Reid 1 ¹ Bell ¹ Bell ² Britton ¹

Barnes Barnes Barnes

Hopkins ³ Jennings J Jennings J

Maynard ¹ Maynard ¹ Maynard 4

Southam-Hales ² Stanyer Southam-Hales Britton ³ Bennett ² Britton

Rooney 1 Rooney Rooney Gilmour ² Rooney Croasdale Croasdale

Bennett ² Bennett ² Bennett Britton ³ Bennett ¹ Thomas ¹ Bennett 1 ³

Jennings C Jennings C ³ Keane ² Jennings C Keane Jennings C 1 Jennings C

Reid 1 ¹ Reid 2 Reid Reid 2 Reid Reid Reid ²

Barnes Barnes Barnes Hinchliffe Barnes Barnes Barnes

Minihan ¹ Kitching ¹ Jennings C ² Hinchy Stott Stott Minihan ¹

Croasdale Croasdale Croasdale ³ Hogan Gilmour Gilmour Gilmour

Williams ³ Thomas ³ Thomas ¹ ³ Rooney 1 ² Southam-Hales ¹ Southam-Hales ¹ Williams ²

Britton ² Britton ² Britton Bennett Britton Bennett Britton ³

Rooney 1 Rooney 4 Croasdale Rooney Rooney 1 Rooney 1 ³

Bennett ³ Croasdale Bennett Bennett 1 ³ Bennett Croasdale

Croasdale Jennings C ² Jennings C ² Croasdale Jennings C Jennings C 1

Reid 1 ² Reid ¹ Thomas Reid 1 ¹ Reid ² Reid 1 ²

Barnes Barnes Hinchliffe Barnes Barnes Barnes

Minihan ¹ Hinchy 4 Minihan ² Jennings C ³ Minihan Palmer ³

Gilmour Gilmour Hogan Palmer Stott Stott

Williams ² Southam-Hales ² Rooney Williams ¹ Williams ¹ Williams ²

Thomas ³ Thomas ³ Reid ³ Thomas ² Croasdale ² Bennett ¹

Rooney Rooney

Croasdale Bennett

Jennings C Jennings C

Reid ³ Reid 1 ²

Barnes Barnes

Palmer ² Jennings J ²

Stott Maynard

Williams ¹ Minihan ¹

Bennett ³ Thomas

Stanyer

Hopkins

Williams ² Williams ³

Minihan Minihan ¹

Williams ³

Minihan ¹

Palmer 5 Kitching ¹

Bennett ¹ # Keane

National League News CHE

STERFIELD FC

Amidst the solemn backdrop of yet more postponements and further discussion around the fulfilment of the National League season, Notts County’s Michael Doyle revelled in one of those feel-good stories that all fans can enjoy on Tuesday night. All except Dagenham & Redbridge supporters on this occasion, that is, for the veteran midfielder ended up in goal at Meadow Lane for 72 minutes, helping his ten-man team to a superb 3-1 win. Notts were leading one-nil when goalkeeper Sam Slocombe was sent off for a foul which presented Dagenham with the opportunity to level from the spot. Without a sub keeper on the bench, 39-year-old Doyle stepped up and at 5ft 8in tall you’d imagine he wasn’t a particularly intimidating presence for former National League golden boot winner Paul McCallum to face. And yet, McCallum missed, hitting the post with his penalty! Notts then went on to establish a three-goal lead at half-time and Doyle’s defences were only breached once, in added time at the end of the second half. The Irish midfielder credited his prowess between the posts with an upbringing in Gaelic football - all those years he had spent catching 66

the ball had finally paid off, he commented after the game. Elsewhere, also enjoying their Tuesday night entertainment were Wrexham fans, who watched their side secure a fine 2-1 win against play-off chasing Altrincham on the same day their takeover by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney was finalised. The happy ending concludes the first act of a remarkable story that stretches back to September when the actors’ interest in The Red Dragons was first made public. After more than 98% of the Wrexham Supporters Trust (the previous owners of the club) voted in favour of the takeover, you can imagine excitement levels in the North Wales town now that the new era is upon us all! Ryan and Rob, who joked they will re-brand to Wryan and Wrob now, immediately invested £2m into the club and announced goals to return the club to the Football League, to boost women’s football in the area, to

improve the famous Racecourse Ground and to make a positive difference to the local community. It’s certainly going to be a fascinating tale to follow! In an inventive move to ensure Tuesday night’s game took place, Altrincham arranged to host the match at FC United’s Broadhurst Park ground, after poor weather conditions promised to prevent play at Alty. They probably wish they hadn’t bothered, with Wrexham closing the gap on their fellow promotion chasers to just a point. The Welsh club now occupy the last play-off spot. In eighth spot sit Eastleigh, who are now five unbeaten having claimed a 1-0 win over Yeovil on Tuesday. Eastleigh endured eight games without a win after beating Yeovil last time, with their win-less run straddling December and January, though three wins and two draws seem to have righted those woes. Eastleigh are without a game today, however, after a Covid case at Chesterfield, their intended opponents, caused a postponement.

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Stockport County

Aldershot Town

Ben Hinchliffe

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Mitch Walker

Sam Minihan

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George Fowler

James Jennings

[1397]

Alex Finney

Liam Hogan

[1395]

Jamie Sendles-White

Ash Palmer

[1372]

Kodi Lyons-Foster

Lois Maynard

[1394]

James Rowe

Adam Thomas

[1373]

Josh Rees

John Rooney

[1400]

Mo Bettamer

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[1396]

10 Chike Kandi

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[1339]

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[1380]

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[1370]

16 Dinesh Gillela

17 Macauley Southam-Hales

[1401]

18 Reece Wylie

18 Ryan Croasdale

[1402]

20 Toby Edser

19 Alex Reid

[1399]

21 Ben Shroll

20 Nyal Bell

[1367]

23 Killian Colombie

21 Joshua Barnes

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22 Harvey Gilmour

26 Lewis Kinsella

23 Finley Stanyer

27 Craig Tanner

24 Jack Hopkins

29 Joe Rabbetts

25 Adam Owen 27 Jack Hinchy

30 Ricky Miller [1405]

28 Will Collar 29 Tom Walker

Today’s other Vanarama National League fixtures (3.00pm unless stated)

Dagenham & Redbridge v Hartlepool United Solihull Moors v Barnet Sutton United v Boreham Wood Wealdstone v Bromley Yeovil Town v Altrincham

Match Officials Referee Simon Mather Assistant Referee 1 Darren Williams Assistant Referee 2 Oliver Noonan Fourth Official Mark Reeves

Next At Edgeley Park

Notts County Tuesday 23rd February 2021 Kick-off: 7.45pm Vanarama National League

36 Mike Fondop 44 Ross McCormack

[1388]

The numbers in brackets are each player’s unique Stockport County Appearance Number (SCAN), showing his position in the list of players to make their debut for the club in a senior competitive game. For more information please visit www.scanscheme.org

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