Stockport a yardstick for unchanged Blues

Last updated : 12 October 2008 By Shrimpers24

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Southend_United_FC.png v http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Stockportcounty_crest.png

BLUES

Ten matches in of any new season is a good time to get a feel on how your team is going to cope over the remaining three quarters of the season. With two points separating the two sides Southend, after four wins on the trot against relegation fodder, will be playing a side with bite and quality with another good young manager who played for the club he now the coaches. By the time England kick off against another team ending in Stan we should have an idea who will have the stronger season.

Blues boss Steve Tilson, speaking on Blues World, agrees: "Stockport are a good side away from home because they are unbeaten and they are only a few points below us. It will be a good benchmark for us to see how we have come since the start of the season. Winning a few games breads confidence and we are now four unbeaten and everybody starts to have that bit of relief."

As Tilly says, our best performance was probably Carlisle away and we lost, the team fairly ordinary against Yeovil but we won. It's all about the points.

Freedman's dodgy thigh means another outing for Revell and we must see more than we got last week. A nice pass that set up the Lords penalty but that was that, another poor game and Furlong might be worth another sighting!

Other than that Yeovil continued what has been an upward curve for the team, HRK a big difference on the left wing who along with Harding has made it a very strong area for us, something not every team in any league can say, and certainly not United around early August!

Dougie will be missed more than last week but County have a couple out, as well as two loanees in, and I go for a narrow 1-0 win which would keep us on for a Championship season equalling seven wins in a row, Scunthorpe away on October 21 would be that game.

OPPOSITION

7Southend United 9301522121012513151416+1
8Milton Keynes Dons 92026430210550416915+7
9Peterborough United 931113811234423161214+4
10Stockport County 9131562207335112914+3

By 5pm on Saturday one of these teams could be in the play-off zone and Stockport enjoy their awaydays!

This will be a different team for County fans than ended the win against Oldham last Friday with Stockport having signed two Premier League defenders on loan in time for the trip to Roots Hall.

Bolton's Polish centre-half Jaroslaw Fojut and Blackburn's Tony Kane, who spent a month at Edgeley Park in 2006, have joined Jim Gannon's side on one-month deals. Fojut, 20, has been with Bolton since 2004, making his league debut two years ago, while Northern Ireland under-21 international Kane is a full-back who can play on either side of defence.

However, Gannon has praised his new central defensive pairing of Jimmy McNulty and James Tunnicliffe, who played well in the midweek Johnston's Paint Trophy defeat at Bury as well as last Friday's 3-1 win over Oldham.

The County boss, speaking to the Manchester Evening News, said: "That was the best display I've seen from two centre-halves in a long, long time. They're both brilliant young players and they've got great futures. If we had had a few others that would have raised their game at Gigg Lane then we would have won that game comfortably."

After a run of five games unbeaten in the league, Gannon was disappointed at the way County lost to Bury 1-0 on Tuesday night and he knows Southend, who are on a four-game winning streak, will pounce on any weakness.

"I was expecting a little bit more from some of the players in the team I put out at Gigg Lane and they didn't deliver. I'm just disappointed that some players have tremendous attitudes and tremendous ability while others don't come anywhere near them."

County will be again without keeper Owain fon Williams and striker Peter Thompson, who are away on international duty with Wales Under-21s and Northern Ireland respectively.

Fraser Forster will deputise in goal and Michael Raynes will again skipper after being rested for the midweek game to protect a tight hamstring.

Jason Taylor could make his first appearance of the season after recovering from a foot injury and Gannon thinks he could be an inspiration to the rest of the squad.

"It's been great to have him back on the training pitch," Gannon said. "Jason's a bit of a raw player but what he gives you is real heart. Maybe a few other lads at the club will learn about mental strength."

Winger Anthony Pilkington has been called up for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 squad to face Lithuania next Tuesday. He will join up with his Hatters team-mate Stephen Gleeson.

PREVIOUSLY

Played 22: Won 8 Drawn 7 Lost 7.

It was 18 and a half years ago that Butler and Benjy led the Blues to a 2-0 win over Stockport, the last time we entertained the team on the edge of Greater Manchester.

A grim history of goaless draws, could that over 70 match sequence of scoring Southend games end on Saturday?, it's as even as you can get against the other Hatters.

We did confirm promotion at their place on a Friday night in May 1987, still remember those Wolves fans leaving when Cadette got the second following Pennyfathers opener.

Three floodlit nights at the Hall spring to mind. Two in the 70's; Nov. 9, 2-1, Chisnall and Garner. A year later, Nov. 26 71, 4-2, Best and Garner a brace each. In fact Big Bill went on to get five goals against County when he scored in a 2-2 draw at Edgley Park in April 72.

The 80's saw Gray and Mercer score in a 2-0 victory on Halloween Night 1980.

At Southend Utd. (11)At Stockport Co. (11)
ResultsTotal%ResultsTotal%
Southend Utd.545.45Stockport Co.545.45
Stockport Co.218.18Southend Utd.327.27
Draws436.36Draws327.27
GoalsTotalAv.pgGoalsTotalAv.pg
Southend Utd.141.27Stockport Co.121.09
Stockport Co.80.73Southend Utd.90.82
On Neutral Ground (0)Overall (22 matches)
ResultsTotal%ResultsTotal%
Southend Utd.00.00Southend Utd.836.36
Stockport Co.00.00Stockport Co.731.82
Draws00.00Draws731.82
GoalsTotalAv.pgGoalsTotalAv.pg
Southend Utd.00.00Southend Utd.231.05
Stockport Co.00.00Stockport Co.200.91
Records
Highest Aggregate6Southend Utd. 4 - 2Stockport Co.1971/1972
Highest Southend Utd. score:4Southend Utd. 4 - 2Stockport Co.1971/1972
Highest Stockport Co. score:4Stockport Co. 4 - 1Southend Utd.1966/1967
SeasonDateHomeScoreAwayCompetition
1989/1990Fri 23 MarSouthend Utd.2 - 0Stockport Co.Fourth Division
Mon 16 OctStockport Co.1 - 0Southend Utd.Fourth Division
1986/1987Fri 08 MayStockport Co.0 - 2Southend Utd.Fourth Division
Sat 13 DecSouthend Utd.0 - 0Stockport Co.Fourth Division
1985/1986Mon 03 MarStockport Co.2 - 1Southend Utd.Fourth Division
Tue 01 OctSouthend Utd.0 - 0Stockport Co.Fourth Division
1984/1985Fri 15 FebStockport Co.1 - 2Southend Utd.Fourth Division
Mon 17 SepSouthend Utd.1 - 1Stockport Co.Fourth Division
1980/1981Fri 03 AprStockport Co.1 - 0Southend Utd.Fourth Division
Fri 31 OctSouthend Utd.2 - 0Stockport Co.Fourth Division
1977/1978Mon 24 AprStockport Co.1 - 0Southend Utd.Fourth Division
Mon 03 OctSouthend Utd.0 - 2Stockport Co.Fourth Division
1976/1977Mon 18 AprStockport Co.0 - 0Southend Utd.Fourth Division
Fri 28 JanSouthend Utd.0 - 0Stockport Co.Fourth Division
1971/1972Fri 14 AprStockport Co.2 - 2Southend Utd.Fourth Division
Fri 26 NovSouthend Utd.4 - 2Stockport Co.Fourth Division
1970/1971Fri 19 FebStockport Co.0 - 0Southend Utd.Fourth Division
Mon 09 NovSouthend Utd.2 - 1Stockport Co.Fourth Division
1966/1967Sat 13 MaySouthend Utd.0 - 1Stockport Co.Fourth Division
Sat 25 MarStockport Co.4 - 1Southend Utd.Fourth Division
1958/1959Sat 27 DecSouthend Utd.3 - 1Stockport Co.Third Division
Mon 20 OctStockport Co.0 - 1Southend Utd.Third Division

FIXTURES

Friday, 10 October 2008:
Northampton v Hartlepool, 19:45

Saturday, 11 October 2008:
Bristol Rovers v Leyton Orient, Cheltenham v Colchester, Leeds v Brighton, Milton Keynes Dons v Carlisle (12.15), Scunthorpe v Crewe, Swindon v Huddersfield, Tranmere v Millwall, Walsall v Peterborough, (all 15.00).

Sunday, 12 October 2008:
Oldham v Hereford, 14:00

BET

Southend (10/11) Draw (13/5) Stockport (10/3)

Bet of the Day: Carlisle 3/1 to win at MK Dons, they haven't won for five games anywhere and MK Dons have lost their last two at home. Something's got to give and the loan signing of Sunderlands's Kavanagh could do a Freedman for the Cumbrians.

Blues now a best of 6's for promotion, down from 8's a couple of weeks ago. Stockport between 12 and 14/1. Lee Barnard 31/1 to finish League One top scorer with Betfair but 14/1 with Blue Square!

For a full update on all the footy odds go to www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-one.

REF

The man in the middle is Mick Russell from St Albans.

This will be his 5th Southend match and his third at Roots Hall. His was the referee when Freddie Eastwood made his hat-trick scoring debut, so get to your seats early! (He did give Swansea a penalty but Darryl pulled off a brilliant save.)

HISTORY

Stockport County were formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers by members of the Wycliffe Congressional Church, and played their first recorded game in October the next year. Shortly after they merged with a similarly named club, Heaton Norris, and on the 24th May 1890 changed their name to Stockport County to reflect Stockport becoming a County Borough.

The club adopted 'The Hatters' as their nickname, owing to Stockport's history as the centre of the hat-making industry, a nickname that is shared with Luton Town. Stockport supporters generally refer to the team simply as 'County'.

Stockport played in the Lancashire League until 1900. They then gained admission to the Football League Second Division. Unfortunately, the club finished in the bottom three for their first four seasons and at the end of the 1903-04 season they failed to gain re-election. They then had one season in the Lancashire Combination, and were league champions. They were re-admitted to the Football League for the 1905-06 season, and the club have now been in this league for over a hundred years, although they have had to seek re-election on four further occasions.

Uruguayan manager Danny Bergara took over during the 1988/89 season, saving County from what looked like probable relegation to the Football Conference. The following seasons brought relative success, with County narrowly missing out on automatic promotion in 1989/90, but succeeding the following season. 'Danny Bergara's blue and white army' made an immediate impact on the third division, winning their opening fixture against Swansea City 5-0. County reached both the playoff final and the Autoglass Trophy final (both played at Wembley) in 1991-92. Another Autoglass final followed in 1992-93, and a further playoff final in 1993-94. Unfortunately, County lost all four of those matches, and promotion to the promised land of the second tier of English football had to wait for the arrival of a new manager.

The 1995/96 season was Dave Jones' first full season as manager, having taken over from Bergara in April 1995. Although the league season was unremarkable, the club reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup, where they faced holders Everton. County held the Toffees to a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park, and for the replay ten days later over 11,000 squeezed into Edgeley Park to witness Everton's late winner in a 3-2 victory.

The 1996/97 season proved to be possibly the most memorable in the club's history. The season began in a forgettable fashion, recording 2 draws and 4 defeats in the first six league matches. A 2nd round League Cup tie against Sheffield United proved to be a catalyst, and Stockport won with a 7-3 aggregate win, including a 5-2 victory at Bramall Lane. Although County reached the northern final of the Auto Windscreens Shield, losing 2-0 on aggregate to Carlisle and just missing out on a visit to Wembley, it was the League Cup which provided the major highlights of the season, with 4 victories over top-flight opposition.

A 1-0 win away at Blackburn Rovers in the 3rd round was followed by a 4th round 1-1 draw away to West Ham and a 2-1 victory in the replay at Edgeley Park, a quarter final 2-2 draw against Southampton at Edgeley Park followed by a 2-1 victory in the replay at The Dell, and then a semi-final meeting with Middlesbrough. Although County lost the first leg at Edgeley Park 2-0, they won 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium, failing to convert several chances to equalise on aggregate.

The league season was also going very strong, and the Hatters eventually gained promotion with a 1-0 victory at Chesterfield in the penultimate match of the season, a game which, had County failed to win, they would have faced a deciding match away at promotion rivals Luton Town on the final day of the season. As it turned out, County travelled to Kenilworth Road with a chance to win the title, but a 1-1 draw meant that local rivals Bury finished top of the table.

1997/98 saw County playing in the top two divisions for the first time in 60 years, facing the likes of Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Birmingham City, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and many others. However, even before the season had started things had taken a turn for the worse - Dave Jones had been poached by Premiership Southampton, taking goalkeeper Paul Jones & full back Lee Todd with him. Gary Megson left Blackpool to take over the reins, and in his first season County finished 8th, just two places off the playoffs to reach the Premiership - the club's best ever league placing. The season also saw the first of several memorable derby matches with Manchester City, a 3-1 victory at Edgeley Park in front of more than 11,000.

That was as good as things were going to get, however, and the following 1998/99 season saw Stockport finish 16th, winning just 3 of their final 14 matches. A 5-0 defeat at relegated Oxford United on the final day signalled the end of Megson's time at Edgeley Park. The club decided to promote from within and Andy Kilner was soon put in charge.

Again, he had an encouraging start to his management at County and by Boxing Day the club were 6th, holding a playoff spot, having picked up another unforgettable win over Manchester City, this time 2-1 at Maine Road. Unfortunately the team then went a club-record 19 games without a victory, eventually finishing the 1999/00 season 17th, with two late wins helping stave off relegation. The 2000/01 season saw them again narrowly avoid relegation, finishing 19th overall.

2001/02 turned out to be the club's worst ever at the time. With County already bottom of the league, a 4-0 home defeat to Millwall saw manager Kilner sacked. Shortly after he was replaced with former England international Carlton Palmer. A 2-1 win over Norwich game some hope, but County then went on to lose 11 matches in a row, another unwanted club record. The Hatters picked up just 3 more wins during the rest of the season (one of these being another unforgettable 2-1 victory over Manchester City, having been 1-0 down with just 5 minutes left) finishing the season with just 26 points, going down on the 16th March, the quickest post-war relegation.

Season 2002/03 set a trend of optimism followed by great disappointment that would continue in the following years. The season started well enough, a 1-0 defeat at Colchester on the opening day forgotten after consecutive wins over Port Vale, Mansfield, Swindon & Lincoln. However, those wins turned out to be the exception rather than the rule and County languished in the relegation zone for much of the season, until another run of four victories (over Wycombe, Plymouth, Northampton & Huddersfield) helped the club climb to mid-table at the end of the season.

The summer of 2003 saw the club change ownership, as chairman Brendan Elwood sold the club to Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy, in a move that would see Sale play their home games at Edgeley Park. A new company was created, called 'Cheshire Sports', which would have ownership of Stockport County, Sale Sharks & the Edgeley Park stadium.

The 2003/04 season saw Palmer sacked after another poor start to the season, following home defeats to Hartlepool & Blackpool in the space of one week. John Hollins, who had been Director of Football during Palmer's reign, took over as caretaker manager, but was replaced full time by former Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy. After a poor start to his time at Edgeley Park & yet more relegation worries, an 11-match unbeaten run saw the club again climb to safety at the end of the season.

2004/05 was another season that promised much, with several promising signings over the summer. The previous season's excellent form failed to carry over, the new signings failed to gel and again County were in the relegation places by the Autumn. McIlroy was sacked in November and replaced by Chris Turner a month later. Turner failed to turn things around and, for the second time in three years, Stockport County finished a season with just 26 points and were relegated.

2005/06 saw Stockport County change owners again. After reportedly losing £4m, Cheshire Sports chairman Brian Kennedy handed ownership of the club to the Supporters Trust, whose aim was to rescue the club from revenue loss, eventually breaking even & turn Stockport County into a community based football club. On the July 8 at 10:30 the deal went through, making County one of a handful of supporter-owned clubs in the country. On the pitch, despite the lower level of football the team failed to adapt. On Boxing Day 2005, already five points from safety, County lost 6-0 at local rivals Macclesfield Town, leading Turner to resign after just seven wins in 50 matches.

Former player Jim Gannon came in as caretaker manager, while the club searched for a replacement. An impressive change to both results and performances under Gannon's leadership led the club to give him the position full time, and the remarkable run of form continued. Stockport picked up 35 points from the final 23 games, compared to just 17 from the first 23 matches. On an extremely tense final day of the season, County held champions Carlisle United to a 0-0 draw; a last minute winner for Leyton Orient at Oxford United sent Oxford down and brought the Hatters to safety, sparking scenes of celebration at Edgeley Park.

The 2006-07 season started poorly, with the club picking up just five points from the first eight league games of the season, and back where they had spent most of the previous season, in the relegation zone, also losing 1-0 at home to Derby County in the first round of the Carling Cup.

Results slowly improved through the rest of the calendar year, and by the time County were knocked out of the FA Cup at the third round stage (4-1 away to Premiership club Watford), County had risen to mid-table.

During the January transfer window, two players - goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey (on loan for three months from Wolves) and striker Anthony Elding (from Boston United) signed for County; beginning with their debut against Elding's former club, County won nine games in a row without conceding a goal. Both the nine game winning run and the nine consecutive clean sheets were and remain club records, whilst the combination of nine wins without conceding a goal set a Football League record, eclipsing the eight such games that had been achieved four times previously, most recently by Hartlepool United earlier in the 2006-07 season.

At the end of the record-breaking run, County had climbed to sixth in the table but following the end of the run, County's form dipped, picking up only one point from a possible fifteen. County remained sixth, however, and picked up four points over the Easter weekend, but the team failed to win again in April, resulting in a drop to 8th place before the final game of the season. That game resulted in a 5-0 victory away at Darlington, but it was not quite enough to secure a place in the play-offs, as a win for Bristol Rovers combined with a draw for Shrewsbury saw County finish in 8th place, losing out to Shrewsbury on goal difference.

The 2007-08 season started promisingly, but a downturn in form throughout October and November saw County slip as low as 17th in the division. The New Year saw a sharp upturn in fortunes as the club only lost three games until the end of the season, climbing into the playoffs by mid-february.

Approaching the end of the season they had an outside chance to qualify for promotion automatically, but missed out and had to settle for 4th. However, after beating Wycombe Wanderers in the play-off semi-final, Stockport played Rochdale A.F.C at Wembley in the final, coming from behind to secure a 3-2 victory and their place in League One for the next football season.

(Thanks to Wikipedia, the SUFC Database and other sources for their help with this article.)