History of Stockport County F.C.

This article is about the history of Stockport County F.C., who are a football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England.

Early days

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 24 May 1890 changed their name to Stockport County with reference to the newly formed County Borough of Stockport.

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. 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 remained in the Football League, although they have had to (successfully) seek re-election on four occasions.

Danny Bergara

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. 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.

1995–96 to 1997–98: The Dave Jones Era

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 to 2001–02: First Division era

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. However, the team then went a club-record 19 games without a victory, eventually finishing the 1999–2000 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 16 March, the quickest post-war relegation.

2002–03 & 2004–05: Two steps back, none forward

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: The Great Escape

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 8 July 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.

2006–2012: Up, then down and out

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 League 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 on a somber note, with a friendly between Stockport and Dave Jones' Cardiff marking the passing of Danny Bergara. Stockport played promisingly and were just three points off the top of the table at the end of September, but a downturn in form throughout October and November saw County slip as low as 17th in the division. Despite losing top scorer Anthony Elding to Leeds in the January transfer window, the New Year saw a sharp upturn in fortunes as the club lost only three further games until the end of the season, climbing into the playoffs by mid-February. The new year also saw Stockport equal a league record of eight consecutive away victories. Approaching the end of the season they had an outside chance to qualify for promotion automatically but missed out, finishing the season in 4th place. However, after beating Wycombe Wanderers 2–1 on aggregate in the play-off semi-final, Stockport played Rochdale 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.

On 30 April 2009, Stockport County FC announced that they had been placed into administration by a creditor, and Leonard Curtis were appointed as administrators of the club. Jim Gannon and his team were made redundant as cost-cutting measures, and the new season saw Gary Ablett take over as manager. The season was one of the worst in Stockport County history, winning only five league games all season and breaking the club record for the most consecutive league defeats. A consortium led by former Manchester City player Jim Melrose attempted to buy the cash-strapped club out, a process which dragged on for 14 months, as they were not able to fulfilled the Football League Buy-Out Criteria.

Another consortium, led by supporter Dave Schofield, was put together comprising a group of local Stockport based business people, calling themselves the '2015 Group'. It was announced on Thursday 17 June 2010 that the 2015 Group had taken control of the club. On the same day, it was announced that Gary Ablett had been relieved of his managerial duties by 'mutual consent'.

The following season in League 2 began with Paul Simpson as manager, before being replaced by Peter Ward as caretaker manager. He too was replaced in the same season by Ray Mathias and although there was an upturn in performance, it was not sufficient to prevent the club from dropping out of the Football League for the first time in 106 years.

The 2011–12 season began with Mathias being given the manager's role, but a week later, with the (ultimately failed) takeover by a Liverpool-based consortium, he was replaced by Liverpool and Germany international former player, Dietmar Hamann. He was unable to stop the ongoing slump of the club, and resigned in November 2011, to pave the way for the return as Director of Football Jim Gannon, who had been made redundant by the administrators of the club whilst they were in League One. It took until New Year's Day 2012 for him to record a first win.