A coffee with Colin Woodthorpe

A long-read interview on winning at Maine Road, scoring those belters at Mansfield and Bolton, and getting relegated under Carlton Palmer

Feb 04, 2024

Sunday 4 February 2024

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Good ~~morning~~ ~~afternoon~~ evening County fans! (And, as always, greetings to any Stopfordians plus anyone else from The Football Family joining us today.)

I’m a tired boy today, I won’t lie. I’ve made a promise to upload a new edition of The Scarf My Father Wore every single day of the year, which I’ll always stick to, but in my defence I’ve never said exactly what time that will be. As long as you’ve received your daily email by 11.59pm each day, I don’t want my postman to be handing me any letters of complaint from Annoyed of Adswood or Disgusted of Davenport.

You lot get to enjoy a lazy day from time to time when you’re off work. For me, doing this 365 days a year, I don’t really have that luxury. I’d like to think my readers and subscribers are happy for me to stick my feet up on the sofa now and again with a hot chocolate and a box set, however, and so my version of a lazy day is uploading an article I’ve previously written. Not something that’s appeared on The Scarf My Father Wore before (that would be too lazy!) but I do actually want to upload lots of previous stuff I’ve written for past fanzines, magazines, blogs, websites etc, to have all my County content in one place. That’s what I’ve done today, with this interview I did with Colin Woodthorpe in Chester shortly after we clinched promotion back to the Football League in 2022.

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Total distance so far: 46.68 miles

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Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

The following article was written in the summer of 2022.

It’s 10.45 on a Monday morning as I sit down with Colin Woodthorpe in the Old Harkers Arms, a Brunning and Price pub next to the canal in Chester, always a popular haunt for County fans ahead of a trip to the Deva Stadium. A bit early to hit the hard stuff, it’s an orange juice for me and a latte for Colin. Not that he might want to be drinking with a Hinks anyway, even if we were opting for something stronger.

“I missed the train home after the Halifax game because of your dad,” he laughs.

“I’d had a couple at County after the game, but left in plenty of time to get home. Then I bumped into your dad on Castle Street. A few hours and a few pints later, the last train is pulling out of Stockport station just as I get there. What a night though.”

Colin had to get a taxi back to his home in Northwich, where he’s lived since 1997, when he signed for County from Aberdeen, finally returning to his north-west roots (he was born in Liverpool and started his career at Chester) after three years in Scotland, and four in Norwich prior to that. He was one of Gary Megson’s first recruits after taking over at Edgeley Park ahead of our first season in Division One, following Dave Jones’ departure to Southampton.

“My dad had just passed away that summer,” Colin recalls.

“Aberdeen had offered me a new contract, but with my dad being ill, I’d been away for a while so I hadn’t put pen to paper on a new deal. Then Aberdeen found someone else to replace me, so I was stuck in limbo for a while, because I knew I wasn’t staying, but they wanted a fee for me.

“I’d already spoke to Gary earlier that summer, who was initially interested in taking me to Blackpool. But I spoke to him again and he told me to hold on because it was apparent he was getting the County job.

“I was actually in Hull during pre-season with Aberdeen when I signed for County. I drove to Sheffield with Harry McNally, my first manager at Chester, who was now working for County. I agreed terms with Brendan Elwood, then I had to drive back to Hull to collect my stuff, before returning to Aberdeen to sort everything out up there.”

Colin was supposed to be starting for County on the opening day at Bradford. But complications from a previous injury during his time at Aberdeen ruled him out of the 2-1 defeat at Valley Parade.

“I broke my foot at Aberdeen, and even though pre-season with County had been fine, it flared up before the Bradford game for some reason,” he remembers.

“So I ended up making my debut at Mansfield three days later instead.”

On that Tuesday night at Field Mill, in the first leg of the first round League Cup tie against a Mansfield side two divisions below us, County were 4-1 down with 15 minutes remaining. Enter Woodthorpe, with a debut stunner from 35 yards out.

“That was further out than I remembered when I saw it on YouTube,” he admits.

“In a way, it was an important goal. It got us back to 4-2 on the night, and we ended up beating them 8-7 on aggregate.

“It was quite a funny game actually. At the start of that season, the rules regarding throw-ins had changed. The goalkeeper wasn’t allowed to pick the ball up from a throw-in anymore. Normally, ahead of a new season, you’d have a meeting with the referees to discuss rule changes, but because I’d been at Aberdeen, I’d missed the meeting. So there I am, throwing the ball back to Ian Gray during the first half, and I haven’t got a clue why he’s juggling the ball and taking people on, rather than picking it up.”

It's fair to say Megson wasn’t best pleased at half-time, as Colin remembers the exchange.

“What are you doing throwing the ball back to Ian?”

“Why not?”

“Because he can’t fucking pick it up!”

“Fair enough. Ian’s not said anything for 45 minutes though!”

Colin got a second bollocking off Megson after the game for wearing a pair of Aberdeen shorts, but he still has a lot of respect for his County manager of two years, and Norwich teammate of three.

“Gary can definitely be quite direct,” he admits.

“But he’s a good person, and he’s achieved a lot in his career. We played together at Norwich for three years and we used to socialise quite a bit, the odd game of golf here and there. The relationship did change when he became my manager at County, but that’s to be expected. We’d stay in hotels before games and he wouldn’t really speak to you at dinner. But with Gary, you always knew where you stood, things were always black and white. Although if he knew you, he’d definitely push your buttons a little bit.”

Colin played in Megson’s last game, a 5-0 defeat at Oxford on the final day of the 1998-99 season. There’s been whispered rumours over the years suggesting some of the County players were trying to force Megson out that afternoon at the Manor Ground, against an Oxford side that went down, but Colin doesn’t agree.

“That was just a freak result,” he insists.

“We were already safe from relegation and it was just one of those games.

“There were rumours at the time about his departure. Brendan Elwood told us that Gary had been touting himself for the Stoke job, while he was still at County. But Gary phoned me after he left, when he eventually went to Stoke, and he said it was untrue. I spent three years at Norwich with Gary and one thing I will say, is that he doesn’t lie.”

Andy Kilner was next in the Edgeley Park dugout.

“We did really well during the first half of that season,” says Colin.

“I think Kilner inherited the core of a good team from Megson and we continued to punch above our weight, as we had done for the previous couple of years.”

Colin’s not wrong. On Boxing Day 1999, a crowd of 10,278 witnessed County beat Wolves 3-2 at Edgeley Park. We were in the First Division play-offs. However, we didn’t taste victory for another four months, a run of 19 games without a win. It wasn’t until April that County fans could celebrate a victory, when Swindon were beaten 3-0 at Edgeley Park. At that point, after a dramatic slide down the table, the Hatters still weren’t safe from relegation. A 2-0 win at Huddersfield five days later, on the penultimate weekend, finally ensured survival.

“That was such a strange season,” recalls Colin.

“We actually had a mid-season break to Tenerife, which was a bit surreal. I remember the game before we went away, at home to Crystal Palace. I tried to smash Dean Austin in a tackle, but ended up in their dugout. It was only early in the game but I had to be taken off as I’d done my knee in.

“As people know, injuries and flights don’t go together too well. By the time we got to Tenerife, my knee had completely blown up. I was just stuck watching the lads train all week. We obviously had a couple of nights out while we were out there, but I don’t think you can blame the second half of the season on that. None of us could put our finger on why the results dropped off.”

Colin smiles when I mention his next County manager. After an awful start to the 2001-02 season, Kilner was sacked by Elwood, to be replaced by Carlton Palmer.

“Do you know what, you can’t deny he’s had a decent career as a player,” opines Colin.

“Things just didn’t really work out as a manager. I think the problem that season was the fact a lot of senior players left. People like Mike Flynn. Every team needs an anchor, and Flynny was certainly ours, a proper skipper; a player like that will drag you through a game even if you’re not feeling it.

“That season was awful, a death by a thousand cuts. Because we were bottom of the league all season, the players just felt worn out, day after day, week after week. It was tough being told how shit you were every Saturday when the team was being stripped of players who had done well for the club.

“Relegation was finally confirmed at Wimbledon. Carlton didn’t come back on the bus after the game, which I thought was unfair on a lot of the younger players coming through, who hadn’t done anything wrong.

“That’s my biggest disappointment as a footballer, getting relegated with County. It’s the only time I was relegated during my career. Never mind winning trophies, for me, the baseline was always not going down. That was a long, painful season.”

Colin played fairly regularly under Palmer, but was struggling for a large part of the season, battling with a double hernia. After an operation, County decided to pay up his contract, and he signed for Bury in the summer of 2002. Initially planning to play for another three years, Colin was at Gigg Lane for six, before retiring at the age of 39. Dave Challinor was also at Bury for five of those six seasons.

“You always knew Chall would make a great manager,” reflects Colin.

“He was always so fastidious, even with things like his snooker book: keeping a record of all the scores between the players, making sure fines were paid. Every time I got in his car I’d chuck the book in the back and he’d give me a stern look.”

Challinor went on to play for Colwyn Bay for a couple of seasons, before inviting Colin to join him as his assistant when he was offered the manager’s job in 2010.

“Even at the start of his managerial journey, Chall was getting the best out of people,” says Colin.

“We had some great lads at Colwyn Bay, don’t get me wrong, but we were greater than the sum of our parts. I think a lot of that was down to Chall, and he’s had a lot of success as a manager ever since.”

At this point, I feel I have to highlight Colin’s modesty about his own achievements. As assistant to Challinor, the duo went on to enjoy three promotions with AFC Fylde, taking them from the eighth tier to the fifth, as well as winning the FA Trophy at Wembley. After eight years together at Fylde, Challinor was sacked shortly before the Covid outbreak, with Colin also departing.

“It’s a shame how things ended at Fylde,” he says.

“But no one likes the owner, as you’ve seen with some of those bizarre press releases he sends out. Me and Chall did well during our time there, but everything starts and ends with the owner. I feel sorry for the media team at Fylde, as they have to deal with all the backlash from the nonsense he spouts.”

Challinor wasn’t out of work for long, joining Hartlepool the following month, before taking the club back into the Football League in his first full season in charge.

“It’s really unfair how Hartlepool fans have treated Chall,” says Colin.

“What they don’t seem to remember is that Covid broke out shortly after he went up there. He was away from his family for a couple of years, during the pandemic. But he still did what he needed to do and got them promoted. How many people could spend a couple of years away from their family like that? I know Hartlepool fans were disappointed when he left, but the chance to move back home to be with his family was an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

Family is a huge part of Colin’s life as well, and following the tragic death of his wife from breast cancer in 2018, it’s part of the reason he hasn’t gone into management himself, choosing to stay as an assistant.

“I think I could be a good manager,” he muses.

“But being a manager is all-encompassing, whereas you can still be a number two and have time for other things in your life. That’s been important since Karole passed away. I’ve needed to be there for my three sons, which I’ve been able to do as an assistant, but would have proved to be more difficult in a manager’s position.”

Colin spent a couple of years as assistant to Calum McIntyre at Runcorn Linnets, before following him when he was offered the Chester job last month. That’s why I’m meeting with Colin in Chester today, as he’s off to the Deva Stadium following our interview to sort a few bits and bobs out. After that, it’s a fortnight in Florida, before the trials and tribulations of the National League North.

“As County fans know, it’s a difficult league,” he says.

“There’s a lot of full-time teams in the division, including Fylde, which should be an interesting afternoon.

“We’ve got a lot of rebuilding to do, but Calum’s a great young manager, and we’re definitely up for the challenge. We tried to bring in Lewis Montrose actually, but he’s retiring. He didn’t want to come here and just pick up a wage, which is commendable.”

I’ve been sat with Colin for almost an hour, and I feel I’m teasing County fans having failed to ask him about his screamer at the Reebok Stadium in 1999. Don’t worry Hatters, that’s next.

“That wasn’t a bad strike, was it,” he smiles.

“Under Sam Allardyce, when they went up to the Premier League they were always known as little old Bolton. But they certainly weren’t little old Bolton in Division One. Along with the likes of Charlton and Fulham, they always seemed to get the rub of the green. It was more like little old Stockport when we went to places like that.

“I think people thought Bolton would go on to win the game once they’d equalised. But it was a really well-worked goal that won it for us. We built the play up well down the left hand side and then I’ve managed to smash it past Steve Banks. I don’t even think Jääskeläinen would have saved that one!”

That’s Colin’s favourite County goal. For his favourite game, we have to skip to the following season, and that memorable December evening at Maine Road. Apparently some of the County players had a wild party at the Alma Lodge Hotel that night. But for Colin, that was the last thing on his mind.

“I can’t remember anything about a party,” he says.

“Genuinely, me and Martin McIntosh went back to the Wycliffe Hotel for a couple of quiet drinks there. Martin was staying at one of the houses opposite on Edgeley Road. And when I say a quiet drink, I mean a quiet drink. It was a small Italian bar, with nice lighting, and we just both sat there absolutely wired from the match.

“Playing at Maine Road at night was intimidating. The natives were always restless when they weren’t doing too well, and you never knew which way they were going to flip. It was such a tough game, we just needed to chill afterwards. What an unbelievable night that was though. Goalkeepers who try and dribble, eh?”

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