“After being fed on a diet of gruel we were every so often rewarded with a gourmet spread to keep our spirits up”

Come and take your place next to John Snellgrove on the Pop Side, as over 15,000 pack into Edgeley Park for the visit of Everton in 1976

Feb 27, 2025

Thursday 27 February 2025

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NEXT HOME GAME: Blackpool – Saturday 1 March, 3pm

NEXT AWAY GAME: Northampton Town – Tuesday 4 March, 7.45pm

Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Thursday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

Part 3 of John Snellgrove’s series on County in the 1970s lands in your inbox today. Here’s the links to his previous two articles if you’ve not yet read them.

The Dark Ages

The Scarf My Father Wore

Feb 7

Read full story

Further tales from The Dark Ages

The Scarf My Father Wore

Feb 18

Read full story

A big thank you to MAN v FAT for sponsoring today’s edition. You can register for just £1 using the code TSMFW.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 216.74 miles

Total steps so far: 353,516

Total raised so far: £2,270

Total completed streets so far: 474 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

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

Des Junior

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With over 15,000 inside Edgeley Park for the League Cup tie with Everton, some County fans take to the Cheadle End roof!

The summer of 1976 was one to remember, or for many, one to forget. The country had been through a two-week heatwave but worse than that it had been a very long dry spell. This had brought in water rationing and all that went with it. Standpipes, sharing bathwater etc. A minister for drought was appointed and within days the rain returned. Oh for politicians today who can have such an effect. I can remember standing outside the back door with relief in late August when it started raining. Just in time for the beginning of a new season.

New players and a new manager. Roy Chapman had become disillusioned with life at the bottom and left to be replaced by Eddie Quigley. One of the players he brought in was a certain Barney Daniels from Chester. Not a name we thought to drag us out of the depths but our fears were to prove unfounded.

Undefeated with five wins in the first six games and progress in the League Cup. A midweek trip to Preston beckoned for a play-off with Workington. We seemed to quite like going to these games, though as you can see from the programme (yes, this was all of it: a single sheet) they didn’t expect a bumper crowd. In fact just under 2,000 turned up which I think was pretty good. Anyway two goals from our new hero took us comfortably into the next round.

The second round game took place just two days later - a 3-1 away win at Blackburn to reward us with a home tie against Everton. I had decided to give the Blackburn game a miss but years later was there for the memorable 1-0 win.

Strange how every so often these games turned up. After being fed on a diet of gruel we were every so often rewarded with a gourmet spread to keep our spirits up. Standing on the Pop Side I remember Bob Latchford’s header at the Cheadle End and the cup run was over. Still a crowd of over 15,000 would help finances.

Buoyed by our performance, top of the table and with an unbeaten run to protect, we journeyed to Huddersfield on the Saturday. Hopes and expectations were high, a dangerous cocktail. It was a new ground for us - County’s first trip to Leeds Road for over 50 years. A typical ground of a bygone era - Huddersfield had over 67,000 in the ground for an FA Cup tie with Arsenal in 1932 - but there seemed a lot of empty spaces today. On a bleak afternoon, a crowd of under 6,000 witnessed our first league defeat of the season, compounded by the sending off of George McBeth. I can’t remember what for but am sure it was unjust.

A familiar pattern with County at that time, just feeling a sliver of optimism before waiting to be let down. No more so than later in the season when County were 4-0 up at Swansea when I headed off to Cheadle for a pint or two. Bubble well and truly burst on arriving back home to find the game had ended 4-4. No, we didn’t have Flashscore or any such thing so I suppose it spared the agony of the lead being whittled away.

Despite winning just four times after Christmas, County managed to finish a respectable 14th. OK, hardly brilliant, but a definite improvement on past seasons. More to the point there was an air of optimism that maybe things were on the up.

The end of the season was not the end of our visits to Edgeley. 1977 was the year of the Silver Jubilee and as we were running the Stockport Boys under-11 football team we were asked to put on a performance of skills on the pitch for Her Majesty’s visit. Not us I hasten to add but the squad. It did seem bizarre seeing the Queen and Prince Philip coming out of the player’s tunnel before being driven round the outside of the pitch. This was not my only encounter with the Queen at a football ground as a couple of years later we saw a fairly well known musical combo with the same name, at Elland Road in Leeds.

Despite the optimism 1977-78 turned out to be something of a damp squib. Freddie Pye, a well known scrap dealer, had joined the board. Alan Thompson, who I rated as a player, had replaced Eddie Quiqley as manager during the obligatory second-half collapse the previous season. At the age of 25 it was a brave or more likely a cost-cutting appointment. He did bring in a well known Manchester City footballer called Mike Summerbee who was to replace him as manager in the New Year somewhat harshly, and Terry Park also established himself in the team.

The season did have some highlights. My first and last visit to Gay Meadow to witness a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup. Yes, we did lose the replay, Surprise, Surprise! I loved this ground, so atmospheric, a fantastic setting and one of the best walks to a ground that I have been on. Of all the grounds I have been to with County this and Fulham rank up there with the very best. Helped I suspect by seeing us win at Fulham and draw at Shrewsbury.

It was sad to see Gay Meadow go. In fact, looking back I have seen County play at 16 Football League grounds that are no more.

The season ended in a disappointing 18th place. A memorable 6-0 win over Hartlepool is one of the few games I can recall. Final point is why did County keep falling apart in the second half of the season?

Next season was to witness the greatest travesty I can recall in my watching of County and a visit to a ghost ground.

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Photo(s) of the day

Blackpool, Lancashire

Regular readers will know I always share a random photo each day, whether that’s from the past or the present. With Blackpool coming up this weekend, I thought I’d share a snap or two from last August, when County won 3-0 at the seaside in front of 3,911 jubilant away fans. However, upon noticing that I took 55 photos that day - and realising that number very neatly divides by 5 - I’ve decided to share the whole lot over the course of this week! Here’s the penultimate batch, with loads of County fans enjoying the sunshine at the seaside.

Today in SK

🥃 Food and drink

The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £5.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £1.50, and 3 for £7 on Jägerbombs. Also, double up for £2 on premium spirits.

Bitter £2.30 a pint all day at The Cross Keys (SK8).

A number of venues are featured on The Scarf My Father Wore such as The Crown (SK2), The Alexandra (SK3), The Crown Inn (SK6), The Steelworks (SK6), The Three Tunnes (SK7), Flute & Firkin (SK12) and The Ram’s Head (SK12). Support them this month by popping in for a few drinks or a bite to eat.

Random snippets from old County programmes

#4 - County v Bolton, 12 February 1988

Ahead of Bolton’s Friday night trip to Edgeley Park, County boss Asa Hartford pulled no punches after seeing his side lose 2-0 at Carlisle the previous Saturday.

After our best result of the season against Newport County a couple of weeks ago I expected much more of the players at Carlisle last weekend where we turned in one of our poorest performances of the season.

The attitude was all wrong - we started badly and it showed. This is something I have mentioned to the players time and time again and it’s something we will have been working on in training this week.

One or two contracts are up at the end of the season and I would expect those players will want to improve on the sort of performance that was given at Brunton Park on Saturday.

Make no mistake, one or two players will be playing not only for their places in the next few months but their contracts for next season as well.

After our super show against Newport when we at last managed to take the chances which fell our way, we then turn in a shocker like that at Carlisle and as you can see from the league table it has put us down in trouble in 91st place.

Frankly that’s not good enough and I won’t settle for it either. I cannot accept last week’s performance. I expect players to give me everything - the commitment was not there.

Really we should be going to places like Carlisle, not just looking for a point, but with the attitude of winning. The players should have been bubbling after those three previous results, but again we started sloppily and paid the price.