Colchester v County
After an up and down, walloped-Wrexham, smashed-Sutton, tonked-at-Tranmere season, tonight’s trip to Essex presents County with their first opportunity to clinch promotion to League One
Tuesday 9 April 2024
NEXT HOME GAME: Morecambe – Saturday 13 April, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Colchester – Today, 7.45pm
If you’d like to write an article for The Scarf My Father Wore, share a few snippets or photos, or advertise your business, please email thescarfmyfatherwore@substack.com.
National League North champions 2018-19. National League champions 2021-22. And if County win at Colchester tonight, a third promotion in six seasons could be secured, if Mansfield lose at home to Forest Green as well. We’d also be on the brink of the League Two title. After administration, relegation out of the Football League, and then 11 years in the non-league wilderness, these are remarkable times in Stockport at the moment. And very bloody enjoyable!
I hope County fans are dancing on the pitch tonight, Stopfordians are celebrating in the pubs, and I’m sure lots of The Football Family will also be glad to see a proper, traditional, community club continue their upward trajectory. Ian Brown joins us today ahead of tonight’s big game.
Our first live event of 2024 is taking place this month. ‘Flynny at the Finger’ – an evening with County legend Mike Flynn – is at The Fingerpost on Wednesday 17 April. Start time 7.30pm. If you’d like to join us, please email thescarfmyfatherwore@substack.com. Tickets are £10 (or £5 for paid subscribers plus anyone who’s written an article for The Scarf My Father Wore). That includes a full colour souvenir programme, and even a little bit of stand-up comedy!
Today’s edition is sponsored by Waterhouse’s Quality Food, joining The Scarf My Father Wore family for the first time! A big thank you to Jennifer, who’s also written a piece for today’s edition. Next time you’re in Cheadle Hulme, make sure you pop in for some of your five a day.
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: 136.36 miles
Total steps so far: 217,174
Total raised so far: £1,666
Total completed streets so far: 271 (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
Des Junior loves writing about County. But he can never be arsed doing match previews. They’re a bit dull, aren’t they? Paddy Madden’s out for two games with an ingrown toenail…blah blah blah…tomorrow’s referee has handed out more cards than Moonpig…blah blah blah…County haven’t won at Birmingham since 1672.
Fortunately, he has a number of fellow County content creators to call upon. Here’s their thoughts, general chit-chat and score predictions, as County look to clinch a return to the third tier for the first time since 2009-10.
Ian Brown, hedgegrower
Colchester 1 County 3
If County win promotion tonight, what will the scenes be like on the Fingerpost Flyer at midnight?
Return journeys on the Flyer, win, lose or draw, are usually fairly sedate affairs, with many seeking the manufacture of zzz’s, especially on long trips, after an initial analysis of the match. It tends to be the occupiers of the seats to the rear of the coach who normally seek a sing along with Christine and Carl to the fore. The atmosphere is generally good and I expect it to be so again tonight.
Should we win, many are expecting this return trip to be a riotous cross twixt Oktoberfest, Chinese New Year and Woodstock ‘69, minus Janis Joplin, The Who and Jimi Hendrix. They could be right, but we’re still relying on Mansfield losing as well to be absolutely certain of promotion. If the Stags avoid defeat, we’d still need a point to be mathematically promoted to League One, so a few passengers might delay celebrations until Saturday’s game with Morecambe, contenting themselves instead with one of Lou’s excellent coffees on tonight’s long trip back to Stockport.
For myself, irrespective of the result, I will be seeking solitude in order to write and hopefully publish and publicise the match report before we get back to the Fingerpost.
I see us winning this one by a few, hopefully as payback for the circus we were subjected to on the previously aborted trip. I’m going for a 3-1 County win but will not be that surprised if we score more.
A message from Jennifer, fourth generation at family business Waterhouse’s Quality Food
Hello The Scarf My Father Wore readers! It’s great to be featured here and have the opportunity to tell you a little bit about my family business in the heart of Cheadle Hulme.
We’ve been serving the area with fresh fruit and veg since 1921 when we started as a little corner shop. Over those 103 years, we’ve gone through many ups and downs, recessions, governments, global pandemics and much more. We’ve adapted and changed with the times, innovating and keeping up with what people need and want when it comes to fresh foods.
Our mission today is to encourage people to eat more fruit and veg for optimum health. We have the best quality and biggest range, from the local to the exotic.
We also have Prodjuice Juicery, our own in-house cold pressed juice bar, which we launched in 2021. So if you can't eat your fruit and veg (which is the number one best way to get your vital nutrients) you can now drink them instead.
Our cold pressed juice process is the second best way to intake nutrients. We take raw fruit and veg, slowly and gently mulch them, and then gently press them with tonnes of weight, extracting smooth pure juice full of live enzymes, vitamins and minerals your body and mind will love you for. All of our recipes have been created for different areas of the body and ailments in order to help support health.
Our single juice and juice cleanses are available every day to grab and go in store, as well as online for nationwide delivery. We also offer in-store consultations so just drop in and see one of our juice experts. We can even tailor a juice for you.
And what we offer does not stop there!
We do milkshakes, smoothies, barista coffees (worker bee of Edgeley), herbal teas and super food lattes.
We have an extensive range of free from groceries, including gluten free, plant based and dairy free.
And we also have a large refillery station including liquid household products, personal care, confectionery, fruit & nuts, pasta, rice, lentils, teas, oils and vinegars.
We’re open seven days a week. Come and say hello!
Visit waterhousesqualityfood.com for further details.
Photo of the day
Somewhere between Stockport and Colchester
Over 1,000 County fans are travelling to Essex for tonight’s potential promotion-clincher. Unbelievable support for a Tuesday night. A safe journey to all Hatters making the trip. And I hope you don’t get too wet and muddy if you’re celebrating on the pitch tonight!
Today in SK
🎬 Cinema
One film at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Kung Fu Panda 4 (PG) at 12.30pm, 2.45pm and 5pm. Click here for tickets.
🍟 Food and drink
The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £4.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £2, and 3 for £6 on Jägerbombs.
If you’re in Stockport today, pop into The Petersgate Tap (SK1) for a couple of pints.
Pie Meal Deal at The Friary (SK3). Any pie or pudding and chips with peas, curry or gravy. Plus tea or coffee. £7.95. (Greenhalgh’s Pies £1 extra.)
Random County fan of the day #91 – Nathan Perkins!
One final thing before you go… if you’d like a spring clean for your car, carpets, house, oven or even your windows, get in touch with our brilliant bunch of sponsors!
🎨 Art & Gifts: Kate O’Brien Art
🧱 Builders Merchant: MKM Manchester South
🧽 Car Valeting: Rub A Dubz Detailing Ltd
🧼 Carpet Cleaning: A Star Clean Ltd
🏠 Carpets & Flooring: Kingsway Carpets & Rugs Ltd
🐈 Cat Flaps: That Cat Flap Company Ltd
👶 Child Health: The Sleep Nanny
🏠 Chimney Sweep: Three Shires Chimney Services
🧹 Cleaning: Beespoke Cleaning
🚙 Coatings: Colourtone Ltd
🚘 Driving School: CFN School of Motoring
💷 Financial Services: The Mortgage Mill
🔥 Fire Protection: Radial Fire And Security Limited
👟 Fitness: G Thomas Training
🍏 Greengrocers: Waterhouse’s Quality Food
🛁 Grout Refresh & Recolour: GroutGleam Stockport
💇♀️ Hairdressing: C West Hairstylist
💻 IT Services: Bridge Computer Services
🪚 Joinery: SAW Contracts Ltd
👨🍳 Kitchen Appliances: SW Appliances
🌳 Landscaping: PR Landscapes
🔑 Locksmith: APL Locksmiths Ltd
🧤 Oven Cleaning: That Oven Girl
🖌 Painter & Decorator: BGM Decorators
🚑 Personal Injury: Parkers Solicitors Ltd
📸 Photography: Holly Dwyer Photography
🎹 Piano Tutor: Sophie Grace Piano and Keyboard Tuition
🧱 Plastering: DT Plastering Services and Damp Proofing Specialists
🚰 Plumber: GTG Gary the Gasman
🦶 Podiatry: SK Podiatry
📕 Publishing: Victor Publishing
🤳 Social Media Management: Believe Media
☀️ Solar Panels: Malbern Solar Ltd
👨💼 Solicitors: B.J. McKenna & Co
⚽️ Sports Coaching: UK Sports Coaching Ltd
🪨 Stonemason: LM Stone Creative
🪵 Timber Supplies: Portwood Timber Division of Illingworth Ingham (Manchester) Ltd
☀️ Travel Agent: PTF Travel Ltd
⚖️ Weight Loss: Slimming World Reddish & Bredbury with Shlean
🪟 Window Cleaner: R ‘N’ B Window Cleaning
🧘♀️ Yoga: Greenshoots Yoga