County 2 Salford 1
The Hatters are now just one game away from dining at the League One table with EIGHT former Premier League clubs next season
Monday 22 May 2023 - WEMBLEY WEEK!
đ¶ Que sera sera, whatever will be will be, weâre going to Wem-ber-lee, que sera sera đ¶
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and anyone else joining us today, a very warm welcome to WEMBLEY WEEK on The Scarf My Father Wore!
Over the next seven days, weâll be concentrating entirely on Sundayâs League Two play-off final, as County make the trip to Wembley for the sixth time. After heartbreaking defeats in 1992 (twice), 1993 and 1994, Jim Gannonâs men finally broke the hoodoo against Rochdale in 2008. Having lost just once in our last fifteen games (and that was an injury-hit line-up at Salford), fingers crossed Dave Challinorâs current crop can emulate Dicko, Pilks and Co when they run out at Wembley this weekend.
For approximately 71 minutes on Saturday afternoon (68 in normal time and 3 in the extra half hour) it was our neighbours who were gearing up for a trip to the capital. But⊠well we all know what happened next, donât we? Not one, but two unbelievable Edgeley Park moments. Iâm currently writing a long read feature myself covering the whole day from start to finish, incorporating lots of different aspects of a County matchday in SK3. Thatâll take me a week or two to complete. But we couldnât possibly kick off WEMBLEY WEEK without any mention of Tanto, or Stretton, or the bloke we have âin the middle of our goalâ, so hereâs the thoughts of Dave Philbin on an unforgettable afternoon at EP. I couldnât find a Salford fan to speak to for todayâs piece. Sod âem. I tried Gary Neville as well but he didnât reply, even after my kind invitation I sent him last night.
Itâs not just content weâre bringing you as part of WEMBLEY WEEK. We thought weâd do something a little bit special as well to commemorate the occasion, which is why weâve teamed up with Surprise Shirts, a Lincolnshire-based company who supply customers with surprise football shirts from around the world. Weâve got a fantastic giveaway as part of WEMBLEY WEEK. Keep your eyes peeled for further details in a couple of days. (Iâm just secretly spending all day at their warehouse today stealing all the Burnley shirts and putting them in a skip, to ensure the surprise for our competition winner later in the week isnât going to be a nasty one.)
Finally, a big thank you to Lucinda and all the team at Portwood Timber for sponsoring todayâs edition.
SIX SLEEPS TO GO! đ€đ€đ€đ€đ€đ€
Des Junior
PS) All subscribers should have received an email this morning about one of the Wembley features weâre publishing every day this week. Have a look if youâd like to take part. Cheers, thank you!
Saturdayâs match in one word:
Dave - Rollercoaster.
Pre-match thoughts:
Dave - I expected a tough game. It was hard to call because nobody knew who was available to play and who wasn't, though I think that worked in our favour in the end. That being said, I thought we'd do them 3-1 in front of a full house.
Post-match thoughts:
Dave - Still knackered just from watching it! It had everything didn't it? When they scored in extra time I thought that was it, but the reaction from fans and players alike from that moment sums up what County is all about. Nobody wants a penalty shootout, and it's terrible for anyone to go out that way, but there's definitely no better way to win a match.
Verdict on County:
Dave - Slow starting, but did exactly what we had to do. Started nervy which was justified given what was at stake, but the longer the game went on the more comfortable we looked. Challinor got the subs spot on at the right times, and when you can bring your best midfielders off the bench with half an hour to go then you have a chance. Rydel's cross for the first goal was sensational, and for Sarce to feed that pass to Stretton was quality as well. Showed unbelievable character to do what we did â Carlisle won't fancy playing us next week.
Verdict on Salford:
Dave - Credit to Salford, I expected them to turn up and sit 11 men behind the ball and try and catch us on the break. I think they had four shots on target in the first 20 minutes so that showed their intention.
Top Hatter:
Dave - Near enough every player has a reason to stake their claim for this, but Ben Hinchliffe has to take the crown. The guy is a machine.
Top Ammie:
Dave - Vassell. What a player he was over the two legs. An absolute shithouse that every team would love to have. Wouldn't mind signing him in the summer.
Atmosphere:
Dave - One of the best atmospheres Iâve experienced. The sheer noise when Tanto scored was off the scale. From start to finish the fans were on it and played a huge part.
Hopes for the final:
Dave - Go there and win. They're without Barclay who got them there in the first place, and if we have our strongest 11 available, and they play like they did in parts on Saturday, then no one can cope with us. Challinor knows what it takes to get promoted and win play-off games as we know only too well, and that experience will hopefully show on Sunday.
The British Library receives a copy of every single book published in the UK. In the same fashion, Des Junior believes a detailed record of every County game should be preserved for the history books. So hereâs the full story of our 2-1 victory at home to Salford City on Saturday 20 May 2023, as told from his three County-related WhatsApp groupsâŠ
9.33am: What time is everyone getting in The Armoury?
9.50am: 10 minutes ago.
10.28am: It never feels right putting on sunscreen before heading out to a County game!
10.36pm: Havenât bothered/didnât have time. Oops.
11.10am: The sun always shines on the Pop Side.
11.30am: Madden starts. Praise the Lord! A much stronger starting XI. And equally important that Lewis is fit.
11.34am: Itâll be interesting to see how fit some of those returning really are.
12.34pm: Jesus, what happened there? Free header. We need to be better than that.
12.40pm: Three chances for Salford in nine minutes. Come on County.
1.06pm: Referee is a cheat. But we donât have a Plan B, and Plan A isnât good enough.
1.21pm: Can anyone watching Sky tell us what happened when Paddy thought he scored?
1.22pm: Iâve just seen a replay. It doesnât cross the line.
1.58pm: Tantooooo! 1-0. Great run from Hussey to create the space for Rydel. Top class goal.
2.52pm: I donât want penalties. Letâs push on and score now. Donât sit back and wait.
3.01pm: Bollocks. Wicked deflection. Jammy bastards.
3.04pm: Get in!!! Sarce did brilliantly to get that across to Stretton. Letâs have a winner now.
3.13pm: Penalties then. I would have taken that when the deflection went in. But Iâm not sure my heart can take it.
3.25pm: Get Ben in the Hall of Fame. Now.
3.42pm: Iâve got no idea where Lund was even thinking he was hitting that penalty. Teed off like a 40-yard rugby conversion.
3.48pm: In terms of performance we were night and day after the raft of substitutions. Started using the midfield rather than lumping it over them. Looked totally dominant.
3.51pm: Currently trying to explain to my daughter that I have attended every one of her 10 birthdays so far and didn't get much out of them personally, so letting me skip the 11th one in favour of a trip to London is only fair.
4.40pm: See you all at Wembley you beautiful bastards!
12.56am: Just a few words to sum up the day⊠FUCK YOU SALFORD!
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ChatGPTâs Wembley build-up: Part 1 - Travel
âSalford played well and they arenât in my top five of most disliked clubsâ
As part of WEMBLEY WEEK, weâve emailed seven questions to our subscribers, and weâll choose a different one each day this week, hearing the thoughts of a number of our readers.
Todayâs question: If Gary Neville and the rest of the Class of 92 were reading The Scarf My Father Wore today, what message would you leave for them?
I think I would say âHard luck.â Salford played well and they arenât in my top five of most disliked clubs.
Tony Joannou
No, you cannot hire Dave Challinor.
Josh Cooper
Today in SK
đ„ Looking at many of the photos and videos from Saturday night, I can safely say a number of County fans will still be feeling worse for wear today. A lot of Hatters will also be trying to save a few extra pennies ahead of what could be an expensive trip to London on Sunday. One thing that could help with both of those problems is a doner kebab from Fishers of Cheshire (SK2). Thatâll definitely soak up some of the excess booze still in your system following the weekend, and costing just ÂŁ3 all day on a Monday, it wonât hurt the bank balance as you start to sort out your Wembley tickets and travel. Open from 4pm till 9.30pm.
đ¶ Free jukebox at the Nelson Tavern (SK1) from 6.30pm.
đč The Armoury (SK3) have just launched their new cocktail menu. Mark Stott definitely wouldnât mind a Red Wine Cobbler, and Lee Toddâs going to be getting stuck into a Lounge Lizard or two. Thereâs eight cocktails to try in total; head down today to see which one tickles your tastebuds!
âïž How do you fancy a nice iced cappuccino today? Head down to Coffee Block (SK1) for their CUBO espresso over ice, filled with shaken milk and topped with chocolate! Open till 5.30pm.
The Scarf My Father Wore works closely with venues on a daily basis to bring you the most comprehensive guide to all of the best offers and events taking place across the whole SK region. Click on the links below for full details of everything taking place in your area over the next few weeks.
SK1 / SK2 / SK3 / SK4 / SK5 / SK6 / SK7 / SK8 / SK9 / SK10 / SK11 / SK12 / SK13 / SK14 / SK15 / SK16 / SK17 / SK22 / SK23
Photo of the day
Wembley Stadium, London
Yesterdayâs photo featured the only manager to lead a County side to victory at Wembley. As weâre looking ahead to the play-off final throughout the week on The Scarf My Father Wore, itâs only right we shine the spotlight on these two chaps as well. The first manager to lead a team of Stockport County players out of the Wembley tunnel, and the first Hatter to find the back of the net.
Never mind Google or Yell.com, weâve got you covered
STOP! That got your attention, didnât it? Just a quick one⊠Iâd hazard a guess that at some point in May, all of our readers will use Google or Yell.com at some point looking for a particular product or service. But before you do, please have a quick look at our own directory to see if we have what youâre looking for. A number of great businesses support The Scarf My Father Wore, allowing us to publish fresh content every day, so letâs send a few enquiries their way in return.
Click here to have a look at all the businesses in our directory.