County v Crawley
Roses are red, violets are blue, let’s turn off the WiFi in the away end tonight, so these crypto nerds won’t know what to do
Tuesday 14 February 2023
Happy Valentine’s Day! I feel a little bit slutty saying that to 386 different subscribers (plus the hundreds of others who read the website each day) but sod it, I’m feeling the love today. The sun is shining, County are in the play-offs, and I’m off to Stockport shortly for a Tuesday night under the Edgeley Park floodlights. No date unfortunately, but Vernon Bear has promised to lick corned beef hash off my torso if I can make it to the County Courtyard by 7pm. Who needs a box of Milk Tray when you’ve got that tantalising proposition…
Tickets are selling well for ‘The County Comedy Quiz’ at Bask on Thursday 23 February. If you’re free next week, come and join me and Benji for a top night out. We’ve got a cracking quiz. We’ve got great prizes. We’ve got Paul Jones joining us for the evening. We’ve even got a little bit of stand-up comedy as well. All that for a fiver. Click here to join us.
Finally, a big thank you to Stefan, Callum and all the team at Bee Motion Accounting for sponsoring today’s edition.
Come on County! (We could go 5th tonight.)
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 providers to have a pre-match natter with. Here’s their thoughts and score predictions ahead of Crawley’s first ever trip to Edgeley Park.
Jon Keighren, Stockport County
County 2 Crawley 0
“With the quality we have in our squad, I am confident that County will be comfortably in the top seven by the end of the month.” That’s what you said in last week’s Tranmere preview. Well, we’ve managed that already. To stay there, we’ve got to pick up maximum points in games like tonight haven’t we?
I would be disappointed if we don’t capitalise on this opportunity. We’ve put ourselves into a great position despite the loss of Paddy for a few weeks. As I’ve said previously on here, I do believe we will be top seven at the end of February, but to achieve that outcome, these are the kind of games we need to win. Given our current outstanding home record under Dave Challinor, I’m confident we will get the three points, so I’m going for 2-0.
Nick Lee, The Scarf Bergara Wore
County 3 Crawley 0
How should County fans with partners approach Valentine’s Day when the Hatters are in action?
It's business as usual as far as I'm concerned, and I'd still be saying that if I had a better half (promise). At the end of the day, if you need a special day to let your partner know you love them, then you probably deserve to be alone. That's why I don't show my vulnerability on Valentine's Day or, indeed, the other 364 days. As I've told all my previous girlfriends, "County were there before you came into my life, and they'll be there long after you've seen the light and fucked off.” It loses its effect when you shout it through a letterbox but there's no point me changing now, it'd only confuse people.
On the subject of business as usual, I'm backing the sexy romantic Hatters for a comfortable win. 3-0.
Ian Brown, hedgegrower
County 3 Crawley 0
Crawley’s co-chairman Preston Johnson has plonked himself in the dugout for a match, signed some YouTubers for an FA Cup tie, and wants to attract new fans from “anywhere in the world with an internet connection”. How glad are you that we have Mark Stott?
I wish the Crawley chairman well in his quest.
Our slow rise from the comparatively stagnant waters of regional football to the Football League has been long and painful, our ship being encrusted in barnacles that were ever likely to tip it over and surrounded by sharks in sharp suits. Thankfully, the process had real County people - who had the welfare of the club at heart - in the driving seat for the club’s darkest days.
I have heard Mr Stott described as the club’s saviour and it has to be admitted that he is doing vitally impressive work in transforming County as we rise up the football pyramid. Are we lucky to have him? Yes, of course, but I cannot forget to raise my battered old hat in the direction of the former County board headed by Richard Park and Gary Burton, and to Jim Gannon, a real County hero who has contributed so much to the club. Richard and Gary steadfastly stuck with the club, keeping it alive in the most difficult of times, before bringing Jim Gannon and then Mark Stott in.
I think we’ve been immensely lucky over the years, to have had all the above-named County people and many others doing amazing work at the club. No one stands above any of the others - they are all County heroes!
As for today’s game we owe Crawley one do we not, for the defeat at their place earlier in the season, and I see us continuing where we left off in Yorkshire on Saturday with a 3-0 win.
Jonathan Baker aka Geordie Hatter, The County Away Day Show
County 2 Crawley 1
Is Mrs Geordie Hatter getting wined and dined tonight or are you off to EP?
As far as red letter late winter/early spring Tuesdays go in our house it's actually Pancake Day that's traditionally the big one, and it was decreed a while ago that we would indulge in our annual frying pan flipping free-for-all a week early as we're away next week. Accordingly, the domestic conundrum very much in play as we head into this afternoon is whether there is space later tonight for both League Two and Jif Lemon related action. As we speak, the smart money is on a marathon three-part extravaganza featuring my lone excursion down to EP sandwiched between helpings of homemade sweet and savoury pancakes (or possibly crepes, I don’t actually know the difference) for myself and Mrs GH. Whether that counts as a romantic evening in for two or a night out with 10,000 other people… well, I’ll leave it to the County Nation to decide.
Prediction: a home victory by a margin of pancakelike (or crepesque) thinness. 2-1.
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Oh dear. You’ve hooked up with a hottie in the Bamboo last week, and now you’ve spent all your money going overboard on Valentine’s Day. A few drinks at Bask and a meal at Redrock would have been fine, but you’ve gone completely over the top with a couple of nights in Paris. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. One of The Scarf My Father Wore sponsors is local firm Bee Motion Accounting, who specialise in all areas of financial planning and offer a service that is bespoke to each individual or corporate client. Give them a call and they’ll get you back on track. (We highly recommend them to our other readers as well for any financial services, not just those who have taken a fictional date on a fictional trip to Paris.)
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Here’s something you should definitely do in February
Buy tickets for The County Comedy Quiz at Bask!
The Scarf My Father Wore editor, Des Junior, absolutely loves a County quiz. He’s alright at compiling County quizzes as well. Rightly or wrongly, he also fancies himself as a bit of a comedian. On that note, The Scarf My Father Wore are delighted to team up with Bask to bring you The Comedy County Quiz. It’s a proper County quiz, with some fantastic prizes on offer, but our aim is to crack you up with some of the questions along the way.
We’ve also got special guest Paul Jones joining us. The former County defender, and Bolton Wanderers legend, will be speaking on the night, as well as handing out the prizes to the winners!
Click here for our full list of things you should definitely do in February!
Never mind Google or Yell.com, we’ve got you covered
STOP! That got your attention, didn’t it? Just a quick one… I’d hazard a guess that at some point in February, 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 you’re looking for. A number of great businesses support The Scarf My Father Wore, allowing us to publish fresh content every day, so let’s send a few enquiries their way in return.
Click here to have a look at all the businesses in our directory.
Photo of the day
❤️ Edgeley Park ❤️
As it’s Valentine’s Day…