County v Huddersfield
The first of three home friendlies before the opening day sees Neil Warnock bring his Yorkshire Terriers to town
Saturday 22 July 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Huddersfield – Today, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Sheffield Wednesday – Tuesday 8 August, 7.45pm
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and anyone else joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Saturday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
It’s back to Edgeley Park today, 63 days on from that fantastic afternoon against Salford in the play-offs. We’ve got Ian Brown, Jonathan Baker and Andrew Barlow on match preview duty, along with Paul Thompson, making his debut on these pages on behalf of the Co-op. We might need to keep an eye on him if his score prediction is anything to go by…
Finally, a big thank you to Mark at Blue Bee Customs for sponsoring today’s edition.
Come on County!
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 fans prepare to return to Edgeley Park for the first time since that memorable Wembley-clinching afternoon in May.
Ian Brown, hedgegrower
County 2 Huddersfield 2
What are your best and worst memories from previous games against Huddersfield?
The best memory probably comes from November 2004. We were bobbins in the league under Sammy Mac’s management but we made a real effort in the FA Cup (in this game anyway) and it showed what might have been that season.
Ash Williams lit County’s fuse with a rare headed goal very early on and two goals from Warren Feeney sent us in at half-time 3-0 up. However, the outstanding feature of the game for me was a terrific performance by much maligned and vastly underrated keeper Jamie Spencer who ensured County’s lead remained intact with a string of excellent saves. He was my man of the match by a mile – a rare highlight in a disappointing season. Town nicked a consolation goal as we were preparing to leave for home, but it did not matter a jot.
The worst experience was in 2010 when we were nearing the end of a disastrous season way adrift at the foot of League One. We knew we were already down but hoped for a “muck and nettles” rally from the Hatters, although it wasn’t to be. Feelings of utter dejection that had lingered throughout the season hit what I thought would be the nadir when former County hero from Jim’s time Anthony Pilkington scored for Town within a couple of minutes of the start, but worse was to follow.
We conceded again before the break, but held it at 2-0 until late on, before proceedings took another unfortunate turn. Under pressure from a welter of free-kicks County surrendered, tamely conceding three more goals plus a penalty at the death, continuing us on the road to hell in a handcart – a process begun with the senseless sacking of Jim Gannon by a rookie administrator and others of whom the least said the better.
Paul Thompson, Stockport County Supporters Co-operative
County Colts 14 Huddersfield Giants 21
Are you glad we’ve reverted back to 90 minutes or were you looking forward to the novelty of four half-hour quarters this afternoon?
On a personal level I was looking forward to the original proposed format just to see how it worked out. I assume it would make it quite interesting to see games within a game – plus an additional 30 minutes of football for the same price! Why not try something different in pre-season friendlies?
Also, I’m sure there would’ve been a lot of interest from our friends across the Welsh border to see if quarters really do work in the world of soccerball!
Talking of unusual formats we've got our new and unique 2023-24 season calendar available to purchase for the first time today. Yours for just £10 and all proceeds will help towards the final costs for the excellent Danny Bergara stature that is there for us to all marvel at. Not only that, it will keep you on track with who County are playing and when. You may even see yourself featured in it with our excellent Blue Army crowd photos! Available from the grassy knoll, where you can also join or renew your membership.
As for a score prediction, it’s a pre-season friendly. Does anybody really care?! (Hence why I’ve gone with the above…)
Jonathan Baker aka Geordie Hatter, The County Away Day Show
County 2 Huddersfield 2
What sort of music do you think Neil Warnock listens to?
I would surmise that in approximate reverse order of preference, the long-serving dugout inhabitant of note enjoys listening to the following.
3) Bands from his native Sheffield
The Human League's “Don’t You Want Me” may occasion unwanted recollection of the inevitable sackings accrued by the veteran supremo over a 16-club managerial reign, but I think that on balance he'd identify with the plucky former cocktail waitress whose upward career trajectory is immortalised in this famous number – even if “I was working as the manager of Gainsborough Trinity when I met you” doesn't so precisely scan as an alternative lyric to be sung along to for his personal amusement in the shower.
Honourable mentions within this Steel City section also for the Arctic Monkeys (“Mardy Bum” surely reflecting his sentiments following any of those serial sackings) and Pulp (“Happy Endings” recognising some impressive relegation zone escapes on the Yorkshireman's CV – most recently with today’s opponents just last season – in a feat the now 75-year-old Terriers boss ranks among his proudest career achievements).
2) Artists who share his anti-European leanings
Warnock has placed himself on record as an advocate for Brexit, using the platform of a post-match conference while at the helm of Cardiff in 2019 to let it be known that he “Couldn’t wait to leave”, adding for good and unambiguous measure “To hell with the rest of the world”. Precisely which tunes emanated from his stereo on the drive home that Saturday evening is not a matter of public record, but I'd bet good money they included a selection from fellow Brussels-bashers Morrissey (“Big Mouth Strikes Again” of course), The Who's Roger Daltrey (“Substitute” in nostalgic reminiscence towards the time when he could just pick one, and not half a dozen), and Ringo Starr (“Octopus's Garden”, for no reason other than it's a bloody great song, and would surely romp home in any nationwide referendum on Beatles album tracks written by their less prolific members/composers, and by a hefty majority).
1) Anything by Cat Stevens
At this point we depart from the realm of wild conjecture, and alight within the on-record reference to Mr Neil Warnock's actual real life musical tastes, as revealed by the man himself over the medium of Twitter, further to the proliferation of giant flags bearing his image which were proudly displayed by Huddersfield-supporting revellers amid the crowd at Glastonbury last month. Having witnessed this bizarre phenomenon while tuning into the festival coverage on the BBC, the wily veteran was moved to declare: “Did make me laugh seeing the one when Cat Stevens was on, and I knew all the words!”
All things considered then, the away dugout at EP today will be occupied by a man of musical taste as eclectic and well-travelled as his multi-hot-seated managerial CV. A prediction for the outcome of the 120… sorry, 90 minutes of friendly action? I've frankly no idea, but I'll favour a high-scoring draw. 2-2.
Andrew Barlow, Hatters Matters
County 1 Huddersfield 3
Along with myself, you’ve knocked around the local Sunday leagues for a number of years. What’s the closest goal you’ve seen to Sarcevic’s lob at Chester on Tuesday night?
The team I have helped to run over the last 25 years (and occasionally play for nowadays) have more often than not found themselves positioned within the lower echelons of the East Cheshire Football League, so the chance of seeing someone pull off a goal of Sarcevic’s quality is somewhat limited.
Don’t get me wrong, the standard of the league has improved an awful lot since I first started playing in the late 90s. Back then, most players spent the previous night enjoying one or two beers before getting up to play on a Sunday morning. Going 90 minutes without seeing someone throw up on the sideline was a bonus. Now, we get a number of the local junior teams entering the league as they make the transition from junior to open age football, and they are usually fairly competent having played together for so long, which means the standard is improving year on year.
We have had the misfortune of coming across some very good teams and individual players over the years, usually in the District Cup. But I’ll never forget facing Drum & Monkey in a league game when the league was on its knees and struggling for teams; they decided to merge all divisions into one, which was a nightmare year for us.
Drum & Monkey were a very good team back in the day. If they didn’t reach the final of the Macclesfield & District Cup there was something wrong. In that particular season we could only scramble together eight players for our league fixture and that pitiful number didn’t include a recognised goalkeeper. It ended badly. Very badly. We eventually lost 27-1 and to make matters worse one player decided he’d had enough of things and opted to bail on us at half-time. In hindsight we should have forfeited the fixture on the day and taken a financial hit in the form of a fine instead of taking a hit to our goal difference.
My team have conceded a lot of goals over the years (an awful lot) but most of the goals that have deserved a “polite” ripple of applause tend to have been long distance efforts which usually coincide with me donning the gloves in place of our regular keeper(s). We have of course been capable of scoring our own “worldies” as one current midfield player seems to go one better with each goal he scores from distance.
Not quite the same ilk as Sarce, but a special mention must go to one of our former players George Wheeler, who scored a cracking goal for us in a divisional cup final when he cushioned the ball on his chest before deftly volleying it past the keeper. George was one of our more technically gifted players with a good footballing brain but sadly he hung up his amateur boots way too early – if you’re reading this George what else is there to do on a Sunday morning other than play football?
Anyway, enough of my musings on Sunday football and back to what makes us all happy on a Saturday afternoon instead. I did tell you in my last piece that I’m awful at predictions. I said we’d beat Chester 3-0 in midweek so I was way out on that one. Depending what team Neil Warnock puts out against us I would expect to see us lose our first friendly of the summer as we face a Championship side. I’ll go for a 3-1 defeat this time and hope that I get it hopelessly wrong as usual.
Do your trainers need fixing?
If you’ve wrecked your trainers at a festival over the summer, simply give Mark a call at Blue Bee Customs and he’ll have them patched-up and ready to go again in no time (as you can see from the before and after photos above). Or you can just buy some new ones from his excellent selection.
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Photo of the day
BBC Radio 5 Live, Salford
Dave Thompson was at MediaCityUK this week, speaking to Tony Livesey on 5 Live about men’s mental health charity Mentell, as well as his charity challenge next month: 24 hours of punchbag work at Bell’s Gym in Altrincham. Many readers will be aware of Dave’s tragic story, and how inspiring he’s been for others over the last couple of years. The charity provides fantastic help and support, so if you can spare a few quid, please click on the link below. And it goes without saying, we all wish Dave the very best of luck for his challenge next month.
Click here to listen to Dave’s interview (from 1:48:50).
Today in SK
🥂 Food and drink
Lite bite meal deal at The Friary (SK3). Cod or haddock, served with chips, and a side of peas, curry or gravy. Plus tea or coffee. £9.95. 11.30am - 6.30pm.
Bottomless Saturday at TRUNK (SK7). Bottomless lunch £35 per person (includes 3 tapas dishes) from 12pm till 4pm. T&Cs apply and 90 minutes of selected bottomless drinks. Call 0161 222 9260 to book a table, and mention “The Scarf My Father Wore” to receive a 15% discount off the normal tapas menu.
🎤 Karaoke
Lee at The Nelson Tavern (SK1). 8pm - 1am.
⚽️ Live football
England take on Haiti this morning in the Women’s World Cup. Bask (SK1) will be showing the game on their big screens, and you can tuck into a delicious fry-up as well. Kick-off is at 10.30am.
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