County v Peterborough

No need to wait until the King’s Speech for something posh this Christmas, we’ve got Peterborough paying us a visit tonight

Dec 20, 2024

Friday 20 December 2024

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.

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

I’d like to start by dedicating today’s edition to Ian Lusby, whose funeral took place yesterday. Please can everyone join in with a minute’s applause on the 65 minute mark tonight in his memory.

Ian was a big fan of The Scarf My Father Wore, along with his son Daniel, both enjoying our daily content. Sadly, Ian had cancer, but was recently still following County home and away, with his son, and now with his grandchildren too, who are also big County fans. “The Scarf My Father Wore” was the first reading from Daniel at the funeral yesterday, after Ian passed by Edgeley Park one last time in the morning.

Our thoughts are with Daniel and his family at this time. Obviously a very difficult time of year, but we’d like to wish Daniel and the kids a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And here’s to three points for County tonight, in memory of Ian. 💙

Of course, we can’t guarantee a County victory (although we have won our last three at home in the league without conceding), but Russ Johnson, Nick Lee, Jonathan Baker, Ian Brown and John Giles are all backing Dave Challinor’s men to pick up maximum points tonight, which would keep us in the top five on Christmas Day (and the top four if Huddersfield lose at Cambridge).

Today’s edition is sponsored by A Star Clean and Forever Home Dog Training. A big thank you to Patrick and Gareth.

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: 192.73 miles

Total steps so far: 311,804

Total raised so far: £2,192

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

Russ Johnson, The Scarf Bergara Wore

County 3 Peterborough 1

After that awful second half at Stevenage, which player do you think is most at risk of dropping to the bench tonight?

I'm not sure dropping anyone specifically to the bench is necessary. We don't become a bad team overnight and it's always been accepted that we're going to have good, bad and ugly days in this first season back in League One. I'm expecting Chally to pick the best 11 available at the time, as always.

➡️ Russ is part of The Scarf Bergara Wore team, hosting live County podcasts every Wednesday at 8pm. Click here for links.

Nick Lee, SK3 TV

County 3 Peterborough 2

Whatever happens tonight, you're guaranteed to be top of our inaugural prediction league on Christmas Day. Is the title race already over?

We’re not resting on our laurels for one second. We have the confidence to keep going. But we're very aware that it's a long season and anything is possible. All we can do is do our job and hope everything else falls into place.

And other clichés.

➡️ Nick’s one of the co-hosts of SK3 TV, a new podcast for the 2024-25 season, with live episodes every Monday at 8pm. Click here for links.

Jonathan Baker, The County Away Day Show

County 2 Peterborough 0

The Posh are in town tonight. Who’s the poshest person you’ve ever met, and how posh are you on a scale of 1 to 10?

I was posting my Christmas cards while considering your question, Des, and have found that not a single one of them is addressed to a member of the English nobility, so I’ve needed to cast more deeply and globally into my receding memory banks in search of a verifiably elite-level posh person with whom I may have made acquaintance.

The nearest I've come up with is a young Kenyan man I briefly shared a rented house with in Longsight during the mid-90s, who claimed, rather vaguely now that I come to think of it, to be the son of an ‘African Prince'. He certainly possessed plentiful airs and graces, and cut a startling figure across the mean streets of M13, dressed in his fine robes and paying for his weekly service wash in the launderette with his father's American Express Gold card. And of course we all know that habitual recourse to the premier laundry service is the very surest sign of lofty social standing, even more so than wearing an actual crown. Oh he was posh all right. His name was Paul. Prince Paul.

Your second question is also complicated, by the subtly-rendered vagaries of the English class system, as well as my family's mostly unintentional meandering up and down its various snakes and ladders over the last several generations.

Essentially, we were among the poshest people on our council estate, but this was not saying much in a neighbourhood where if you had locked yourself out and your mam wasn't back from work, you could knock on your next door neighbour's door and they would shin up your drainpipe and gain entry for you within seven seconds flat, on account of them being famous local petty criminals. So I might have thought we were slightly posh in comparison.

But then I went away to university and met actual middle class people whose families did things like play rugby and breed dogs and live in Surrey, sometimes all three at once, and I realised I wasn't posh at all, far from it. Also, although I may have occasionally across my lifespan opted for the service wash at the launderette, this would be on special occasions only, and I would always pay in cash. Overall, I'd say I'm a 4 out of 10.

➡️ Jonathan, aka Geordie Hatter, hosts The County Away Day Show on selected Saturday mornings during the season, when the Hatters are on the road. All episodes can be found at the-geordie-hatter.mixlr.com.

Ian Brown, All Things Stockport County

County 3 Peterborough 1

Best and worst memories from previous encounters with Peterborough?

Well, it’s a no-brainer as far as the worst memory is concerned: the 1992 Division Three play-off final at Wembley.

I say it’s my worst memory, and it is, but the day also displayed just how committed and gloriously supportive County fans can be at times. Peterborough had significantly more supporters at the game than County and they very definitely influenced the officials at vital moments, winning the match for Posh in my view. Outnumbered as they were though, I was massively impressed by the constant wall of supportive sound coming from County fans.

It was a tense affair for sure, with both teams having their moments, but the first half was goalless. It stayed that way until seven minutes into the second half, when County conceded a corner. We looked under threat from this as Ken Charlery headed the ball against the crossbar, but it bounced on the line and was cleared. We’d escaped, but the liner signalled a ‘goal’ – an utterly incorrect decision that left County supporters seething at the injustice.

We were a goal down, but still roared on by over 10,000 County fans. Danny Bergara’s men pulled out all the stops, and Big Kev headed home a dramatic equaliser with just three minutes to go.

Perhaps we should have played more conservatively after the equaliser, but this was County, Danny’s County, and they wanted to win. However, the day ended in the unhappiest way possible. With County attacking, a punt out from the back by Posh found Charlery, who beat Neil Edwards with the kind of finish he never went close to producing playing for us five years later!

Fast forward to 2007 and Jim Gannon’s County team put together a Football League record of nine consecutive victories without conceding a goal. One of those was at London Road on a crisp January afternoon.

Wayne Hennessey, County’s young keeper, made several vital saves to deny the Posh early on, before County’s greater drive and energy paid off, first with a typical finish by Anthony Elding and then via a superbly struck free-kick from Michael Rose.

County were not flattered by the 2-0 half-time lead, but despite their dominance continuing, we had to wait until deep into added time for another goal when substitute Adam Griffin powered home a drive from just inside the box. That was a great day out for sure, and there would be many more from County in the season that followed!

➡️ Ian follows County home and away, producing detailed match reports every week, along with lots of other great content. Head over to hedgegrower.blogspot.com.

John Giles, Stockport County Supporters Co-operative

County 3 Peterborough 1

You had your AGM recently. For any County fans who haven’t seen it, give us the new board line-up.

From left to right, the new Co-op board includes Dave Marchbank (chair), Paul Thompson (finance), John Giles (vice chair), Cath Shanley (independent secretary), Dave Wetters (membership) and John Bilsbury (communications). Terry Arnold has joined the board too.

➡️ Joining the Stockport County Supporters Co-operative costs £12 a year for adults, £3 for those aged 16-25 or £1 for under-16s. Click here for further details.

Give those carpets of yours a clean

A Star Clean offer professional carpet cleaning for £35 a room, or three rooms for £90, with sofa cleaning starting at £50. If you’ve had a spring clean recently, give your carpets a little TLC as well.

➡️ Give Patrick a call on 07395 642066 or email patglee78@icloud.com.

Introduce your dog to the wonderful world of scent work

Any dog can be trained to detect scents. If it’s something you’re interested in learning more about with your own dog, Gareth from Forever Home Dog Training is hosting a new course in the new year. It’s a six-week course, as part of the introductory bronze level.

➡️ Visit foreverhomedogtraining.com for further details.

Photo of the day

Edgeley Park, Stockport

What’s that? You want the most festive feel-good photo known to man. That’s undeniably a snap of Kevin Francis and Santa Claus. Enjoy!

Today in SK

🎬 Cinema

Two films at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) this evening. Paddington In Peru (PG) at 6pm, followed by Love Actually (15) at 8.30pm.

➡️ Click here for tickets.

💿 DJ

DJ Matty at The Crown Inn (SK6). 8pm.

🍺 Food and drink

Pop in for a pint at Heaton Hops (SK4), CAMRA Pub of the Year for Stockport and South Manchester.

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

A number of venues are featured on The Scarf My Father Wore such as AMP (SK1), The Nelson Tavern (SK1), The Crown (SK2), The Steelworks (SK6), The Three Tunnes (SK7), Flute & Firkin (SK12) and The Ram’s Head (SK12). Support them this festive season by popping in for a few drinks.

🎤 Karaoke

The Alexandra (SK3).

🎸 Live music

Pete Maclaine and the Clan at The Dog & Partridge (SK2). 8pm.

Random photos of County players at other clubs

#78 – John Keeley, Brighton

John Keeley (who also played for Peterborough at the end of his career) made 138 league appearances for Brighton in the late 80s, helping the Seagulls win promotion to the Second Division in 1987-88. Later signing for County, he made 27 appearances for the Hatters, including a couple of inspired performances against York in 1993-94 as Danny Bergara’s men kept clean sheets in both legs of the play-off semi-final.