Des Junior’s Great Big Review of 2022: Part 1 - January
Might as well do one of these… it’s not been a bad 12 months has it?
Saturday 17 December 2022
Good morning County fans! A very warm welcome to everyone joining us for Saturday’s edition of The Scarf My Father Wore. I’m not going to lie, with a period of nearly three weeks without a County game (from Charlton to Crewe), which could be even longer if Jack Frost doesn’t piss off sharpish, I’ve been struggling to think of content ideas in order to bring you this daily pile of nonsense. So I’ve done what lots of other editors would do in my position, and decided to do a good old review of the year. There’s 12 days of content ticked off for you, just like that, as the late great Tommy Cooper would say.
The weather is playing havoc with the fixture list at the moment, but one County event that won’t need a pitch inspection is ‘A Curry with Colin Woodthorpe’ - our first live event in 2023. It’s at Last Monsoon in Stockport on Monday 30 January at 7.30pm. The restaurant is pretty much next to the bus station, train station and motorway, so it’s a piece of piss to get to. We’ve sold 50% of the tickets already; hopefully we can shift the rest and have a cracking night with one of Gary Megson’s first County signings ahead of our first season in Division One in 1997-98. Colin stayed at Edgeley Park for all of our five seasons in the First Division, and he’s got some excellent tales to share with us.
You’ll also get poppadoms, mixed starters, curry, rice and naan bread. As well as a full colour souvenir programme. All for just £20. Fancy it? Send me a text or give me a call on 07816 111150, or you can email desmondhinks@hotmail.co.uk (If you’re looking for a last-minute stocking filler idea for the County fan in your life, by the way, this would make a perfect gift!)
Finally, today’s edition is sponsored by The Site Supply Company. A big thank you to Steve Cree. Check out hivis.net if you need any workwear or high visibility clothing, and get 10% off all orders with the code TSMFW.
Make sure you stay safe in these icy conditions today. And whether you’re watching Croatia v Morocco (22%), going to another game (14%), Christmas shopping (14%) or getting pissed somewhere (50%), I hope you have a pleasant alternative Saturday! (I did a poll on Twitter yesterday after the game was postponed.)
Des Junior
Tuesday 11: Altrincham (A) 4-1
Saturday 15: Larkhall Athletic (H) 3-0
Tuesday 18: Eastleigh (H) 3-0
Saturday 22: Dagenham & Redbridge (A) 2-0
Tuesday 25: Maidenhead United (H) 3-0
Saturday 29: Barnet (A) 5-0
“Mark my words, we’re going to win the league.”
On Tuesday 11 January 2022, I uttered those words. Now, I know I was pissed, but I definitely said it. If you don’t believe me, I have witnesses. Actually, those witnesses were also pissed - members of the Stockport Sippers Society who, like me, were in Altrincham around lunchtime for a 7.45pm kick-off. (It was definitely a 10-pint day.) To prove I’m telling the truth, I’ll be honest and admit I can’t recall whether I made my Nostradamus-esque prediction before or after our easy 4-1 win at Moss Lane. But I definitely said it. If you still don’t believe me and you want some beef, come and see me at our next home game and I’ll chuck a cup of Christmas dinner all over you. (That’s a hilarious callback I’ve just made to County’s culinary announcement yesterday, in case you missed it. Hey, the beef works on multiple levels as well, doesn’t it? Who knew The Scarf My Father Wore had so many layers.)
Anyway, back to WA15. Even if I’d made my title-winning prediction after the game, we still weren’t even in the play-offs, with the likes of Halifax, Chesterfield, Notts County and Deadpool all above us. But the victory over Alty was just so, so easy, and after the Dave Challinor fuse had been lit in the two games with Bolton, I genuinely felt we were going to do something special.
That Altrincham game really was a walk in the park by the way. Sarcevic opened the scoring after six minutes, Collar made it two just before the break, with Madden scoring just after it, and Croasdale put us 4-0 up still with over 20 minutes to play.
We were back at Edgeley Park four days later for our FA Trophy fourth round tie. We’ve only been back in the Football League for five minutes, but having already played three current or former Premier League teams in cup competitions this season - Leicester, Swindon and Charlton - it already feels such a long time ago that we went into cup draws with teams such as Dogshit Town, Country Bumpkins and Larkhall Athletic. The latter, three divisions below us, were our latest opponents on the road to Wembley, comfortably sent packing back to Somerset courtesy of a Connor Jennings brace and Ryan Johnson’s first County goal.
Another easy Tuesday night victory came next, this time at home to Eastleigh (3-0 - own goal, Madden, Jennings) before a trip to Dagenham & Redbridge, live on BT Sport. With the Hatters up to third after the Eastleigh win, County fans were certainly starting to believe, and the rest of the footballing world watching the live game from Victoria Road were forced to sit up and pay attention as well, as Ash Palmer and Will Collar put us 2-0 up after just five minutes in London or Essex or wherever Dagenham is. Still third, but now just two points behind new leaders Chesterfield.
With the Spireites not in action, and Halifax losing, County went top of the National League the following Tuesday. Having comfortably won all four games of 2022 so far, County’s clash with Maidenhead at Edgeley Park wasn’t so straightforward in the first half, with us failing to register a shot on target. But we found our scoring boots after the break, as Sarcevic, Croasdale and Rooney - with his final County goal before going back to Barrow a few days later - took us to non-league’s summit.
That’s where we remained at the end of January, thanks to our biggest ever victory at Barnet. It took us until first-half stoppage time to break the deadlock through Will Collar, but after the break, shooting towards the 769 County fans who had made the long trip to London or Watford or wherever Barnet is, Dave Challinor’s men ran riot. Liam Hogan, Connor Jennings and two from Ryan Johnson wrapped up a 5-0 win. Six games in January, six wins. And that was only the beginning…
Next Time, on Des Junior’s Great Big Review of 2022: There’s a dramatic night in store at Edgeley Park in February, as Chesterfield clinch the National League title with a 2-2 draw.
Enjoy 10% off all orders with The Site Supply Company
To celebrate their 20th birthday, The Site Supply Company are offering The Scarf My Father Wore readers 10% off all orders until 31 December. Simply visit hivis.net and use our exclusive discount code TSMFW at checkout. For any workwear, corporate wear, high visibility clothing or PPE, The Site Supply Company have all your needs covered in one place, with their online range of 16,000 items. Not only that, but you can have your logos professionally printed and embroidered as well, with their in-house branding service.
Matt Walker ‘eats’ the World Cup
🇵🇱 No 18 - Poland (Mamuśka Polish Kitchen and Bar) 🇵🇱
“I was genuinely hungry before Poland’s match against Saudi Arabia. This certainly wasn't the case after five flavours of pierogi (Polish dumplings) with sour cream and bacon, bigos Polish stew (with pork and sauerkraut), pickles, salad and coffee infused with chocolate hazelnut vodka. I was twice mistaken for a Pole by the super-efficient staff!”
One of my favourite football books is Matt Walker’s Europe United, in which the author and Fulham fan spends a whole season taking in a game in all 55 UEFA countries. Well he’s back with another fun challenge, to experience Qatar 2022 in restaurants and bars across London which represent all 32 competing nations. Matt has kindly allowed me to use his photos and I’ll bring you one each day, giving you a tasty flavour of the World Cup, in more ways than one.
Today in SK
🕺 Christmas party nights in the nightclub at Bredbury Hall have always been popular, and there’s just 13 tickets left for tonight’s at the time of writing. Pop along, and you might even get a vodka and Coke off the editor… Tickets £15.
⚽️ County v Gillingham has fallen victim to the cold weather. But if you still want your football fix today, we’re quietly confident Croatia v Morocco will still be going ahead, as you don’t tend to get many frozen pitches in the desert. Catch the World Cup third/fourth play-off from 3pm on the 75” screens at Bask. Then, DJ Gareth Brooks is on from 7pm till 2am.
The only Christmas gift guide you need this year
8 sleeps to go! The Scarf My Father Wore have curated a beautiful Christmas gift guide this year, from independent businesses across the UK. Have a look at the guide if you need any last-minute stocking fillers.