“Looking back to our last meeting in 2011, I'm not sure many Crewe fans would have thought it would be 11 years till we played each other again”
Ahead of the first Cheshire derby since the day we were relegated to the Conference at Gresty Road, we speak to Stuart Price from The Railwaymen podcast
Friday 23 December 2022
Saturday 30 April 2011. The last time we played our Cheshire neighbours (not including the Cheshire Cup), and the day our relegation to the Conference was confirmed. I’ve seen us lose 6-0 a few times, I’ve witnessed other relegations, but that afternoon at Gresty Road is probably my worst in all my years following County. Horrible day, horrible atmosphere, horrible outcome. I feel I shouldn’t speak about that day any further, as I’ll put you off your Christmas dinner, but I think it’s fair to say we’re all hoping we can stick one on Crewe on Boxing Day. Ahead of the game, I’ve had a catch-up with Stuart Price, one of the hosts of The Railwaymen podcast.
With just two days to go until Christmas, why not treat the County fan in your life to ‘A Curry with Colin Woodthorpe’ - our first live event of 2023. It’s taking place 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 really easy 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
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.
Des Junior
How do Crewe fans feel about Stockport County?
For me, this was always one of the big ones when we played. I got on the train and watched it fill up with both sets of fans as we got closer to Stockport. Most Crewe fans look south-east to Stoke and Vale for their biggest rivalries, but I always enjoyed the train trip to Stockport.
It’s been a while, but County and Crewe have met 151 times over the years. Any particular memories from previous encounters?
Not a specific memory, but any time Kevin Francis was in the County line-up when I was a youngster, he seemed to cause a lot of problems.
The 4-3 defeat at the end of 2008-09 the week before we were relegated to League Two still hurts.
Looking back to our last meeting in 2011, I'm not sure many Crewe fans would have thought it would be 11 years till we played each other again.
Due to the weather, County haven’t played since 7 December. In my opinion, in terms of momentum, the postponements have been a bad thing. After winning 5-0 at Hartlepool in our last league game, I think we’d have had a great chance of adding another six points to our tally against struggling Rochdale and Gillingham. Crewe haven’t played since 2 December, with games against Leyton Orient and Walsall called off. Do you think your 24-day break will have been good or bad for the team?
I've enjoyed the time off from podcasting to be honest. I can't imagine we'd have gotten anything from those two games, and after last season it's hard to come up with original ways to discuss another loss. The 24-day break may have done some wonders for the team in terms of shape, set-piece moves, and morale, but I don't think any of our long-term injuries have actually returned, so in that respect, there’s no benefit.
As a supporter of the team known as the Railwaymen, what’s your thoughts on all the rail strikes at the moment?
I come from a family of railway workers - dad, grandad, cousins - so whilst it’s going to have a negative impact on the turnout for Boxing Day, if they think it's in the best interest, then I'm happy to go along with them.
Lee Bell has recently been appointed as your new manager. How’s he doing?
The full answer to this would fill a book. All I'll say at this stage is I had the pleasure to interview Lee for the podcast and he was a thoroughly nice guy, who couldn't do enough to help us out, a few idiots with a microphone. There isn't a Crewe fan out there who cares about the club more than he does. So I really hope it's a success.
Best and worst memories following Crewe?
I have an unfortunate habit of missing big Crewe games, having missed both play-off final wins at Wembley. Getting promoted back to the Championship at QPR was a great day out, but winning the club’s first trophy at Wembley in the Johnstone’s Paint final was something I'll never forget.
As for worst, I've seen us lose 6-1 in the Championship at home to Coventry, but that wouldn't be it. It would just be the prolonged times, like at the moment, where we’re languishing in the bottom half of League Two, with seemingly no way to get out of it.
Crewe’s last 10 seasons
2012-13: League One, 13th
2013-14: League One, 19th
2014-15: League One, 20th
2015-16: League One, 24th (R)
2016-17: League Two, 17th
2017-18: League Two, 15th
2018-19: League Two, 12th
2019-20: League Two, 2nd (P)
2020-21: League One, 12th
2021-22: League One, 24th (R)
What’s a typical Christmas like in Crewe?
I was born in Crewe, but I grew up in Holmes Chapel on the great Crewe-Stockport train line, so I haven't experienced too many Christmases in Crewe. However, I can say that if you visit my Granny (who lives in Crewe) on Christmas Day you’ll be having a controversial Yorkshire pudding with your Christmas dinner! She's forgiven though, having been born just outside Sheffield.
We’ve not lost a Boxing Day game since 2015. Which Crewe players are most likely to end that run?
The best players we have at the moment all specialise in keeping the ball out of our own net; the problem we have is scoring goals, so you might keep that record. This isn't helped by having our best two strikers out injured, possibly for the rest of the season. If pressed then I'd say Dan Agyei, but his overall output isn't something I'd be confident to call upon game after game at the moment. A goal from a midfielder would be great, something we haven't managed yet this season.
What’s your prediction for Boxing Day?
0-0. We've got some good defenders, an excellent goalkeeper and not much else currently.
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Matt Walker ‘eats’ the World Cup
🇩🇪 No 24 - Germany (Katzenjammers Bierkeller & Restaurant) 🇩🇪
“A big crowd for a big game against Spain. Enjoyed Paulaner Dunkel beers, half a pretzel and an intriguing match. My 156/1 on four 'home' wins didn't quite come in, but still quite a Sunday with Costa Rica, Morocco and Croatia all prevailing.”
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.
Des Junior’s Great Big Review of 2022: Part 7 - July
Saturday 30: Barrow (H) 2-3
Sometime in the late 19th century, a writer from Dublin by the name of Oscar Wilde decreed that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Early in the 21st century, a writer from Stockport by the name of Des Junior is moving sarcasm one step up the ladder, and placing memes on the bottom rung.
Memes are shit aren’t they? Granted, you may occasionally find a rare nugget of mirth, amid the online slurry of detritus, to provide a scarce moment of merriment in this modern world of Covid tests, climate emergencies and £9 tubs of Lurpak. But more often than not, memes are about as funny as an ingrown toenail, existing solely to further dumb down our younger generations. With every meme that enters cyberspace, you can sense the likes of Oscar Wilde and other intelligentsia of his time turning in their graves.
I have a prophecy of Alan Carr replacing Jeremy Paxman on University Challenge in a few years’ time, with contestants answering a starter for 10 on the latest Love Island winner or the components of a BLT sandwich, rather than Pascal’s triangle or Beethoven’s symphonies. And if you think I’m being dramatic, please bear in mind we’re living in a country where 7m people actually chose to watch a recent festive edition of Mrs Brown’s Boys; where a recent poll of 25 to 34 year olds found that 23% of them don’t know how to work a washing machine; and where our recent prime minister had a tendency to randomly start shouting words like pork and cheese, like a deranged London market trader, or an oddball on the 192.
As a writer whose aim is to entertain readers, I am of course contradicting myself by choosing to talk about memes. (Or have I simply been dumbed down beyond repair?) But as I woke up at the crack of dawn on the morning of Saturday 30 July 2022, a meme was the first thing that popped into my head. You’ll have probably seen it yourself on social media - it’s the one with a couple of photos depicting the contrast between a Saturday morning and a Monday morning; the fact that the latter requires summoning up every last ounce of strength in your body to make it to your desk for 9am, but with the former you can bounce out of bed with the sprightliness of a teenager and crack open your first can of lager before the postman’s finished his breakfast.
I was up extremely early on the morning of County’s first game back in the Football League, but many others were up even earlier, as my WhatsApp groups were already bristling with energy and excitement.
Unfortunately, that excitement had been extinguished just half an hour into the new season with County 3-0 down. With former Hatter Ben Whitfield running riot, and County’s defence looking about as organised as Boris Johnson’s hair, there were fears Barrow could run up a cricket score. But County fought back in the second half. Sarcevic and Madden got us back in it, and a dramatic point looked to be on the cards with the referee pointing to the spot in stoppage time, until he saw the linesman’s offside flag raised. Not to be, but after 11 years away, our first game back in the Football League in front of 10,011 was still a special day.
Next Time, on Des Junior’s Great Big Review of 2022: The 2015-16 Premier League winners head for SK3 in the Carabao Cup. Beats Dorking Wanderers in the FA Trophy, eh?
Stockport photo of the day
Somewhere along the A6
Two girls take it in turns to share the items in a pack of Dairylea Lunchables - possibly the most civilised thing I’ve ever seen on the 192.