“Northampton are going down,” says Northampton fan
It’s not very often one of our writers makes a prediction of relegation for their own team, but Cobblers fan Tom Reed is not a confident chap ahead of the new campaign
Tuesday 9 July 2024
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STOCKPORT COUNTY PREDICTION GAME 2024-25: Predict County’s top scorer, final league position, cup performances etc. £10 to enter. 40% of the pot to the winner, 30% to second, 20% to third, and 10% to Mentell. If you’d like to enter, drop us a message or an email.
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Northampton supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Tuesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
Northampton are rather good at winning promotion from League Two. They’ve done it three times in the last nine seasons. But unfortunately, they’re not very good at staying in League One. On two of those occasions, they’ve dropped back into the fourth tier within a season or two, and Tom Reed from What A Load Of Cobblers feels his club will be doing it for a third time this year.
EURO 2024 – DAY 26
8pm: Spain v France 🇪🇸🇫🇷
Here’s a list of the best places to watch today’s games…
Bask (SK1). All the action on two 75” screens.
Thread (SK1).
Crown (SK2). Buy a pint of Helles today and you’ll be in with a chance of winning 52 free pints! There’s also a special menu throughout the Euros.
Armoury (SK3).
Reddish Working Men’s Club (SK5). There’s four screens in the games room, a new projector in the lower games room, and a screen in the middle room where families and children can enjoy the match. Check out the Special Offer Wheel which will be offering a variety of great deals before, during and after each game.
Railway (SK6).
Marple Tavern (SK6). Food served at half-time such as burgers, hot dogs, pizza and chips.
Steelworks (SK6). Games shown downstairs (sound off) and upstairs (sound on).
Shady Oak (SK7). Food served during the games from the matchday menu. Pick up a loyalty card to receive a discount on certain drinks.
Three Tunnes (SK7). Buy a pint of Helles today and you’ll be in with a chance of winning 52 free pints! There’s also a special menu throughout the Euros.
Cross Keys (SK8). Bitter £2.30 a pint all day. Plus, discounts on certain lagers between 12pm and 6pm.
Railway (SK9). TVs in every room, and outside. Discounted doubles on spirits and 10% off four pint jugs.
Flute & Firkin (SK12). Call 01625 879181 to book a table, and quote “The Scarf My Father Wore” to receive 10% off your first round of drinks. (Not applicable for walk-ins.)
Friendship Inn (SK13). Five big screen TVs with surround sound, including one outside in the beer garden.
A big thank you to ASAP Clearances for sponsoring today’s edition.
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: 158.42 miles
Total steps so far: 254,782
Total raised so far: £1,909
Total completed streets so far: 347 (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
Last win at our place: Saturday 14 January 2023, League Two, 2-0
Last win at their place: Friday 18 April 2003, Division Two, 3-0
Today’s Sky Bet title/promotion odds: Us – 18/1 11/2 Them – 80/1 25/1
Top story in the local news today: Doctor who self-administered drug and worked under the influence suspended
The general election is finally over and done with. What’s happened in Northampton? And which person at your football club do you think would make the best prime minister?
Northampton North and Northampton South have both turned red.
The Tories have been an absolute disaster for Northampton and its football club. It was a Tory council and a certain ex-Tory MP who oversaw the £10m loan for stadium works at Sixfields in the missing millions scandal.
It was a Labour council in the 90s that actually got Sixfields built by selling the municipal bus company.
Let’s go with Oxford United fan and TV pundit extraordinaire Jim Rosenthal for PM. He’d make about as much sense as being on our board.
Nigel Farage has had cement and a milkshake chucked over him recently. If he was to do a lap of Sixfields on a Saturday afternoon, what would Northampton fans be most likely to throw at him?
Would probably get a fair amount of support in honesty. A few expletives from old anti-Nazi League stalwart Slugger at the back of the West Stand.
If you had to compare the ownership and daily operations of your club to a political party, which would it be?
Count Binface. Nowt against them but hard to take too seriously.
On and off the pitch, what do you think your club’s manifesto should say for the next 12 months?
Champions! (Next season…)
Right, that’s enough political stuff. Next question. “We’re all from Stockport, who the fuck are you…?”
A radical that wants a club that you don’t get grief for supporting in the pubs of your own town.
Which team do you most want to beat this season?
Peterborough every time.
Which Northampton player is most likely to end up in League One’s team of the season?
Sam Hoskins, the most vanilla player that has graced the lower leagues but always scores important goals. If he was a beer it would be Carling, if he was a Findus crispy pancake flavour it would be cheese.
County haven’t been to Northampton in the league since September 2022. In just one paragraph, sum up everything that’s happened at your place since then.
Promotion and clinging on in League One. Now in dodgy second season territory. As the Coca-Cola spinners of yo-yo clubs, the string is starting to extend.
Northampton away. I think of Alan Carr, shoes, and one of those fairly crap new grounds with nothing nearby except a retail park. Do I need to educate myself further, or is that fairly accurate?
Fairly accurate. Alan Carr’s dad can be seen at Cobblers regularly, the club he managed to Division Four winning success in 1986-87 with legends such as Richard Hill, Trevor Morley and Eddie McGoldrick.
If you’re feeling flush head over to the Church’s or Crockett and Jones’ factory shops in the town for some quality footwear.
Sixfields was built at the wrong time and the all-seater does nothing for the atmosphere but head into the town centre for a few pints and you’ll have a good time. Recommend Shipmans on the Drapery as one of the old school pubs.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Stockport County?
Hats.
Rotherham play at the New York Stadium. NFL star Tom Brady is involved at Birmingham. Wrexham are plastered all over Netflix or Nickelodeon or whatever it is. League One has a bit of an American flavour this season. What’s the most American thing about Northampton?
Well, ex-NBA star Shaq has links to our chairman and even did a video congratulating us on promotion one year. Shaq seeming to call the chairman Kevin instead of Kelvin in the video and not coming to a single game suggests his love for the Cobblers may have been passing.
I’ve been watching Football Cops on Channel 4 recently, featuring Sunderland fans kicking down barriers after the game at Coventry, and loads of little Crewe rapscallions playing up at home to Walsall. On a scale of 1 to 10, how naughty are Northampton fans these days, and how safe will our lot be when we make the trip to Northamptonshire this season?
4/10. I think it’s like anywhere, if you go and make a show of yourself there will be people willing to equally make a show of themselves.
Who or what needs to be top of Northampton’s shopping list before the new season starts in August?
Some quality capable of keeping us in the league. Recruitment so far has been underwhelming. As usual it’s about stopping the seemingly inevitable drop into League Two.
In a county of 750,000 with no competition remotely near the Football League, Cobblers should be pulling in more than 6,000 home fans. The final completion of the East Stand with less than 200 extra seats doesn’t look like it will do much to change things.
That’s one of the beauties of Cobblers: go away for 10 years and it will be the same when you come back.
What’s your early predictions in terms of the promotion and relegation places?
Top four: Birmingham, Huddersfield, Rotherham and County.
Bottom four: Cambridge, Reading, Northampton and Crawley.
Click on the links below to read the other 2024-25 season previews we’ve published so far.
Birmingham / Blackpool / Bolton / Charlton / Crawley / Exeter / Huddersfield / Leyton Orient / Lincoln / Rotherham / Shrewsbury / Wigan / Wrexham / Wycombe
Give ASAP Clearances a call if you’re having a clearout this summer
Some clearouts make you feel sad, such as County’s this summer with numerous title winners leaving the club. (Although I completely get the fact we’re now building a squad to take us to the Championship.)
Other clearouts will make you feel happy, though, such as getting rid of all that clutter from your house, or your garden, or even your office. ASAP Clearances are a fully licensed waste management company dealing in rubbish clearances, as well as removals for any type of property.
If you’ve got anything that needs shifting, call 07733 229957 or email asapclearances@yahoo.com.
Photo of the day
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
I’m a big fan of Blackpool’s new away kit, sponsored by the town’s biggest tourist attraction. I think County should do the same next season with The Pineapple (P3) on Castle Street, with splashes of vomit and pork scratchings on the shirt.
Today in SK
🎬 Cinema
One film at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 (15) at 4.30pm. Click here for tickets.
🍺 Food and drink
10% discount on food for NHS card holders at The Shady Oak (SK7).
Bitter £2.30 a pint all day at The Cross Keys (SK8). Plus, discounts on certain lagers between 12pm and 6pm.
If you’re simply in the mood for a couple of pints today, pop along to one of our featured venues such as Bask (SK1), The Nelson Tavern (SK1), The Petersgate Tap (SK1), Thread (SK1), The Crown (SK2), The Dog & Partridge (SK2), The Armoury (SK3), Reddish Working Men’s Club (SK5), The Crown Inn (SK6), The Marple Tavern (SK6), The Railway (SK6), The Steelworks (SK6), The Three Tunnes (SK7), The Railway (SK9), Flute & Firkin (SK12) or The Friendship (SK13).
100 random grounds that County have played at
#60 – The Valley, Charlton
Last visit: We’ve not been to The Valley in the league for over 14 years, but we did visit a couple of years ago in the FA Cup. November 2022, round two. Chris Hussey gave us an early lead, Charlton went 2-1 up before the break, before Myles Hippolyte earned a replay for Dave Challinor’s men with an equaliser seven minutes into injury time.
Support our sponsors this summer if you require any of the following!
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🐈 Cat Flaps: That Cat Flap Company Ltd
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🐶 Dog Trainer: Forever Home Dog Training
🚘 Driving School: CFN School of Motoring
🏡 Fencing: Heald Green Fencing
💷 Financial Services: The Mortgage Mill
👷♀️ Handyman: Apt Property Maintenance
💻 IT Services: Bridge Computer Services
🪚 Joinery: SAW Contracts Ltd
🔑 Locksmith: APL Locksmiths Ltd
💪 Male Weight Loss: MAN v FAT
🖌 Painter & Decorator: BGM Decorators
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🧱 Plastering: DT Plastering Services and Damp Proofing Specialists
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🚚 Removals: ASAP Clearances
☀️ Solar Panels: Malbern Solar Ltd
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🧰 Vehicle Repairs: C J Motors Stockport
⚖️ Weight Loss: Slimming World Reddish & Bredbury with Shlean