Friday 10 November 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Bolton – Tuesday 14 November, 7.30pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Swindon – Saturday 11 November, 3pm
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Swindon supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Friday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
Firstly, a huge congratulations to Dave Challinor, who earlier today was named as League Two’s Manager of the Month for October. That’s usually a curse, but it didn’t do us any harm when Chally picked up the award for September, so fingers crossed our extraordinary winning run can continue in Wiltshire this weekend.
Aldershot managed to score seven at the County Ground last weekend. Ian Brown, Nick Lee and Paul Thompson are all backing the Hatters to stick another two or three in the back of the Swindon net tomorrow afternoon.
Today’s edition is sponsored by Colourtone. As always, a big thank you to Paul.
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: 46.68 miles
Total steps so far: 83,302
Total raised so far: £925
Total completed streets so far: 24 (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
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, ahead of tomorrow’s trip to the County Ground – a place we were beaten on our first seven visits (scoring only once) but somewhere that’s been a more happy hunting ground in recent years, losing just three of our last eleven.
Ian Brown, hedgegrower
Swindon 1 County 3
Best and worst memories from previous games against Swindon?
Back in October 2003 there were 277 travelling County supporters in a crowd of over 7,000 at the County Ground. Nobody gave us a chance, especially the bookies, and I snatched their insulting 5/1 odds in an (angry) instant.
Tommy Mooney was the hub of everything on the park for the Robins and got a gilt-edged opportunity to give them the lead as Swindon were awarded a first-half penalty. He rarely missed one, but 18-year-old James Spencer flung himself to his right to push the ball to safety. Simply fantastic!
That was not the last of Spencer’s heroics that day as a series of diving saves kept County in the game. Smack on 45 minutes, however, Mooney took Steve Robinson’s pass and smashed the ball home to give Swindon a half-time lead.
That might have finished County off, but a welter of brave saves by Spencer thereafter set up an unlikely County win. Stuart Barlow equalised on 51 minutes before Aaron Wilbraham won it with an absolute belter three minutes from time.
The match is also remembered for an incident midway through the game when a missile was chucked into the away end by a surly local. It was a sausage (with onions and ketchup) but County fans were annoyed to see that despite the Swindon Sausage Hurler being observed closely throughout by stewards he was not apprehended. Thankfully Alby’s late winner banished this unsavoury memory from County supporters’ minds!
The worst experience was in 2009-10 when County were struggling at the bottom of League One. Just 86 County supporters made the Tuesday night trip, including 20 on the Flyer who had the BBC for company.
The bleak weather mirrored County’s prospects and within four minutes of the start the Hatters were a goal down as Danny Ward scored for the Robins. Billy Paynter added a second, but we perked up a bit when Greg Tansey nicked one for County just on half-time.
The game was retrievable at 2-1 but despite a great rally by County, further goals from Simon Ferry and another from the ever-lively Paynter took the game away from us.
At the end of the game, the 86 still cheered the team off, but the return journey on the 20-seater “Mini Flyer” was not for the faint hearted. (The Beeb made their own way back.)
Nick Lee, The Scarf Bergara Wore
Swindon 1 County 3
Swindon were 7-0 down last Saturday, before scoring four goals themselves. How on earth does Dave Challinor prepare for this one?
Personally I'd let them go 7 up to lull them into a false sense of security before showing our class for the last 20 minutes and coming away with a win.
Having said that though, I'm going to go for a slightly more mundane 3-1 County win, with goals for Wootton (2) and Sarce.
Paul Thompson, Stockport County Supporters Co-operative
Swindon 0 County 2
After Crewe last month, it’s another wallet-busting £27 for travelling County fans tomorrow. What’s your thoughts on League Two ticket prices?
Over at Co-op HQ we’ve been discussing if there is any way to make league football more affordable at County. We were delighted that the club continued with the reduction of the FA Cup ticket prices and wrote to the club expressing that.
This reduction for cup games has been in existence from our days in non-league. Now I know they were dark times but being at that level did bring some benefits that I am sure some will miss. This includes ticket pricing and from a personal perspective I always said “be careful what you wish for” as even back then I could see what would be coming.
Ticket pricing of over £20 is bad enough but nearly £30 for League Two football is quite frankly pushing the envelope – especially when you could be sat in an open end with the rain lashing down. How does that make football an attractive day out for a family? Watch out for news from the Co-op on how we propose to help address this.
Luckily the sting is taken out a little when you’re on a run such as ours and I’m confident that everybody will be walking away from the County Ground with a smile on their face after County triumph 2-0.
Give your car a lick of paint
Granted, Stockport used to be a little rough around the edges. But the town’s getting a good old lick of paint these days, with fancy new offices, apartments, bars and restaurants springing up. You can’t be driving up and down the A6 in a tatty car with chipped paintwork, so give your car a nice lick of paint too. Colourtone is your go-to company for that. They’ve been servicing the automotive and industrial markets in Cheshire and Greater Manchester for decades, and carry an extensive range of car paint and industrial paints.
Visit colourtone.com for further details.
Today in SK
🎶 DJ
The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have their resident DJ playing on a Friday night, with Dicko (Ian Dickinson) on from 8pm till 1am.
🍟 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. Open till 7.30pm.
🎤 Live music
Spiked Island at The Red Bull (SK1). 9pm.
Pete McClaine and the Clan at The Crown Inn (SK6). 9pm.
Friday Fiesta at TRUNK (SK7). Great company, tasty tapas and flowing drinks – what more could you want? 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.
The Scarf My Father Wore works closely with venues on a daily basis to bring you the most comprehensive guide to all of the best offers and events taking place across the whole SK region. Click on the links below for full details of everything taking place in your area over the next few weeks.
SK1 / SK2 / SK3 / SK4 / SK5 / SK6 / SK7 / SK8 / SK9 / SK10 / SK11 / SK12 / SK13 / SK14 / SK15 / SK16 / SK17 / SK22 / SK23
Photo of the day
Edgeley Park, Stockport
Dicko celebrates with the fans after the 0-0 draw with Carlisle on the final day of the 2005-06 season.
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