The king has had his coronation, now let’s have the Tranmere summation…
A Northampton handball missed by the referee was the closest we came to Tranmere doing us a favour on the final day of the season
Wednesday 17 May 2023
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Tranmere supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Wednesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
These post-season interviews I’m doing with fans of all the other teams in League Two are done virtually, basically just emailing a load of questions to people I’ve mainly never met.
If I was meeting all of these people in real life, let’s say with a barbecue at mine, then under different circumstances, I’d have happily invited 22 of the 23 supporters to join me for a burger and a beer, whilst cruelly making an example of Tranmere as the outcast. Or I’d have invited the Tranmere representative as well, but whilst myself and my guests gorged on Pimm’s and potato salad, the Wirralite would be condemned to the corner of the garden with a can of Fosters and a packet of crisps.
Had County picked up all three points on 8 May, I feel I would be well within my rights to make a Tranmere fan feel about as welcome as a Margaret Thatcher tribute act at a working men’s club in Barnsley. But taking into account the fact County couldn’t get the job done against already-relegated Hartlepool, missing a penalty and managing to score just once from 16 attempts at goal, we can’t really lay too much blame at Tranmere’s door can we?
So on that note, Tranmere are invited to the party as well, with Ethan Hoijord - co-host of The Mere or Far Podcast and editor of his own website EthanHoijord.com - accepting our invitation. Make him feel welcome with a hot dog, but make sure he doesn’t leave until he’s organised a whip-round with the rest of the Rovers fans for that crossbar they wiped out in 2010. Had you played your part in County going up to League One on the final day, we’d have been happy to wipe the slate clean, but as things stand, the debt still remains. And with interest accrued over the last 13 years, along with the crossbar, you now owe us four corner flags, two dugouts, and a new microphone for Kenny Boxshall.
Finally, a big thank you to Matthew J I Wood Design & Illustration for sponsoring today’s edition. Matthew’s produced some fantastic prints celebrating famous moments from County, Tranmere and dozens of other clubs. Check out his website, where you’ll receive a 10% discount this month. Further details below.
Enjoy today’s issue.
Des Junior
Had King Charles invited you to his coronation celebrations, and insisted you brought him the best food you’d experienced inside a League Two ground this season, what would you have treated him to?
To be honest, I don’t really buy food at grounds. Can I just choose the best food I’ve ever tasted, regardless of when it was? If so, Kidderminster Harriers. We played them during our time in the National League. Now that was food worthy of the highest praise - wow!
Charles is now king of the UK. But who would you choose to be crowned king of Prenton Park, and who would be locked up in the tower? You can pick anybody who’s had some sort of connection with the club this season.
Kane Hemmings would definitely be locked up. I don’t think he’s moved more than a centimetre all season so I’d love to see how much effort he puts in trying to escape from the tower. He does well away from the pitch - he does great work with local charities - but I wouldn’t say he’s repaid the transfer fee we paid for him last year just yet.
I think most Tranmere fans would have had Mark Palios locked up too when new manager Ian Dawes was announced earlier this month, though he might have rectified that slightly by appointing Nigel Adkins as technical director.
As for the king? I’d give it to a man who should be captain: Sir Tom Davies.
Best moment of 2022-23?
The great moments this season have well and truly been few and far between. I've enjoyed watching a few young players come through, such as the likes of striker Sam Taylor, who we rewarded with a two-year contract before the final game. With the minutes he’s been given, the academy graduate has certainly shown what he can do.
However, the game that stands out has to be our League Cup second round tie at home to Newcastle United. A bumper crowd of 10,961 at Prenton Park saw the Whites take the lead before narrowly losing 2-1 having battled from start to finish against a side who are still on course to finish in the Champions League places this season.
Worst moment of 2022-23?
It needed to happen, but it really wasn’t nice seeing Micky Mellon sacked, a man who guided us to back-to-back promotions from the National League to League One. His second spell at the club just didn’t go to plan unfortunately.
Funniest moment of 2022-23?
Funniest? This season has been a constant source of frustration from July until May. The only thing I can think of is when some fella from the crowd headed the ball back onto the pitch, but is that really funny? It’s safe to say I won’t be looking back on this season too fondly.
Four Four Two said you’d finish 8th. When Saturday Comes said you’d finish 6th. You finished 12th. Discuss.
A lot of magazines and pundits (I'm thinking of the great Gabriel Sutton here) put us down for promotion and the select few who predicted we’d finish in mid-table were laughed at by Tranmere supporters.
It was a season that never really got going in all honesty. We were poor from the off as we didn't know how to set ourselves up. It felt like Micky Mellon had been forced to play a back five with a focus on young players when that really wasn't his style, thus it was strange.
Dynel Simeu - a Cameroonian centre-back from Southampton - arrived on loan in September, helped us improve for a few games, but then his form dropped, he got sent off at Wimbledon, and was never the same after that.
Tranmere 0 County 0 in November. County 3 Tranmere 2 in February. Thoughts?
The goalless draw at our place was frustrating to say the least - one of those games I'd much rather forget about than write about.
We were really poor at Edgeley Park, with some awful errors contributing to a couple of your goals. Josh Cogley had a stinker that day; it seemed his head had gone after being rejected a move elsewhere in January.
Best and worst away days of 2022-23?
The best was probably Salford, just a good day with good mates in Manchester and we won when we weren't expected to which always adds to it. Southport in pre-season was great too; I got a nice sun tan out of it.
The worst probably has to be Crewe on New Year’s Day. We were actually expected to win that one but lost 1-0.
Rochdale was a bit of a joke as well. We were 2-0 up - the first of which was a scorcher of an own goal - before they went on to equalise in the 93rd minute. I could add some more words but I think you'll probably realise by now how much the players have tested the patience of supporters.
After decades travelling around the world, Sir David Attenborough’s most recent BBC documentary covered Great Britain. Let’s imagine David and his crew have been filming Tranmere fans throughout the 2022-23 season. In that famous voice of his, how would he describe them?
David Attenborough on Tranmere fans? Not too sure what the viewing figures would be for that one! He normally talks about the strength of animals, doesn’t he? Sticking with that theme, he could start by mentioning the mental strength that Rovers supporters have.
With Wrexham up and MK Dons down, there’s a couple of teams coming into League Two who generally cause quite a lot of debate wherever they go. You’re on Moonpig.com buying a welcome card for both of them. What messages are going inside?
I’m on Moonpig.com buying welcome cards for MK and Wrexham? You are joking, aren’t you?! Two clubs I really don’t like, but if we can sort ourselves out this summer, I’m looking forward to going to both and beating them.
Click on the links below to read the previous 2022-23 reviews we’ve published so far.
Receive a 10% discount on this print of the champions
Has it really been a year already? If you’re the owner of any sort of social media account, you’ll no doubt have been bombarded with glorious photos and videos over the last couple of days, taking you back to that unforgettable day against Halifax this time last year as County secured a return to the Football League after 11 long years away. Social media these days is usually a bottomless pit of despair and devastation, so it’s been heartwarming seeing countless memories from one of the all-time classic County celebrations: Paddy Madden surrounded by a sea of smiling Hatters on the Edgeley Park pitch; Dave Challinor singing “Fuck you Wrexham” at the top of his voice; County fan Peter Johnson stood on top of the Prince Albert roof.
The County fans reading this will have plenty of memorabilia from our National League title-winning campaign - programmes, shirts, photographs - but one superb item you might not have in your collection is this 2021-22 Champions print from Matthew J I Wood Design & Illustration. If you haven’t, now’s the time to do so, because you’ll receive a 10% discount throughout May. Simply enter the code SCARF-MY-FATHER-WORE at checkout.
The prints are available in A4 (£12.50), A3 (£20), A2 (£30) and A1 (£45) with optional framing on all sizes. As mentioned above, those prices will be reduced by 10% this month.
Matthew, a graphic designer who sells prints, frames and mugs featuring stadiums and Subbuteo XIs, has also created these designs of Edgeley Park, also available to purchase on his website.
Finally, as I’m sure we’ll have a number of Tranmere supporters joining us today, we’ll give the following a plug as well. Matthew has also created the following print to celebrate Tranmere’s League Two play-off final victory at Wembley in 2018-19. Featured on this particular image is a certain Connor Jennings, who scored the winner in the 119th minute against Newport to take Rovers up to League One.
Visit matthewjiwood.com for further details.
Today in SK
🍰 Based at Bugsworth Basin on the Peak Forest Canal, Cafe Kirianna (SK23) has now reopened for the summer season. If you find yourself having a stroll in that neck of the woods today, be sure to stop by for a cake and a coffee. Open 10am till 4pm.
🍹 The Armoury (SK3) have just launched their new cocktail menu. Mark Stott definitely wouldn’t mind a Red Wine Cobbler, and Lee Todd’s going to be getting stuck into a Lounge Lizard or two. There’s eight cocktails to try in total; head down today to see which one tickles your tastebuds!
⚽️ As County fans we’ve had to get used to City winning everything there is to play for in England over the last decade. But we’ve had a small crumb of comfort in the fact they haven’t managed to get their hands on the one prize they’re dying for: the Champions League trophy. Let’s hope that continues this evening. Bask (SK1) will have the second leg of the semi-final on their 75” screens. Stick on your Real Madrid shirts and scarves and get down there to cheer on the La Liga side. Kick-off is at 8pm.
🍺 Fancy a few midweek drinks tonight? The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £4.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £2, and 3 for £6 on Jägerbombs.
☕️ How do you fancy a nice iced cappuccino today? Head down to Coffee Block (SK1) for their CUBO espresso over ice, filled with shaken milk and topped with chocolate! Open till 5.30pm.
Photo of the day
Somewhere in Burnley
Now don’t get used to this, readers. It’s not every day you’ll find your editor publishing a photo from Burnley. In fact, this might be the only time it’ll ever happen (unless Paddy scores a 90th minute winner at Turf Moor in the FA Cup third round next season).
However, we’ll make an exception for a beaming Taylor Harwood-Bellis, pictured enjoying himself at Burnley’s parade recently, having helped the Inbreds Clarets secure the Championship title, and an immediate return to the Premier League.
Taylor - son of Martin, nephew of Steve - is a sound lad from Stockport who’s got an extremely bright future ahead of him. Congratulations on a fine season, pal.
Bunch of fives
5️⃣ players who scored winning goals against County in play-off matches
Rhys Oates
Ken Charlery
Jason Walker
Gary Parkinson
Matt Smith
5️⃣ train stations in Stockport
Heaton Chapel
Brinnington
Hazel Grove
Cheadle Hulme
Bredbury
5️⃣ Castle Street eateries
The Friary
Mustaph’s
Chilli Massalla
The Cozy Cafe
Leve Bakery
5️⃣ grounds we’ll be going to next season if we don’t go up, that we didn’t visit this season
The Racecourse Ground
Meadow Lane
The Mazuma Stadium
The Wham Stadium
The New Lawn Stadium
The 5️⃣ words in the title of this website, in alphabetical order
Father
My
Scarf
The
Wore
Never mind Google or Yell.com, we’ve got you covered
STOP! That got your attention, didn’t it? Just a quick one… I’d hazard a guess that at some point in May, all of our readers will use Google or Yell.com at some point looking for a particular product or service. But before you do, please have a quick look at our own directory to see if we have what you’re looking for. A number of great businesses support The Scarf My Father Wore, allowing us to publish fresh content every day, so let’s send a few enquiries their way in return.
Click here to have a look at all the businesses in our directory.