Winning £21 on the Flyer, Coral Island with the kids, and phenomenal ladies’ toilets… it’s Blackpool away!

A trio of tales from the seaside

Aug 22, 2024

Thursday 22 August 2024

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Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Blackpool supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Thursday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

Our Blackpool coverage comes to an end today with a trio of seaside tales from John K Bilsbury, Nik Bardsley and Hannah Brown.

Today’s edition is sponsored by LM Stone Creative. A big thank you to Chris, who’s put together an exciting competition for us. Be sure to enter, if you can find the sign…!

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: 176.31 miles

Total steps so far: 284,130

Total raised so far: £1,981

Total completed streets so far: 399 (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

🎶 “We go to all the away matches, by bus, by train, by car….. And we get so pissed before the game, we don’t know where we are!” 🎶

A lyric from a classic County song gave Des Junior a little bit of inspiration for this regular feature – why have one away day review when you can have three! So when County are playing away from home, The Scarf My Father Wore will be sending three intrepid reporters out into the unknown to share their tales from motorways and train stations across the country.

For County’s first away game of the season, John K Bilsbury was on the Fingerpost Flyer, Nik Bardsley had a day out on the train with his family, and Hannah Brown “passenger princessed” her way to Blackpool in a car.

⏰ Up

John: My usual five o’clock. I’ve been retired for years but still wake up in time to go to work.

Nik: 6am. Standard alarm time in our house.

Hannah: Erm... 9ish. Took me until about 10.30 to actually get out of bed though, by which time most of the WhatsApp group already seemed to be in Blackpool.

🍳 Breakfast

John: Granola and yoghurt. A can of beer would be more rock and roll, but those days are gone.

Nik: I don't usually eat breakfast, but mid-morning I assisted my wife by eating half her egg butty and half a bag of crisps on the train.

Hannah: Standard black coffee. I don't have breakfast normally, but coffee is a must.

⬅️ Before

John: Read emails, wrote some stuff for The Scarf Bergara Wore, walked Flori the dog round Great Moor Park. Drove to Woodsmoor Post Office to buy a sandwich and collect my new toy, a mandolin. A home isn’t complete without loads of instruments nobody can play.

Nik: Very little other than a quick brew before an Uber to the station.

Hannah: Showered, tried to remember what I wore for the Cambridge game, remembered to let my brother know what time we were leaving, and changed my FanHub team because Jezzy Fevs was in the matchday photo on Twitter. Spoiler: this lost me a point.

👕 Clobber

John: Black cord cap, blue Cotton Traders polo shirt, denim jacket, black trousers and Meindl Bhutan boots. I have no choice, they’re the only things holding my knackered ankles together. There’s a picture of me on Ian Brown’s blog if you want to see the full horror of my wardrobe.

Nik: Incredibly boring choice of a hoody, jean shorts and a pair of trainers.

Hannah: Exactly the same as Cambridge, because superstitions... pink away shirt, jeans, white trainers (always a risk at the football), same socks, same underwear, and this ritual will be repeated until we lose.

🛫 Outbound

John: I was on the Fingerpost Flyer so it was completely painless as usual, despite it being full. We dodged the worst of the traffic by coming off the motorway and heading through Preston instead.

Nik: All the trains ran on time and weren't completely rammed (at least in the carriage we were in), so couldn't have asked for much better.

Hannah: Worse than expected and had a delightful moment when the motorway was closed and we had to come off at the junction, just to come back on again and realise it had reopened again in the meantime. Apparently people go to the seaside on sunny Saturdays. We cracked out the Pennodraws Top Trumps and the normal away day playlist.

🍺 Pre-match

John: Liaised with Blackpool’s SLO because, like an idiot, I’d got off the coach wearing my rucksack and by rights shouldn’t have been allowed in the ground with it on. It all sorted itself out in the end though.

Nik: Met up with a couple of friends in Coral Island and then headed to the beach so the kids could play on the sand. Went to The New Philly for a bit and then when the kids weren't allowed in The Manchester, we sat on the embankment with a few tinnies instead.

Hannah: Fish and chips and people watching. Sat outside the chippy before The Bridge and watched what seemed like the entire population of Stockport trickle past.

🏙 Destination

John: I didn’t explore but I know from previous experience that once you get behind the prom, it’s a scruffy hole in places.

Nik: I don't mind it; you have to embrace it for what it is and not expect it to be something it isn't. Plenty of childhood memories come back whenever you're there too.

Hannah: It is what it is, isn't it? I was gutted that there wasn't a rock shop on every corner. Bit of a novelty to be in between the stadium and the tower. Nonsensical policing though, both before and after the game, with a Wimbledon-esque tour of the ground’s perimeter to pretty much get back to where we started.

🏟 Visitors

John: Pretty good, decent legroom, enough rake on the seats so I could see most of the game from my seat despite everyone standing. County fans brought the atmos in spades. I didn’t eat or drink anything I hadn’t brought with me so I can’t comment on the catering.

Nik: Generally fine but you can tell it's not seen much love in recent years. The atmosphere was fantastic though, particularly after we took the lead. It was just bouncing.

Hannah: Oh my god… ladies' toilets were phenomenal. No queues, paper towels, running water, flushing toilets. What an absolute treat. If this is League One, I am here for it. For once didn't have food or drink so no comment there but I did notice they were plastic bag pies which is never a good sign. The atmosphere was incredible – amongst the best away ends I've been in recently.

1️⃣ First

John: Watched the game, clapped and sang a bit.

Nik: We were sat towards the very back of the stand so were pretty much blocked off from going anywhere else, which made the mid-game piss a long, drawn-out affair to get to the toilets.

Hannah: Felt like one to be ground out and get to half-time without conceding. We played well, but no one was finishing opportunities. Touray did a great job at neutralising Apter, and it felt quite evenly balanced, although obviously with more opportunities coming our way.

🍿 Interval

John: Fought my way to the gents then resumed my seat.

Nik: Pottered about and had a chat with friends.

Hannah: Sat down, because old, and caught up on the other results around the league. I also took the momentous decision to turn off League Two goal alerts because it's time to move on.

2️⃣ Second

John: More of the same; watched the game, marvelled at the way County upped the intensity and put Blackpool away. I missed our third goal through a call of nature, which was rather vexing.

Nik: Same as the first half really, although it did involve much more diving around on others.

Hannah: Grinned like an idiot, constantly. Three brilliant goals, their collapse, and just being incredibly excited about the season ahead and the talent we have in our team. If this is us in an injury crisis we're going to watch some amazing football this season.

🔵 Us

John: An impressive turnout, made a decent racket, well behaved from what I saw.

Nik: Great! Last week's result gave me a new perspective on the season ahead, as I thought we'd be upper bottom half, but the Cambridge result really lifted my expectations and I think you could feel that amongst the rest of the crowd too. Right behind the team from the off and never stopped singing.

Hannah: So much people watching! The combination of first away day of the season + sunshine + early beers gave exactly the results you'd expect, and Blackpool away did not disappoint. Ladies… remember consent goes both ways...

🟠 Them

John: I thought there would be more of them but they’ve had a sticky start to the season and they didn’t look very happy.

Nik: They could easily have just not been there; a complete non-entity.

Hannah: They were actually good – I did a Blackpool pod last week and they said when they have big away allocations their atmosphere suffers as they're spread out. That said, they've had a shit start to the season, and with criticism levelled at Critchley for his gameplay, it wasn't a surprise to see their end empty out after the second goal went in.

🍻 Post-match

John: Found the coach and discovered I was the first back. Punctuality is the politeness of princes, after all. It turned out I’d correctly predicted the time of the first goal so Lou presented me with £21 in prize money.

Nik: Headed back to the front and had some food and a couple of drinks with friends, then one last burst through Coral Island for the kids before heading to the station.

Hannah: Endured more ridiculous policing in the name of segregation and then walked back to the car to sit in traffic out of Blackpool whilst still being incredibly giddy about the result and the ridiculousness of being top of the league.

🛬 Inbound

John: Much quicker than the outward journey. I watched a bit of the evening kick-off on my phone to pass the time. Janice collected me from Lowndes Lane and we stopped off at Heaviley Tandoori to buy some grub with my winnings. They didn’t quite get the order right, unfortunately.

Nik: Same as the journey out, luckily. Reasonably quiet trains and all on time – can't complain.

Hannah: Fine I think – couldn't play our normal ‘spot the County coach' game on account of their later departure, and planned what takeaway to get!

➡️ After

John: Ate the food we’d bought then walked Flori round the block.

Nik: I went straight to bed as I was wiped out.

Hannah: Chinese takeaway, and I feel like there was more football, but I honestly couldn't tell you what.

🛏 Bed

John: About eleven o’clock.

Nik: 10.30pm.

Hannah: 11pm probably, because sober, and old.

💷 Cost

John: Flyer: £22. Ticket: £25. Sandwich and bottle of pop: about £6. Evening meal: £8.40. Total: £61.40. (£40.40 after the £21 winnings from the football card!)

Nik: Train: £20. Ubers: £15. Tickets: £75. Food and drink: I daren't look. That’s for two adults and a child.

Hannah: £30 train ticket, £16 for a chip butty, chips and gravy, fish and chips, and a Diet Coke. £3.25 for a blonde latte from the Starbucks machine when we remembered we needed petrol. Paid £8.24 for parking on someone's drive from 11.30am - 6pm – JustPark FTW again.

🏅 Rating

John: 10/10. Couldn’t fault it.

Nik: 9.5/10. Up there with the best in recent memory.

Hannah: 9/10. A point off for me not getting Blackpool rock which was my main objective for the day!

So there you have it folks, three tales from Blackpool away, and it’s a victory for… THE BUS!

Are you braving Mansfield away next week, even though we haven’t won there in the league since 1983? If you fancy writing about your trip, email thescarfmyfatherwore@substack.com.

Competition time!

How do you fancy winning a custom 300mm by 400mm by 30mm thick Quartz chopping board, courtesy of LM Stone Creative?

It’s easy to enter. All you have to do is find the LM Stone Creative sign, which has recently been placed somewhere in Stockport (clue: it’s somewhere in SK4!). Once you locate the sign, take a selfie in front of it while wearing a Stockport County or Stockport Town hat, shirt, or both. And don’t forget to wear a smile!

Depending on the number of entries received, there may be multiple winners of these beautiful Quartz chopping boards.

After taking your selfie, make sure you tag both The Scarf My Father Wore and LM Stone Creative on social media, and you’ll need to follow both to win!

Good luck to all participants, and we look forward to seeing your smiling faces in front of the brand new LM Stone Creative sign!

Make sure you follow LM Stone Creative LTD on Facebook and lm_stone_creative_ltd on Instagram.

Photo of the day

Congratulations to Ben HINCHLIFFE, who’s just been named in the PFA 2023-24 League Two Team of the Season. I’ve put his surname in capital letters just in case anyone from the PFA is reading this.

Today in SK

🎬 Cinema

Three films at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Despicable Me 4 (U) at 3.45pm, Thelma (12A) at 6pm, and Twisters (12A) at 8.15pm. Click here for tickets.

The screening of Twisters coincides with Pizza Club. Tickets include a pizza from I Knead Pizza, a drink of your choice and an ice cream – all in the comfort of your cinema seat!

🍺 Food and drink

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 AMP (SK1), Bask (SK1), The Nelson Tavern (SK1), The Crown (SK2), The Armoury (SK3), Reddish Working Men’s Club (SK5), The Steelworks (SK6), The Shady Oak (SK7) or The Three Tunnes (SK7).

⁉️ Quiz night

The Dog & Partridge (SK2). 8pm. Free entry and the winner receives a £20 food voucher! Also, from 6.30pm, there’s a BBQ on, with burgers, hot dogs and chicken burgers.

100 random grounds that County have played at

#91 – White Hart Lane, Tottenham

Last visit: February 2001. Fifth round of the FA Cup. The contest was over by half-time following goals from Ledley King, Simon Davies and one in his own net from Flynny. Davies added a fourth for Tottenham in the second half.