|
Address: |
|
Edgeley
Park |
|
Hardcastle
Road |
| Stockport |
| SK3
9DD |
|
Telephone: |
|
0161 -
2868888 |
| Ground
Capacity: |
| 11,000
(all seated) |
| Official
Website: |
| www.stockportcounty.com |
| Unofficial
Websites: |
| Hatters
Independent Supporters Site
Hatters
Mad!
Stockport
County Trust
Hatters
Matters
|
| How
to get there: |
By Car:
From The South (M6):
EXIT
the M6 at Junction 19 (sign-posted 'Manchester Airport, Stockport A55, M56 East') and at the roundabout turn right onto the A556. At the Bowden roundabout after 4.2 miles, turn right (sign-posted 'Manchester M56') onto the M56 motorway. Exit the M56 motorway after 6.9 miles (sign-posted 'Stockport M60, Sheffield M67') onto the M60. Exit the M60 at Junction 1 (sign-posted 'Stockport Town
Centre'). At the roundabout, follow signs to 'Cheadle A560' also 'Stockport County FC' into Hollywood Way. Go straight on at the first set of traffic lights and turn right at the next (sign-posted
'Cheadle A560, Stockport County FC') onto the A560 towards 'Ye Olde Woolpack' pub. After 1.1 miles, turn left (no signpost, by the 'Farmers Arms') onto the B5465 Edgeley Road. After approximately 1 mile turn right into Dale Street at the traffic lights and take the second left into Hardcastle Road for the stadium. From the North (M62 from Leeds):
FOLLOW the M62 onto the M60 and continue south. Exit the M60 at Junction 1 (sign-posted 'Stockport Town
Centre'). At the roundabout turn left following signs to Cheadle A560 into Hollywood Way. At the roundabout, follow signs to
'Cheadle A560' also 'Stockport County FC' into Hollywood Way. Go straight on at the first set of traffic lights and turn right at the next (sign-posted
'Cheadle A560, Stockport County FC') onto the A560 towards 'Ye Olde Woolpack' pub. After 1.1 miles, turn left (no signpost, by the 'Farmers Arms') onto the B5465 Edgeley Road. After approximately 1 mile turn right into Dale Street at the traffic lights and take the second left into Hardcastle Road for the stadium.
From South & East (A6/A523 over Peak District)
Follow the A6 towards Stockport/Manchester. Continue along A6 until reaching major traffic lights at hazel Grove alongside the 'Rising Sun' pub. Follow signs for Stockport Town Centre along the A6 for approximately 2.8 miles, until reaching the traffic lights by 'The Nelson Tavern' and the Town Hall. Turn left (sign-posted
'Cheadle, Stockport County FC') into Greek Street. At the roundabout after 0.3 miles take the second exit (sign-posted
'Cheadle A5465') onto Mercian Way. Take the second left turning into Caroline Street for the stadium. Parking Restrictions:
THE official car park is for permit holders only and street parking is mainly restricted to residents.
Two large public car parks are situated at each end of the Castle Street Shopping Precinct, a couple of minutes walk from the stadium. By Rail:
STOCKPORT Station, a five-minute walk from Edgeley Park, has good connections throughout the country.
Supporters travelling to Stockport by train should turn left on the station concourse (not right towards the ticket office). Proceed up the hill, turn left and then take the third road (Mercian Way) off the roundabout. Edgeley Park is situated on the left. |
| Other
than the football...: |
|
IF you're looking to make a weekend of it,
then you might want to drive to nearby Manchester where
there are obviously hundreds of things to do! Or, you
might fancy the drive to Blackpool
which is also not too far away from Stockport!
However, Stockport does play host to some of
the North West's finest museums and buildings. You
might want to pay visits to Stockport Air Raid Shelters,
Bramhall Hall, Hat Works (the museum of hatting), Chadkirk
Chapel, Stockport Art Gallery, Stockport Museum or Stockport
Town Hall.
If you're looking to make a night of it,
there are several nightclubs in Stockport - The Bamboo Club
in Hazel Grove, Cottons in Higher Hillgate, Disco Express in
Lostock Hall Road, Peaches in Wellington Street and Volantes
in Fletcher Street.
If you enjoy a drink and/or something to eat
before the match, then the adjacent Castle Street Shopping Precinct provides an abundance of pubs, fast-food outlets and sandwich shops. |
|
A Hatter and
a Hatter - Matt Woods |
 |
| Defender
Matt Woods. |
MAURICE
(Matt) Woods was born in Skelmersdale in November 1931 and,
after signing amateur forms at Everton,
became a full-time professional at Goodison Park in 1949.
Unfortunately,
he had difficulty in breaking in to the Everton
side and after only eight League appearances in seven years,
he was allowed to move to Blackburn
Rovers, in exchange for £8,000, where his career took
off in spectacular fashion.
In
seven years at Ewood Park he made 260 League appearances and
starred as Rovers were promoted to Division One and failed
to win the 1960 FA Cup final against Wolves
with ten men.
After
leaving Blackburn
in 1963, he enjoyed two years playing in Australia before
being enticed to Kenilworth Road by manager George Martin,
just as Luton Town had been relegated to Division Four for
the first time.
Matt
Woods was the commanding figure in the heart of the Luton
defence during a 1965-66 season that saw the Hatters
narrowly fail to win promotion back to Division Three.
They
failed in controversial circumstances with Woods joining in
with several other members of the squad complaining over
proposed promotion bonuses (or lack of them), and being
dropped from the side in the final game of the campaign
which was only drawn.
Woods
was given a free transfer that summer and joined Stockport
County, where he starred in a County
team that won the Fourth Division championship in 1967.
He
retired from the playing side at the age of 37 following a
knee injury and went into management at Altrincham,
from where he joined the coaching staff at Edgeley Park and
then took over the hot seat for 18 months.
After
finishing with the game, Matt Woods ran his own haulage
business in the Stockport
area. |
|
The Club and The Ground
Stockport County have had some good players over the years who
have gone on to play in the Premiership, such as Alun Armstrong,
Paul Jones and Chris Marsden - while in the late 90s/early 00s,
they had an abundance of Finnish stars, such as Jarkko Wiss,
Shefki Kuqi and former Luton Town player Petri
Helin.
However, since being relegated from Division One in 2001-02,
the Hatters have struggled and in 2003-04, they turned to Northern Ireland international manager Sammy McIlroy to
guide them back into Division One.
Edgeley Park, the home of Stockport County,
has, at one end, the large Robinsons Brewery Stand, which is the
newest addition to the ground and is the home end. This stand
seems to tower over the rest of the stadium, which looks rather
small in comparison. Opposite, the Railway End is a former open
terrace that has now been converted to a seating area. This end is
usually unused on match days and has a small electric scoreboard
above it. Both sides are quite old looking stands, that are
both covered and all-seated. The Main stand is only about two
thirds the length of the pitch and straddles the half way line.
This stand was recently renamed the Stockport Express Stand. On
the other side is the Vernon Building Society Stand, which is
allocated to Luton Town supporters. The ground is shared with Sale
Sharks Rugby Club.
The Club still hope to
re-develop the Railway End, with a two-tier 5,200-seated
stand, which will be similar in design to the existing Robinsons
Brewery Stand. However, no time scales have been announced as to
when this will take place.
Luton Town fans are predominantly housed on
one side of the Vernon Stand, where the normal allocation is 800
seats. This stand is covered, however, there are a number of
supporting pillars which may impede your view. If this happens,
the stewards do allow you to stand at the back of the stand to get
a better view. You can access the entrance to this stand by
walking behind the large Cheadle End and through the car-park.
The Railway End, where most of the away fans used to be housed, is
now normally not open for most games. It can still be allocated to
away fans if demand requires it, increasing the allocation by
another 1,500 seats. However, this end is uncovered, so if you do
end up in there, be prepared to get wet.
The facilities within the ground are pretty good, with modern
toilets and a good range of pies (£1.80) available from the
refreshments kiosk where the staff were particularly friendly.
Stockport County is another club that has become tolerant towards
away supporters in recent years and is now a more pleasurable away
trip than it used to be. If you are a plane spotter, then this is
your ground, as during the game many large airplanes fly over the
ground having taken off from nearby Manchester Airport!
Ground Guide courtesy of the excellent Internet
Football Ground Guide.
History
- Stockport County Football Club
JUST like Luton Town, Stockport County are
nicknamed 'The Hatters' and they were formed in 1883.
The club have spent the majority of their
history yo-yoing between the bottom two Divisions of the Football
League. They won their first-ever major silverware in 1922
when they won the Division Three North. They were
also runners-up in 1929 and 1930. They were Champions again
in 1937. They were also Division Three (North) Cup winners
in 1935, having been finalists the year before.
The club had, however, won silverware before this when they
were Manchester Senior Cup winners in 1898 and 1899. They
also won this trophy in 1915 and 1923.
The club were also successful in the Cheshire Medal Cup,
winning the competition in 1923, 1925, 1929, 1930 and 1931.
In addition, they were Cheshire Bowl winners in 1934, 1949,
1953, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1963. They also won two
other local trophies twice apiece - the Cheshire Friendly Trophy
in 1966 and 1967 - and the Cheshire Premier Cup in 1970 and 1971.
In 1967, the club won the Division Four championship and they
also enjoyed further seasons in Division Three when they came
runners-up in Division Four in 1991. In their first season
in Division Three in 1992, the club endured an excellent season -
but, agonisingly, failed to have anything to show for it as they
lost in the play-off final and also in the Auto Windscreens Shield
final (now known as the LDV Vans Trophy). Just a year later,
the club were in the Auto Windscreens Shield final once more - but
again were beaten. Division Two play-off finalists in 1994,
the club eventually gained promotion to Division One in
1997. With a bright new manager in Dave Jones, he led the
Hatters to promotion as they pipped Luton Town to automatic
promotion thanks mainly to the goals of striker Brett Angell.
However, Jones soon moved on as he became manager of Southampton
and his replacements, Andy Kilner and Carlton Palmer, failed to
bring success to Stockport, and they were relegated in the 2001-02
season back to Division Two.
They've since struggled and during the 2003-04 campaign they
turned to Northern Ireland international manager Sammy McIlroy to
guide them back into Division One.
Luton Town
v
Stockport County... A
full rundown of all of the past meetings
| Home
Matches |
 |
|
Jan
|
1
|
1938
|
D2
|
W
|
6
|
4
|
14138
|
|
|
May
|
7
|
1966
|
D4
|
W
|
2
|
0
|
9524
|
|
|
Sep
|
17
|
1966
|
D4
|
L
|
0
|
3
|
5887
|
|
|
Apr
|
25
|
1969
|
D3
|
W
|
4
|
1
|
12055
|
|
|
Oct
|
4
|
1969
|
D3
|
W
|
2
|
0
|
15944
|
|
|
May
|
3
|
1997
|
ND2
|
D
|
1
|
1
|
9623
|
|
|
Apr
|
26
|
2003
|
ND2
|
D
|
1
|
1
|
6010
|
Report |
|
| Away
Matches |
|
|
Aug
|
28
|
1937
|
D2
|
L
|
1
|
2
|
19077
|
|
|
Dec
|
10
|
1965
|
D4
|
L
|
1
|
4
|
7778
|
|
|
Jan
|
20
|
1967
|
D4
|
L
|
0
|
1
|
9555
|
|
|
Nov
|
29
|
1968
|
D3
|
L
|
0
|
2
|
13246
|
|
|
Jan
|
31
|
1970
|
D3
|
D
|
1
|
1
|
3922
|
|
|
Oct
|
15
|
1996
|
ND2
|
D
|
1
|
1
|
5352
|
|
|
Oct
|
5
|
2002
|
ND2
|
W
|
3
|
2
|
5932
|
Report
|
|
Aug
|
16
|
2003
|
ND2
|
W
|
2
|
1
|
4566
|
Report
|
|
|
