Coca-Cola League Two
Saturday 6th October 2006
Kick Off 3.00pm

Stadium: Edgeley Park, Hardcastle Road, Stockport, SK3 9DD
Telephone: 0161 268 8888
Club Colours: Blue & White
Nickname: The Hatters
Official Club Website: www.stockportcounty.com
Key Personnel: Manager Jim Gannon

Brief Directions By Road:
This one is quite complicated and my personal preference of travel would be via the Peak District from the A6 into Stockport where the ground is clearly signposted. However the following Motorway directions are courtesy of Stockport County FC and are a safe bet baring hold ups. Exit the M6 at junction 19 (sign-posted Manchester Airport / Stockport A55 / M56 East) and at the roundabout turn right onto the A556. After approx. 4 miles, turn right onto the M56 Motorway. Exit the M56 motorway (sign-posted Stockport M60 / Sheffield M67) onto the M60. Exit the M60 at its Junction 1 (sign-posted Stockport town centre). At the roundabout, follow signs to Cheadle A560 / Stockport County FC into Hollywood Way. Go straight on at the first set of traffic lights and turn right at the next onto the A560. After 1 mile turn left onto the B5465 Edgeley Road. Turn right onto Dale Street at the traffic lights and take the second left into Hardcastle Road for the stadium.

Car Parking:
Street parking is the order of the day as the only car park at the ground is reserved for officials. The precinct car park can be found in Castle Street

Directions By Train:
An early morning train from St Pancras will take approx. three and a half hours with a change at Nottingham or alternatively Nuneaton & Leicester. From Stockport station turn into Station Road and walk up the hill to a roundabout. Go straight over and into Mercian way (A5464). Then look for Caroline Street on the left where you will find the ground. The walk will take only 15-20 minutes.

Supporters Coaches:
Coach travel to away fixtures this season is being organised by the Barnet Football Club Supporters Association. For further details about Supporters coach travel and how to book check out the BFCSA website at www.bfcsa.co.uk.

Eating And Drinking Locally:
Robinson's is the local brewery and produces some rather nice beer if you like that sort of thing. Allegedly there are 13 pubs within a 15-minute walk of the ground! I have had many recommendations for a decent safe drink before the game including the Royal Oak and The Armoury both in Castle Street that serve good local ales plus slightly closer to the ground in Bowden Street you will find the Greyhound Inn which has big screen TV and serves more mainstream beers. Finally the Sir Robert Peel which is only a couple of hundred yards from the ground but gets very busy. A CIU club is situated near to the away turnstiles that does allow away fans for a small charge. Castle Street is your best bet for pre match food where you will find a good variety. The Friary's Fish Bar comes recommended by the club.

My personal choice (and purely for a drink as only sandwiches are available) is the wonderful Georgian style Queens Head, 12, Little Underbank - it will take some finding and in the opposite direction from the ground from the railway station but it is a pub that is unspoilt as it comes and in a time warp. Great beer, tiny inside with also the smallest toilet you will ever experience - it is also haunted. Would I have you on?

The Social Club:
At the time of writing I have no details of the social club facilities at Stockport County FC.

Ground Description:
Edgeley Park has room for around 11,000 all seated and the stands are a mixture of old, modified and new. The main stand now renamed The Stockport Express Stand fills 2/3rds of the touchline was built in 1936, and is absolutely superb coming from a lover of football ground architecture and right up my street -so there. It has room for just over 2,000 and it is fascinating to note that prior to the stand's modernisation, when seating was added to the small paddock in the mid 1980's, the players accessed the pitch across a lowered drawer bridge.

To the right is the Robinson's Brewery Stand, which is obviously the most modern section in the ground, holding 5,200 home fans and all the club's corporate facilities and a 150 seat restaurant. It is twin tiered and was completed in 1995. It replaced the original and much loved mainly wooden Cheadle End, which was demolished after the Bradford City Fire report in 1985. At the other end of the pitch is the Shotton Paper Stand which is the just the old uncovered Railway Terrace with 1,500 seats bolted to the risers - this area is only used when a large attendance is expected.

Completing the picture is The Vernon Building Society Stand. This stand or part of it is reserved for visiting fans where up to 2,000 can be accommodated. However normally only around 800 spaces are on offer. Originally constructed in 1927 it runs the full length of the touchline and used to be a terrace called the Popular Side until the seating was added in 1994. It once held 16,000 standing and was twice its current size.

Rivals:
Crewe Alexandra and Oldham

Admission Prices:
Adults £18.00 Concessions £11.00 Juniors £5.00. Programme £2.50

Our Last Meeting & Memories:
The game at Underhill in front of nearly 4,000 in April 2006 finished 0-0. It was game that certainly helped towards the league survival of both clubs but more dramatically it turned out that a victory for either side would have indeed assured safety from relegation to the Conference! Our results against the Hatters during the infamous 1993-4 season when we were relegated to Division 4 were a 0-0 at Underhill, which was a point won rather than two lost, and a very creditable 1-2 defeat at Edgeley Park. On the score sheet for the Bees that day was the legendary Kelly Haag.

Overnight Stay Factor:
The Mecca that is Manchester is only a couple of miles away and all you need for an overnight stay is there because, and sorry to disappoint you, but Stockport is hardly a Paris, Amsterdam, Runcorn or Hamburg. Yet it is full of lively pubs and cheesy clubs. 4/10 is about right. However if you are looking for a very comfortable B&B look no further than The Alma Lodge Hotel www.almalodgehotel.com Tel 0161 481 4431. Single rooms from about £35.00 Twins about £65.00. A colleague of mine stayed there very recently and was suitably impressed.

Celebrity Watch:
Ex Wimbledon tennis champion and the man responsible for the original Chav clothing Fred Perry was born here. Alex Hurricane Higgins lived locally and always had a long cue of people waiting for his autograph! The "Original Thinking Man's Crumpet" broadcaster Joan Bakewell was born here too as was TV impressionist Mike Yarwood - why did he always finish his shows with a terrible rendition of a Sinatra song thinking he sounded like the "Voice"? Judith Chalmers used to have a Saturday job in the local Travel Agents.

Interesting And Not So Interesting Information
The following is taken from an article on Answers.Com. "The longest ever football match took place at Edgeley Park in 1946, when Stockport County played Doncaster Rovers in the Division Three (North) Cup. The game ended 2-2 after 90 minutes, and after 30 minutes of extra time there was still no winner, and it was decided that the match should carry on until there was a winner. Some stories tell of supporters leaving the match, going home for tea, and returning to find the game still being played. After 203 minutes of football, the referee blew his whistle to signify the end of the game at around 7pm. A toss of a coin decided that a replay of the game would be held at Doncaster's ground, Belle Vue, which Rovers won 4-0".....and I thought the 0-0 draw with Altrincham at Underhill in 1991 seemed to go on forever?