Edgeley Park is alive again…
Apr 7, 2022 18:44:28 GMT
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Post by pj on Apr 7, 2022 18:44:28 GMT
By Daniel Storey of The Independent
The best way to approach Edgeley Park is on foot and from the north, down King Street and onto Mercia Way before taking one of three side roads that run perpendicular to the Main Stand.
Arnold Street is the middle of the three and the best aesthetically, for it provides an early glimpse of both the blue painted brickwork of the stand’s lower half, the white windows that seem, inexplicably, to all be a different size, shape and height from each other and the grand old sign that bears the club’s name.
Edgeley Park was the first ground in which I watched football semi-regularly as a neutral, nipping down from south Manchester in my final year of university. My abiding memory is of a 6-0 home victory over Wycombe in December 2007.
Witnessing astounded joy in those around you without being overjoyed yourself is enough to make you joyous, as if joy is something that can be caught or sourced via osmosis.
This stadium has had a lick of paint since I last visited. There is new cladding on the Cheadle End and a shiny club badge to match. The ticket office and club shop have new signage too.
Improvement is progress, but sometimes you have to persuade yourself a little of the benefits. As a neutral, I loved that Edgeley Park was shabby and a little dog-eared at the corners. Season ticket holders understandably would disagree.
For a period of 15 years, this grand old ground became a millstone around the neck of Stockport County. The club’s financial disaster was seeded in the collapse of ITV Digital in 2002, which pushed multiple clubs close to the abyss, but the sale of the club in 2005 offered short-term sanctuary and long-term issues.
The supporters’ trust took control of the club, but with a significant caveat: the ground did not come with it. Stockport were left paying £12,500 a month on rent and lacked any obviously useful assets.
At the time of that 6-0 home win, there was a confidence and swagger to Stockport County under Jim Gannon, that great emergency service of this club’s modern history. They won the League Two playoffs that same season, were promoted to League One and briefly consolidated there despite suffering a 10-point deduction for entering administration in April 2009.
But by August of the same year, the debts had become unmanageable, a tax bill of £250,000 and £300,000 to another creditor remained unpaid. Stockport began the season in administration, lost 27 of their last 34 league matches, made Gannon redundant, sold the training ground, allowed key players to leave, and ended the season in administration too. They finished bottom of League One, 18 points behind every other team.
Stockport’s decline accelerated more quickly than almost anywhere else in English football. Four years after being midtable in League One, Stockport were bottom of the sixth-tier National League North with one point from five matches.
In August 2009 they won away at Brighton and drew with Southampton in the league. In August 2013 they lost at home to Colwyn Bay and drew with Workington in the league.
There was no great controversy, no great robbery. Simply a set of supporters who vaguely mistrusted those in charge and a set of owners who lacked the revenue to effect change and the success to generate revenue.
Life in the National League North takes some getting used to. Stockport officially went semi-professional and thus drastically reduced their playing costs. But with crowds occasionally dropping below 2,000, doubts surfaced about Edgeley Park’s continued use.
With former club owner – and stadium landlord – Brian Kennedy reportedly prepared to sell the ground to developers, Stockport Council stepped in to buy it for £2m. County were still paying tenants; the alternative was being homeless.
Stockport’s ray of light came in January 2020, when local businessman – and lifelong supporter – Mark Stott completed his purchase to, finally, leave the club debt-free. Stott immediately spoke of a seven-year vision to get the club back into the Championship and appointed Simon Wilson, who has worked extensively within Manchester City’s City Football Group, as a technical director.
Stockport are clearly benefiting from Stott’s wealth; that has been the defining factor. They have invested heavily in data analysis and now lease Manchester City’s old training ground at Carrington. They signed Paddy Madden from League One Fleetwood and Scott Quigley from League Two Barrow. Antoni Sarcevic was another coup, joining from Bolton on a free transfer after falling out with manager Ian Evatt.
But Wilson and Stott’s best decision was hiring Dave Challinor, another target tempted from league football to an ambitious National League club. This is a horrible division to escape from and 11 former Football League clubs are battling for one automatic promotion spot. With newly-rich Wrexham pushing Stockport hard, they have won 16 of their last 17 league matches. It is an unthinkable run at this level.
And so Edgeley Park feels alive again. On 8 February, Stockport played Chesterfield in a battle of the then-top two in the division. The crowd was over 10,000, the highest ever midweek attendance in the National League. Data is hard to find, but it was at least Stockport’s highest league attendance since 2005 (and probably far longer still). The good times are returning.
And so we end where we started, looking down Arnold Street at a ground which is the hub of the town again. In February, Stockport County agreed a 250-year lease with the council that secures the relationship between the club and the ground it has called home for 120 years.
The dark days were never enjoyable, but hardship can make a football club. Stockport County are ready for the Football League. And they don’t intend to stop there.
The best way to approach Edgeley Park is on foot and from the north, down King Street and onto Mercia Way before taking one of three side roads that run perpendicular to the Main Stand.
Arnold Street is the middle of the three and the best aesthetically, for it provides an early glimpse of both the blue painted brickwork of the stand’s lower half, the white windows that seem, inexplicably, to all be a different size, shape and height from each other and the grand old sign that bears the club’s name.
Edgeley Park was the first ground in which I watched football semi-regularly as a neutral, nipping down from south Manchester in my final year of university. My abiding memory is of a 6-0 home victory over Wycombe in December 2007.
Witnessing astounded joy in those around you without being overjoyed yourself is enough to make you joyous, as if joy is something that can be caught or sourced via osmosis.
This stadium has had a lick of paint since I last visited. There is new cladding on the Cheadle End and a shiny club badge to match. The ticket office and club shop have new signage too.
Improvement is progress, but sometimes you have to persuade yourself a little of the benefits. As a neutral, I loved that Edgeley Park was shabby and a little dog-eared at the corners. Season ticket holders understandably would disagree.
For a period of 15 years, this grand old ground became a millstone around the neck of Stockport County. The club’s financial disaster was seeded in the collapse of ITV Digital in 2002, which pushed multiple clubs close to the abyss, but the sale of the club in 2005 offered short-term sanctuary and long-term issues.
The supporters’ trust took control of the club, but with a significant caveat: the ground did not come with it. Stockport were left paying £12,500 a month on rent and lacked any obviously useful assets.
At the time of that 6-0 home win, there was a confidence and swagger to Stockport County under Jim Gannon, that great emergency service of this club’s modern history. They won the League Two playoffs that same season, were promoted to League One and briefly consolidated there despite suffering a 10-point deduction for entering administration in April 2009.
But by August of the same year, the debts had become unmanageable, a tax bill of £250,000 and £300,000 to another creditor remained unpaid. Stockport began the season in administration, lost 27 of their last 34 league matches, made Gannon redundant, sold the training ground, allowed key players to leave, and ended the season in administration too. They finished bottom of League One, 18 points behind every other team.
Stockport’s decline accelerated more quickly than almost anywhere else in English football. Four years after being midtable in League One, Stockport were bottom of the sixth-tier National League North with one point from five matches.
In August 2009 they won away at Brighton and drew with Southampton in the league. In August 2013 they lost at home to Colwyn Bay and drew with Workington in the league.
There was no great controversy, no great robbery. Simply a set of supporters who vaguely mistrusted those in charge and a set of owners who lacked the revenue to effect change and the success to generate revenue.
Life in the National League North takes some getting used to. Stockport officially went semi-professional and thus drastically reduced their playing costs. But with crowds occasionally dropping below 2,000, doubts surfaced about Edgeley Park’s continued use.
With former club owner – and stadium landlord – Brian Kennedy reportedly prepared to sell the ground to developers, Stockport Council stepped in to buy it for £2m. County were still paying tenants; the alternative was being homeless.
Stockport’s ray of light came in January 2020, when local businessman – and lifelong supporter – Mark Stott completed his purchase to, finally, leave the club debt-free. Stott immediately spoke of a seven-year vision to get the club back into the Championship and appointed Simon Wilson, who has worked extensively within Manchester City’s City Football Group, as a technical director.
Stockport are clearly benefiting from Stott’s wealth; that has been the defining factor. They have invested heavily in data analysis and now lease Manchester City’s old training ground at Carrington. They signed Paddy Madden from League One Fleetwood and Scott Quigley from League Two Barrow. Antoni Sarcevic was another coup, joining from Bolton on a free transfer after falling out with manager Ian Evatt.
But Wilson and Stott’s best decision was hiring Dave Challinor, another target tempted from league football to an ambitious National League club. This is a horrible division to escape from and 11 former Football League clubs are battling for one automatic promotion spot. With newly-rich Wrexham pushing Stockport hard, they have won 16 of their last 17 league matches. It is an unthinkable run at this level.
And so Edgeley Park feels alive again. On 8 February, Stockport played Chesterfield in a battle of the then-top two in the division. The crowd was over 10,000, the highest ever midweek attendance in the National League. Data is hard to find, but it was at least Stockport’s highest league attendance since 2005 (and probably far longer still). The good times are returning.
And so we end where we started, looking down Arnold Street at a ground which is the hub of the town again. In February, Stockport County agreed a 250-year lease with the council that secures the relationship between the club and the ground it has called home for 120 years.
The dark days were never enjoyable, but hardship can make a football club. Stockport County are ready for the Football League. And they don’t intend to stop there.
