Saturday, 30^th August 2025.

Matchday, Wigan Athletic v County, League 1.

Today was a big one for those of us who are trying to keep Lou Spalding’s legacy alive and get County fans to County matches on the Fingerpost Flyer. The fixture setters haven’t been kind to what is essentially a start-up with nothing in the bank, dealing us trips to Wycombe, Orient and Plymouth in the first month. If it wasn’t for the fantastic and generous assistance from Help The Hatters, the service would have been a dead duck already but today’s trip to Wigan was the first to make a small profit and start to defray the losses made on those long trips south. Even with the assistance of HTH we’ve had to make the sensible decision and decline the Plymouth trip but luckily our friends at Edgeley Con Club Coaches have found room for the few frequent Flyers who are desperate to get there. Some new faces, including families with young children, in the queue on Lowndes Lane suggested that people are starting to recognise that we have something different to offer. Between the three main County coach operators there’s something for everyone and the three can provide a complementary service rather than acting as rivals.

There was nothing to report about the journey, we arrived in plenty of time and those of us who aren’t bothered about pubs stayed on the coach for a while until we thought the turnstiles would be open.

Having made the long trek to the ground, I made a schoolboy error; I assumed a club in a town with a reputation for its pies and with an anthropomorphised pie as a mascot would make sure that it sold decent pies. How wrong can you be? I opted for a Clayton Park Bakery Chicken Balti Pie and I can’t think when I’ve had a worse one. It was barely warm, the pastry was pale and limp, the filling was sparce and lacking in flavour. Those who complain about the HM Pies offerings at EP should think themselves lucky. I did get to keep the cap on my bottle of pop, though…

The Wigan stewards were in full jobsworth mode and, unlike Tuesday night, insisted we should sit in our assigned seats. I played The Old Soldier a bit and told the bloke barring my way that I wasn’t able to climb up to Row Y, so he let me choose something lower down. I picked one just above the segregation sheet so nobody could stand in front of me.

DC’s team lineup got me 8/11 on FanHub, I’d expected Messrs. Olowu, Dodgson and O’Keeffe to start instead of Hills, Andrew and Fevrier.

Kick-off time came as a great relief; the PA was cranked up the point that it deafened everybody, you couldn’t tell what was being said and it destroyed any atmosphere that might otherwise be building.

County were dominant early doors and it took only three minutes for the lads in green to take the lead via a Jack Diamond cross and a deflected shot from Jayden Fevrier. A good and promising start, and the dominance continued for most of the first half, the only major issue being that we couldn’t manage a second goal.

Wigan were first out for second half but it was impossible to tell if their manager had shot them out early as a punishment or Chally was still driving the message home to his troops that they needed to keep up the tempo for the next forty-five minutes. If it was the latter, it didn’t do the trick as we were on the back foot for much of the half and it was no great surprise when Wigan equalised. We had one or two chances but couldn’t take them and in the end I thought we were lucky to get a point.

I’ll leave the analysis to those better equipped to do it but despite a reasonable points return from the first few games, it’s obvious all is not well. Perhaps it’s all down to injuries but the defence is leaking, I’m told we’ve had one clean sheet in the last fifteen games, the midfield lacks creativity and if Kyle Wootton doesn’t play the attack looks blunt. Dave Challinor has a job on and with the transfer window closing at 7:00 PM on Monday, so do the recruitment team.

Wigan’s ground, in the middle of a soulless modern leisure complex, is a nightmare for those who aren’t familiar with it and for the third visit on the trot we lost one of the passengers from the Flyer. Fortunately, this time the lost chick had Ian Brown’s phone number and he was eventually talked back to the coach. It was like a peacetime version of “One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing.”

Today’s tune, appropriately enough, is “The Dambusters’ March” by The Central Band of the Royal Air Force:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/eFmjGnN4jlo?feature=oembed

Sunday, 31^st August 2025.

Matchday: County Ladies v Norton & Stockton Ancients, FAWNL Division 1 North.

Here’s how County Ladies lined up against Norton at Stockport Sports Village this afternoon:

Unfortunately the Ladies suffered their first defeat of the season, all the away side’s goals coming from their number 10, Bianca Owens. After being two down at half time, County fought back to 2-2 with goals from Em Bradshaw and Paige Cole but Owens’ third clinched the points for her club on sixty-nine minutes.

The result means that County drop from first to third in the FAWN Division One North table, level on points with second-place Huddersfield and three behind Cheadle in top.:

The Ladies’ next league match is Blackburn Rovers away on the 14^th of September.

Today’s tune is a fresh slant on a terrace favourite; this is Edward II’s version of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5E7dc-ISlLs?start=344&feature=oembed

Monday, 1^st September 2025.

TSBW’s Match Review pod for the Wigan league game was released this morning, fronted by Jimmy Harmer with support from Dan Culverwell, Steve Bardsley and Big Rolo. Their analysis of the match (or the group therapy session, according to Dan) went this way:

• The team: The two on-loan wingbacks, Corey O’Keeffe and Owen Dodgson, found themselves on the bench, replaced by Jayden Fevrier and Danny Andrew. The formation was deemed to be a fluid 3-4-3. Are our current wingbacks better than those we’ve moved on? A fit Macca would be picked ahead of O’Keeffe, but it was the Genius From Wales’ injury record that did for him in the end. Dodgson is undeniably a prospect but while he’s an improvement on Ibby Touray going forward, he lacks his talent for defending. We can’t ignore the injuries we have in defensive areas either; Tayo Edun and Arttu Hoskonen will surely have a part to play once fit.
• Midfield: This area of the team has been particularly badly affected by the injuries to Lewis Bate and Callum Camps. It lacks the legs and bite formerly provided by players like Tony Sarcevic and Ryan Croasdale, both doing well at their new League 1 clubs, by the way. The obvious replacements, Lewis Fiorini and Odin Bailey, haven’t grasped their opportunities to secure a berth when they’ve been selected.
• Hope springs eternal for a bit: Our goal, after just three minutes, came from good work by Ollie Norwood and Jack Diamond, allowing Jayden Fevrier to slot home via deflection off a Wigan defender. The idea that we might then go on to grab the game by the throat didn’t last, unfortunately, because although we played it around nicely in midfield we didn’t seem able to provide the service that the strikers needed to get the second goal. The few chances we did generate were missed.
• A trademark second half: Wigan’s subs spurred them on, our earlier ones seemed to flatten us further. Perhaps Wigan’s equaliser might have been disallowed for a foul on Ethan Pye or perhaps, as Chally suggested in his post-match interview, our centre half might have shown more strength. We showed a bit more promise late on but ultimately a draw flattered us and we could easily have lost to Wigan twice in a week.

If you need this therapy session as well, and I’d recommend it as a means of regaining some proportion, it’s available here:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ogg4isBPVVY?feature=oembed

The transfer window closed at seven tonight and although it seemed we were leaving it late, it looks as though most of the obvious issues have been addressed and there’s some optimism dawning among the County fans on the socials. Action on deadline day went like this:

• Danny Andrew, who was on a short-term contract with us and shown some nice touches, signed for Exeter until the end of the season.
• Jid Okeke, who looks a real prospect, has gone to Walsall on loan for the rest of the season.
• Jay Mingi was rumoured to be going back to Colchester, from whence he came, but has signed for Crewe on loan for the season. I can’t really explain why, but I want this lad to succeed as much as any of our young players. Let’s hope this loan is the start of something good.
• Tyler Onyango finally signed the loan deal that has been widely expected for weeks. He’s been occupying Everton’s bench up to now due to their lack of manpower but it’s good to see him back. He showed great promise with County until his injury against Forest Green in the FA Cup last season.
• Ben Osborn, a versatile midfielder from Derby County was announced as a season-long loan right at the death. He looks to be exactly what we need to insert some quality into an injury-ravaged midfield, he’s got plenty of Premier League and Championship experience and knows Ollie Norwood well.

To summarise the transfer activity in this window, we’ve signed five players on a permanent basis: Brad Hills, Joseph Olowu, Arttu Hoskonen, Tayo Edun and Malik Mothersille. Those signed on loan are Owen Dodgson (with a view to a permanent deal), Corey O’Keeffe, Tyler Onyango, Nathan Lowe and Ben Osborn. As mentioned above, Danny Andrew came and went.

Ignoring those who were released at the end of last season, we’ve sent Jid Okeke, Jay Mingi and Ryan Rydel out on loan with a view to continuing their development by getting game time elsewhere.

Here’s my “throw all the names in the air and see where they land” guess at a team for the EFL (Vertu) Trophy game against Wolves U21 tomorrow.

I’m not going to the game, I boycott these matches against U21 teams on principle. Unlike last season’s match against Everton, it isn’t being streamed so I won’t be tempted by that either.

Mickey Jupp’s music was ahead of its time in many ways but as today’s tune shows, he foresaw the invention of word processing software way back in 1970. This is “My Typewriter” from the Legend album:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/fGXuJhfsj3g?feature=oembed

Tuesday, 2^nd September 2025.

Matchday: County v Wolverhampton Wanderers U21, EFL (Virtu) Trophy.

PPG Prophet’s latest graph confirms that, despite some less than stellar performances, our points return is still enough to have us in the playoff zone based on past seasons:

Now then, about tonight’s match. In yesterday’s entry I said that it wasn’t being streamed, so I wouldn’t be tempted to spend money on watching it. I’m often accused of being unobservant and there may be something in this, as I completely failed to notice that it was being shown on Sky until nine minutes in. The surprisingly strong team selection had me half wishing I’d gone instead of boycotting it and would have got me 9/11 on FanHub if they recognised the competition.

We were 1-0 down by the time I got it on the screen and 2-0 shortly afterwards when Christy Grogan got caught on the ball. The signs weren’t too promising, with the Wolves players looking tall, athletic and quick.

Things soon took a turn though, with Nathan Lowe showing what he can do given the service. His first, on twenty minutes, came from a Lewis Fiorini pass and his second, four minutes later, from a comedy clearance of a Hinchliffe long ball by the Wolves goalie. The man in the middle of our goal was key again just before the break, standing strong to prevent Wolves taking the lead when Okoduwa was through one on one.

At the start of the second half, DC brought on Corey Edwards, the new recruit from Rochdale, Rhys Watson and Marcus Kouam to replace Christy Grogan, Owen Dodgson and Nathan Lowe. In my ignorance, I assumed Dave had decided that giving the youngsters some minutes was more important than winning the game but this demonstrates once again why he’s a successful manager and I’m just a fan. County were on the front foot now, and took the lead on fifty-two minutes when Che Gardner crossed to Odin Bailey who swept the ball home.

Brad Hills wasn’t having his best evening ever, and was caught again on fifty-seven minutes, leading to the equaliser from the same player Ben had foiled earlier. That was disappointing, and Wolves came close to going ahead again only to be foiled by the woodwork. The turning point came with the introduction of sixteen-year-old Joe Astles in place of Che Gardner. Within four minutes of coming on, he’d latched on to a Fiorini pass and fired County into the lead. Four minutes later he received a headed ball from Marcus Kouam, weaved his way past a floored defender and chipped the ‘keeper. Despite ten minutes of time added, Wolves weren’t coming back from that and County had the three points.

A terrific win against a strong Wolves team and some useful minutes for several fringe players. Lewis Fiorini was rightly declared Man Of The Match and is starting to show just some of the quality that our recruiters must have believed he possessed when they signed him. There were fine performances all over the pitch, new boy Corey Edwards looking particularly impressive when he came on for his debut.

Given the unexpected nature of tonight’s result, today’s tune is “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/zakKvbIQ28o?feature=oembed

Wednesday, 3^rd September 2025.

This article from the Guardian gives a fascinating insight into County’s activity on deadline day:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/sep/02/you-always-get-nervous-inside-deadline-day-at-league-one-stockport?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The Scarf Bergara Wore’s weekly pod featured Waggie on the buttons, Andy Reding as co-pilot and Dave Marchbank, Chair of the Supporters’ Co-Op board in the guest spot. Dave opened with a story that perfectly illustrated the compassionate side of the club in general and keeper of the turf Liam Cash in particular. The rest of the hour went like this:

• Deadline day: It was generally agreed that County’s recruitment team have had an excellent transfer window. This appears to include Ollie Norwood now, as the club have made it clear that he played a major part in persuading Ben Osborn, who so far has only played in the Premier League and the Championship, to drop down a division to play for us. It will be fascinating to see how Osborn and Tyler Onyango, another recruit from the Premier League, blend into the team. Even the outgoings look ideal; Jay Mingi and Jid Okeke will get valuable playing time during their loan spells at Crewe and Walsall respectively. Jid has started particularly well, scoring on his debut.
• Vertu Trophy: Not content with recruiting quality players from outside, Tuesday’s win against Wolves U21s shows that we can grow our own as well. Players like Joe Astles, Che Gardner, Ashton Mee and Marcus Kouam will surely develop into valuable members of the squad in the fullness of time. The wider question of the competition was discussed; none of the U21 teams won games in the latest round of matches and their inclusion is unpopular with many fans. Perhaps it would be better to bring National League teams into the competition instead, now that they are all run on a professional basis.

Dave Marchbank then took the floor to run through the latest developments at the Supporters’ Co-Operative.

• The AGM is set for seven o’clock on the 24^th of November at the Spinning Top.
• The board has a number of vacancies and although a couple of potential members have already expressed an interest, there is still room for more. Anyone wishing to put their name forward has to be a Co-Op member at the 29^th of September at the latest and nominations need to be in by the 19^th of November. If you are interested in standing, please email info@countysupporterscoop.co.uk
• We have a meeting planned with the newly-appointed Football Regulator to find out how we can work together to improve the way football is run in the country as a whole.
• The Co-Op have agreed to sponsor the Community Trust’s Flag Bearer scheme again for this season.
• A successful crowdfunder has allowed us to pay for tickets for cup games, to be allocated to children on the programmes run by the Community Trust.
• Funds have been raised to buy four season tickets which can be used by County fans who are struggling financially.
• Members can receive a discount on travel to away games with selected coach operators.
• This years’ Supporters’ Calendar has proved a great success with all two hundred copies now sold and the profits divided between the Co-Op and local charity Walthew House. The use of photo’s submitted by the fans themselves has proved very popular and will be continued next year.
• Discussions are underway about joint events with the Co-Op and The Scarf Bergara Wore.
• Joining as a Co-Op member couldn’t be easier; head here for the details: https://webcollect.org.uk/coop

The pod closed with the latest Random Shit Of The Week, which involved submissions for a footballing Frankenstein’s monster made up of parts of County’s finest. The bits required were a left foot, a right foot, legs, heading ability, leadership quality, general skill, football intelligence and to top it off, the most handsome face.

A splendid hour as ever, experience it yourself here:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/YxhZn19JHRE?feature=oembed

The highlights of Tuesday’s win against Wolves U21 are up now and well worth a watch:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/9AMGEW4pa-U?feature=oembed

Today’s tune, to keep the horror vibe of this week’s RSOTW going, is Bad Manners’ version of “Monster Mash”:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mqoQcOc_iRE?feature=oembed

Thursday, 4^th September 2025.

Throw the switch, Igor, the storm is at its height! Here’s my crack at a County Frankenstein:

Left foot: Paul Cook, as seen in the goal against Citeh.

Right foot: Stephen Gleeson, as seen in The Goal That Changed Nothing against Wycombe.

Legs: The indefatigable Will Collar.

Header: You’ve not seen nothing like the mighty Jim Fryatt.

Leader: Most people seem to be saying Mike Flynn, and with good reason.

Most skilful: With or without recency bias, Ollie Norwood.

Most intelligent: Jim Gannon, a deep thinker about the game, life and everything.

Face: Mark Ross, depressingly handsome and did a bit of modelling, if I remember rightly.

Lauren Hedley of TSBW has been talking to Ben of the Green & White podcast about his expectations for Saturday’s match. Argyle fans are disappointed with the start they’ve made, having been promised a top six budget and new signings with a view to getting back into the Championship PDQ. The opposite seems to have happened, with the players who got them relegated deserting the sinking ship and an influx of youth players who aren’t up to the task coming in to take their places. The way Ben describes their style, it sounds very Ruskball, and we all know where that get you. If the football’s poor, the public relations side of the club is no better, with no two parts of the club telling the same story. Experience tells me that we’re in for a drubbing on Saturday, because that’s what always happens when opposition fans tell us how crap they are, despite Ben saying that everyone associated with their pod thinks we’re going to win 2-1. I will remind everyone though, that our greatest ever season started poorly but was kickstarted by a win against Plymouth. So there’s that.

See what you think yourselves:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/RkplEllbb-k?feature=oembed

The Scarf Bergara Wore has a shiny new website created by Simon Harmer, providing a proper home for everything TSBW. Here’s what’s in place now:

• One hub for all our content – YouTube videos, audio pods, blogs &c.

• Feeds from County news outlets, selected fan creators and the club itself.

• A fascinating stats section.

• A built-in prediction game for everyone to get involved.

• Future plans include merchandise, a forum, membership, more feeds &c. &c.

It’s all here for you:

https://scarfbergarawore.co.uk

Today’s tune is a shanty, as befits a trip to one of our major sea towns, The Dreadnoughts’ version of “Roll The Old Chariot Along”:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/eWAGBUReOZE?feature=oembed

Friday 5^th September 2025.

County Ladies’ season is in full swing now and so is The Scarf Bergara Wore’s dedicated podcast, presented by Stu Hope. He was joined this time by the voice of Stockport Sports Village, James Pratt, and the Ladies’ first team manager, Steve O’Hara. Steve is generally happy with the way things have gone so far with a successful pre-season and all five new signings having a positive impact. Jess Battle is an out-and-out goalscorer, Abbie Podmore has exceeded expectations by becoming a regular in the starting XI, Em Bradshaw’s return from injury has brought instant results and Paige Cole scores goals. The arrival of Chris Brown as first team coach brings experience and new idea from his time at Stoke and elsewhere. This is especially important as the team is only able to train on Wednesday evenings.

The Ladies’ next match is a local derby, away at Cheadle Town Stingers in the FAWNL Cup:

The pod is an excellent insight into the Ladies’ setup and is available from the TSBW website or from You Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z3pwkc6GwyM?feature=oembed

I’ve had a crack at predicting a team for tomorrow, without any great hope of success. Now that the transfer window has closed, we might get to see a pattern emerge over the next few games.

It’s a long old way to Plymouth and I’ll be hoping to pass some of those miles by listening to Geordie Hatter’s first Awayday Show of the season. His dress rehearsal last night featuring his son Frankie was enjoyed by a select invited audience and proved that all the technical jiggery-pokery is still functioning after its long layoff. Get the Mixlr app downloaded on your phone and catch the show here from 09:30 tomorrow:

https://the-geordie-hatter.mixlr.com/events/4502094

Today’s tune is a warning about the evils of prohibited substances from Reverend & the Makers and features some opening words of warning from a man who should know, Howard Marks. This is “MDMAzing”:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/lPewZji2ig8?feature=oembed

See you all at Plymouth!

Animo et fide.