Saturday, 15^th November 2025.

As County don’t have a game this week, we’ve taken the opportunity to spend a few days in Wales before the caravan site closes for the winter. Storm Claudia made things interesting, the dog very sensibly declined to go out until it became absolutely imperative and I’ve never seen weather like it. It was really difficult to keep my feet, such was the force of the wind, and there was the ever-present danger of bits of tree flying through the air.

Of the games that took place today, only Lincoln v Doncaster threatened our position at the top of the league. Despite the Imps winning 2-1 we still held on at the top, we’re now on the same points and share the same goal difference but we’ve scored two more goals than them.

There are no more games until we play on Thursday and if we can get something at Peterborough we’ll be looking good. Here’s the league table as it stands for the next few days:

I got my football fix by watching Oldham v Crewe (entertaining 0-0), Wales v Liechtenstein (made hard work of winning 1-0) and Scotland v Greece (a 3-2 defeat for the Scots but very exciting once they decided to play).

Today’s tune is for our recent Spanish visitor, “Claudie” by Status Quo:

Sunday, 16^th November 2025.

Matchday: County Ladies v Cheadle Town Stingers, FAWNL Division 1 North.

Here’s how County lined up for this challenging local derby against the league leaders:

Emma Lysons, Natalie Watson and Paige Cole came in for Olivia Wilson, Abbie Podmore and Shaunna Jein who dropped to the bench.

There was an early setback for County after ten minutes when Cheadle were awarded a penalty for handball that was converted by Imogen Porteous-Williams. The rest of the first half went to and fro, County coming close to an equaliser through Em Lysons, Kenedy Owen and Paige Cole.

County strove tirelessly for the equaliser throughout the second half, but despite good efforts by Paige Cole and Em Bradshaw, there was no further score and Cheadle ran out winners by virtue of the early penalty.

In his post-match interview, manager Steve O’Hara said he’d expected a battle and didn’t feel that either side deserved to win. County aren’t creating chances as much as he’d like and they’ll work on that aspect in the coming weeks.

The Ladies’ next game is the FA Cup tie next Sunday against Derby County at Mickleover Sports Club, kick-off two o’clock.

Rumours abound that Ducan Watmore, the ex-Sunderland, Millwall and Middlesbrough forward, is training with County. He’s a free agent, and has been since July, so he’s available to sign outside the transfer window. It sounds like he’s bound for Sheffield Wednesday, but one never knows….

As we’re in the principality at the moment, we should have something in Welsh. Today’s tune fits the bill, it’s a live version of “Native Son” by the Oysterband, with John Jones singing the first verse in Cymraeg:

Monday, 17^th November 2025.

TSBW’s Match Review pod, not having a match to review, became a Season So Far review instead. Jimmy Harmer took the chair and was joined by regulars Steve Bardsley and Dan Culverwell. A useful reminder of who’s come in, who’s gone out and how we’ve got on in each game.

• Transfers out:
  • Ibby Touray (to Bradford) and Kyle Knoyle (to Mansfield): Neither were everyone’s cup of tea as wingbacks but arguably better defenders than those who’ve replaced them.
  • Will Collar (to MK Dons): Had perhaps reached his ceiling with us and seemed keen to head back south for domestic reasons.
  • Cody Johnson (to Halifax): A brilliantly skilful young player but the club’s rapid rise pretty much left him behind.
  • Sam Hughes (to Peterborough): hardly played for us, went to Peterborough on loan in the January 2025 transfer window, a move that was made permanent this summer. Possibly a makeweight in the Mothersille and Edun incoming deals.
  • Tanto Olaofe (to Charlton): We miss his pace and power but it would have been wrong to refuse him a move to a higher division and nearer his family home.
  • Macaulay Southam Hales (to Bristol Rovers): A bona fide County hero but his injury record caught up with him eventually.
  • Fraser Horsfall (to Blackpool): Allowed his contract to run down and secured a decent contract for himself. He hasn’t been a roaring success.
  • Micah Hamilton: The Middlesbrough loanee returned to his parent club after a less than thrilling time with us.
  • Sam Cosgrove: The Barnsley loanee went back to his parent club and was released by them at the end of his contract. Now playing in New Zealand.
  • Ryan Rydel (on loan to Exeter): One of my favourites, but I’m afraid his ongoing injury problems mean we may have seen the last of him in a County shirt.
  • Jay Mingi (on loan to Crewe): Doesn’t seem to be setting the world on fire at Gresty Road, another one we may not see again.
• Transfers in:
  • Arttu Hoskonen: The Finnish international centre half has yet to play for us and the club are being coy about what ails him.
  • Tayo Edun: The left wingback came to us from Peterborough, got injured in pre-season and hasn’t played a competitive game yet.
  • Joseph Olowu: Won L2 with Doncaster last season, looking a cracking player and becoming a crowd favourite.
  • Brad Hills: On loan last season from Norwich, I was amazed when he signed for us permanently. Has promise by the wagonload.
  • Malik Mothersille: Mercurial No.10 signed from Peterborough for a record fee. Hasn’t played much yet but starting to show why we pursued him.
  • Corey O’Keeffe: Right wingback on loan from Barnsley, better going forward than defending.
  • Owen Dodgson: Young left wingback on loan from Burnley, has had a varied time with us so far. Showed his inexperience with a daft sending off against Luton.
  • Nathan Lowe: Young Stoke striker, sensational in L2 last season with Walsall, now starting to show his ability with us after a slow start.
  • Tyler Onyango: On loan from Everton, ostensibly a central defender but doing wonders as a right wingback until getting injured.
  • Ben Osborn: On loan from Derby, supposedly a central midfielder but looked a million dollars as a left wingback until he pulled a hamstring at Tranmere.
  • Roman Dixon: Everton fullback was apparently going to be on loan with us until he was injured in pre-season, whether he’s still heading our way is a mystery.
• The games:
  • Bolton (H): Won 2-0, Mothersille and Wootton. Not at our best but took our chances. Corey Addai, starting as first choice ‘keeper, voted MOTM.
  • Wycombe (A): Won 2-1, Wootton and Diamond. We looked assured at 2-0 but the home team missed a penalty and after they scored it all got a bit fraught.
  • Crewe (H), Carabao Cup: Won 3-1, Wootton, Lowe and Fiorini. We fielded a much changed team, including Ben Hinchliffe in nets and a number of U21s. A comfortable win.
  • Orient (A): Drew 2-2, Lowe and Olowu. A two goal lead at half time flattered County but we very nearly got away with all three points, only conceding the equaliser in the 93^rd minute.
  • Bradford (H): Lost 2-1, Moxon. A superb first half performance in contrast with a poor second in which Bradford came roaring back. The winner was scored, inevitably, by Antoni Sarcevic.
  • Burton (H): Won 2-1, Diamond and Norwood. A poor first half, conceding and having Brad Hills sent off. The second half was astonishing, County looked as though they had twelve men rather than ten and Norwood’s unstoppable free kick was the icing on the cake.
  • Wigan (A), Carabao Cup: Lost 1-0, a thoroughly dispiriting evening. Many changes to both teams, ours did us no favours.
  • Wigan (A): Drew 1-1, Jayden Fevrier. Having scored after three minutes, County tried to defend for the next eighty-six and didn’t quite make it.
  • Wolves U21 (H), Vertu Trophy: Won 5-3, Lowe (2), Bailey and Astles (2). An astonishing game, which I missed on principle, like a pillock. County were two down early doors, got it back to 2-2 at half time and ran out winners by virtue of a superb debut by Joe Astles who showed incredible composure in scoring his brace.
  • Plymouth (A): Lost 4-2, Norwood and Wootton. County reserved their most spineless performance of the season so far for the longest trek, cheers lads. Having been two nil down in the first half, a Norwood penalty gave us false hope before the break but further goals from Argyle in the second half soon confirmed the defeat.
  • Cardiff (H): Drew 1-1, Norwood. Having gone ahead in the thirty-fourth minute with a Norwood penalty, County put on an excellent performance against an unbeaten Cardiff team. We were punished, once again, by our failure to turn dominance into goals when the visitors snatched an equaliser deep into injury time. Corey Addai was criticised for his indecision that played a part in the late Cardiff goal.
  • Rotherham (A): Won 1-0, Wootton. Ben Hinchliffe was back in nets for this one to bring his calm assurance to a defence that hadn’t always looked settled so far. The familiar pattern of dominance without scoring more than one was repeated but this time we got away with all three points.
  • Reading (H): Drew 1-1, Wootton. Another example of our tendency to go ahead and fail to keep the lead to the end.
  • Huddersfield (A): Won 2-1, Norwood and Bailey. We went one up from another Norwood penalty in a monsoon but things looked iffy when Onyango was sent off early in the second half. As it turned out, the home team failed to take advantage and a superb Bailey goal proved to be the winner. The Terriers’ late goal was just a consolation for the home meatheads we shared a stand with.
  • Salford (A), Vertu Trophy: Lost 3-1, Bailey. Another example of the second string failing to grasp their opportunities.
  • Blackpool (H): Won 1-0, Olowu. Fears of a caretaker manager bounce by the visitors proved unfounded and a forceful header by Olowu was enough to gain the points, despite the usual rearguard action.
  • Exeter (H): Won 1-0, Lowe. A storming header by Lowe from a short corner was enough to bring home the bacon.
  • Port Vale (A): Won 3-0, Lowe, Wootton and Diamond. At last, multiple goals and a comfortable win. Diamond mugging a bewildered defender before slotting the ball home was the highlight for me.
  • Tranmere (A), FA Cup: Won 3-1, Diamond, Lowe and Norwood. A forgettable first half but a dominant second sparked by the introduction of Callum Camps. Norwood’s audacious free kick the pick of the goals.
  • Luton (H): Lost 3-0. We were always going to be up against it in the absence of Norwood, Onyango, Osborn and Olowu. Luton were full of the dark arts and took their chances where we didn’t.
  • Wigan (H), Vertu Trophy: Drew 1-1, O’Keeffe. Played in a torrential downpour that led to a lengthy delay to get the pitch back playable. County were through to the next phase of the competition by full time but the rules dictated that there had to be a pointless penalty shootout for the extra point, which County won 6-5.
• Verdict: We remain well placed in three competitions, albeit with a worrying list of injuries to key players. If we can get something from the December round of games some of the wounded should return to push us on towards the run-in. There may be scope for improvements in the January window, especially if rumours of a return of No.20 are accurate. I’m still not sure if that would be a good thing or not, but I’m glad it’s not my decision.

A highly recommended pod, watch it in full here:

Tickets for Doncaster (A) went on sale this morning and it was all a bit careless on the club’s behalf. The email to say I was entitled to buy this morning was on the last minute and had the date of the match wrong:

Furthermore, when I went to the website to book, the game wasn’t showing at all. Doncaster (H) was, of course, and I wonder if anyone bought tickets for that instead? It all got resolved after ten minutes or so but it was sloppy in the extreme. On the plus side, pressing the “Easy Access” button delivered me a seat on the front row, which was nice. I’d rather sit further back and get a better view, but you know by now why that isn’t possible.

Today’s tune is some useful advice from Bobby Parker for those buying Doncaster tickets if they’re going to buy the right ones. “Watch Your Step”:

Tuesday, 18^th November 2025.

It’s not often we get news of a signing outside a transfer window, but today was an exception with the announcement that Jack Hunt is now a County player. He seems to trying to do the 92 as a player, his last club of many was Bristol Rovers and he’s had an injury or two but when he’s on the pitch he has something about him and he can score the odd goal. Might be just what we need. Reaction to the move from fans of his previous clubs has been unusually positive, so that’s a good sign.

An enjoyable evening of international football tonight. We watched Wales give North Macedonia a good doing then turned over in time to see Scotland’s Kenny McLean lob Casper Schmeichel to score from the halfway line, which made me very happy. That might sound vindictive, but Denmark’s ‘keeper gives me that absolute pip, he’s such an arrogant sod. I know a lot of England fans sneer at the other home nations, partly because their fans sneer at England, but I’m all for them doing well. They have a more gung-ho spirit in the way they play and their fans always want to have a good time, win, lose or draw.

County have said that Tyler Onyango has gone back to Everton for treatment. Other accounts have said that “Everton have recalled Tyler Onyango from Stockport.” Do those both mean the same thing, or is that the last we’ll see of him? He’s been brilliant, I really hope he comes back.

Today’s tune is UB40 & Pato Banton’s version of the Equals’ hit “Baby Come Back”:

Wednesday, 19^th November 2025.

It’s International Men’s Day and County’s Community Trust have been highlighting the ways the club can have a positive effect on the mental health of men in the borough and surrounding areas. I was aware of the terrific work Mentel (https://www.mentell.org/) do but Say It Lad (https://www.sayitlad.com/) was new to me.

Here’s my idea of a team for tomorrow. Even I’m not totally convinced by it but I’m sure DC will have a plan of some sort to cope with the injuries we’ve got. I’m assuming Joe Olowu will be fit and that Corey O’Keeffe will keep his place despite the signing of Jack Hunt. I was tempted to put Malik Mothersille in for a return to his old club but I’ve preferred Callum Camps to give a bit more strength in midfield.

This week’s main pod from The Scarf Bergara Wore doubled as a match preview for Peterborough (A). It was presented by the classic triumvirate of Russ Johnson, Waggie and Andy Reding with Steve Bardsley, usually found on the Preview and Review pods, as fan guest.

• Peterborough (A):
  • Form: They’re enjoying a bit of a new manager bounce at the moment, having sacked serial Posh Yo-Yo Darren Ferguson and replaced him with ex-Swansea boss Luke Williams. They beat Wimbledon 5-0 recently so their lowly league position isn’t the whole story.
  • Who plays for us?: The pictures from Carrington today suggest that some of our wounded are at least “back on the grass,” but tomorrow may be too soon for a return. Corey O’Keeffe moving to left back and Jack Hunt making his debut on the right is a possibility. Is Callum Camps fit enough to start, or will Owen Moxon keep his place? Would Malik Mothersille be better as a sub rather than a starter at his old stomping ground?
  • Players to watch: Tom O’Connor, the ex-Wrexham defender, and Jimmy-Jay Morgan, a striker on loan from Chelsea.
  • Predictions: All the panellists thought we’d win, suggested scores ranged from 2-1 to 3-2.
  • Despite the confidence their fans are displaying on the forums, none of their podcasts were prepared to front up for a Match Preview pod. Let’s hope they’re as reticent after tomorrow night.
• Club v Country: Jamie O’Hara’s click-baity comments about County being good enough to win the Scottish Premiership led to Russ appearing on the STV Radio Football Show to present the voice of reason. It’s been a strange old carry-on, but to quote Oscar Wilde “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
• Forthcoming attractions:
  • An Evening With Antoni Sarcevic: The combined Supporters’ Co-Op/TSBW event next Wednesday is looking more exciting by the day, it will now feature a meat raffle on top of all the other delights.
  • TSBW have three ex-County legends lined up for future live shows, yet more reasons to sign up as a Patreon member.
• Football Content Awards: The ceremony takes place tomorrow night. TSBW are among the finalists, if not one of the favourites, but you never know…
• Jack Hunt: Our new recruit deserves credit for keeping himself fit while he’s been without a club. It seems from his interview that we were in for him last season and the good wishes he’s received from all quarters suggest that he’s got something about him.
• Duncan Watmore: Dave Challinor revealed in an interview that the player is no longer training with us, but he didn’t completely rule out an attempt to sign him.
• Louie Barry: Rumours of a return or even a signing in January are still rife. Everyone would welcome him back, but the constant speculation is wearing some of us (Andy, mainly) down. Russ risked a social media storm by suggesting, tongue in cheek, that perhaps we need a statement from Louie’s father.
• Random Shit Of The Week: Yes, Brenda from Bristol, another one. This week’s was a County version of “Would I Lie To You?” Steve had the unenviable task of deciding which of the other players’ statements were true.

A smashing hour’s entertainment, watch it here:

I sometimes get so obsessed by a particular tune that I just have it on a loop until I can’t stand it any more. It might just be me, but for what it’s worth, this is today’s musical earworm, “Water Or Gasoline” by Kevin Gordon:

Thursday, 20^th November 2025.

Matchday: Peterborough United v County, League 1.

The Supporters’ Co-op have donated forty-eight pairs of tickets to Stockport County Community Trust programme participants for the FA Cup clash against Cambridge United. This forms part of our wider initiative to help grow the Stockport County fan base. With Edgeley Park being practically full for most league games, a home FA Cup tie was the ideal opportunity to introduce children and their parents to the joys of watching County.

My concerns about Tyler Onyango being “recalled” by Everton have been dispelled by an exchange of Tweets with Sam Byrne:

And so, dear reader, and I can’t put this off any longer, to Peterborough. Disappointingly, we only had nineteen takers for the Flyer, which wasn’t ideal financially, but at least we all had pairs of seats to ourselves. It was rather an odd journey, the traffic on the M56 was horrendous and while we were sat there, I dozed off. When I awoke, we were in the middle of Stoke and making a bit more progress. I assume there was an accident on the M6 or somesuch. We paused briefly at Rugby Services then on to Peterboghorror, arriving at around quarter to seven. Dave The Driver stopped the coach to ask a vanload of constabulary for directions, but they seemed more interested in the flat they were raiding than any problems we might be experiencing.

I staggered about pitifully enough at the turnstiles to be ushered into the ground via an exit gate, which was nice, and found myself a disabled seat right at the front. I was joined there by Hannah Brown who, like me, prefers to sit to watch the match without people standing in the way.

The main surprise when the team was announced was that Beno Andrésson was starting rather than Nathan Lowe. My suggested lineup earned me 9/11, as I’d picked Lowe and Fevrier to start instead of Moxon and Andrésson.

The home club’s terrifying mascots were there as usual, the one with a skip for a head is perhaps the most upsetting but I’ve spared you the one dressed as a builder, he’d challenge Harry The Hatter in the “Creepiest Mascot” stakes:

It seems surprising in hindsight, but we started well and had most of the play…for five minutes. In the sixth, Peterborough’s Kioso charged down their right, crossed into the box where some neat touches left County’s defence looking statuesque as Woods slotted the ball past Ben Hinchliffe. Despite the home team’s dominance for the rest of the half, it took them another half hour to get a second when Ben Hinchliffe parried a Morgan shot to Lisbie, who netted from a narrow angle. The weather matched the mood among the County fans at this stage, it was bitterly cold and snowing heavily. A half time blizzard and an abandonment was starting to look like our only chance.

Despite my saying that I didn’t need anything from the refreshment stall, Hannah very kindly returned with a cup of Bovril for me and it was just what was needed to warm the hands and the core to prevent hypothermia setting in.

Nathan Lowe and Jayden Fevrier cam out to warm up at half time and it turned out they were going to replace Beno Andrésson, who had been pretty ineffective, and Callum Camps who appeared to be struggling. When play restarted we at least competed with Lowe as the spearhead and he came as close as anyone to getting a goal back. Our tactic of lumping the ball forward to Kyle Wootton in the hope that he could nod it on to one of own still didn’t produce anything really threatening, and DC’s next throw of the dice was to introduce Malik Mothersille and Jack Hunt to replace Owen Moxon and Corey O’Keeffe on sixty-five minutes. It’s fair to say that the Peterborough fans haven’t taken Mothersille’s departure at all well, their fury at his every touch of the ball knocked that of Congreve’s woman scorned into a cocked hat. Our record signing produced his best cameo of his County career so far, marauding down the left wing and taking on any defender who got in his way. We couldn’t capitalise on his endeavour though, and United’s killer third came from Khela latching on to a rebound on seventy-six minutes. With the match obviously done and dusted, Che Gardner came on to replace Jack Diamond for a taste of the action while we all waited for the final whistle. Gallows humour can lighten the mood on occasions like this, and fair play to the County fans who joined in with the home choir’s singing of “Top of the league, you’re having a laugh.”

It was a subdued coachload that wended its way back home, Dave did a sterling job of getting us back non-stop to arrive at the Fingerpost around one fifteen. I treated Luke Tindall to a ride in the Land Rover to his digs in Manchester rather than leave him at the mercy of Uber’s scalpers, so it was gone three by the time I got in the house. I watched a bit of Ashes cricket before tiredness o’er took me and I got a few hours’ kip.

Today’s tune is the musical version of County’s performance, “Train Wreck Blues” by the Urban Voodoo Machine:

Friday 21^st November 2025.

We’ve dropped to second place on goal difference as a result of last night’s loss, here’s how things stand at the moment:

The highlights of last night’s debacle are here if you’re feeling strong enough to watch them; I haven’t done so, it was bad enough seeing it unfold live:

The Stockport Country debate continues:

Say what you like about Scottish football, but they’re not afraid to innovate up there; Cowdenbeath have just introduced a season ticket for dogs.

That’s a ground I’ve been to, by the way; not to watch the Blue Brazil but for the BRISCA F2 Stock cars, there’s a 1/4-mile oval round the outside of the pitch.

The club mounted a watch party at EP for the Peterborough game and The Scarf Bergara Wore were invited to take part in the festivities before kick-off. This took the shape of an interview by Russ Johnson of Liam Cash and Leon Berry, two major off-pitch players in the recent rain-affected game with Wigan. As ever, Liam revealed fascinating details of the work he and his team do to keep the Edgeley Park Lawn looking as it does, week in and week out. Armed with information from weather radar and various apps, he was able to convince the referee that the rain would stop and that a suspension of play would allow the pitch to drain with some well-directed human intervention.

Leon described the water cascading into the media area that meant the scoreboard had to be switched off, but only once clearance had been given that a working scoreboard wasn’t a condition of the game taking place. They were able to switch it on again eventually by dint of the sort of system hacks not normally seen outside the Mission Impossible franchise. The most noticeable aspect of Leon’s evening was the rain-related playlist he concocted on the hoof, winning praise from all quarters, including the Sky Sports commentary team on the night. Plenty of insight to watch for here:

An important note for members of the Stockport County Supporters’ Co-Operative; it’s our AGM this coming Monday, the 24th of November at The Spinning Top, Wellington Road South, SK4 1AA. The doors open at 6:30 and the meeting will begin promptly at 7:00. It’s vitally important that we have enough members there either in person or online to establish a quorum or we’ll have to do it all again. If you’re a member and can’t be there in person, this Google Meet link will allow you to attend remotely:

It’s a good job we haven’t got a game today or this week’s blog wouldn’t be out before kick-off. The delay was partly down to your scribe having a lie-in after a late return home this morning, and partly to Janice and I going out to see Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires at Hallé St Peter’s in Manchester last night. Brian has been described as The Banksy Of Poetry and Twitter’s Unofficial Poet Laureate, although he’s no longer on Elon Musk’s anti-social media swamp. His poems are always witty, comical and thought provoking and more so when set to music by his collaborators, The Catenary Wires. We hadn’t been to St. Peter’s before, it’s a beautiful venue:

Today’s tune is by Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires, “Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You”:

See you all at Edgeley Park!

Animo et fide, you lovely people.