Saturday, 13^th September 2025.

Matchday, County v Cardiff City, League 1.

Despite the abject performance against Plymouth last Saturday, I was feeling surprisingly optimistic about this afternoon’s match. We don’t generally lose two in a row, we’d had a week to learn the lessons and the defeat will have stung everyone in the team and the coaching staff as well. It was, therefore, with hearts full of hope that we strolled to the ground just before two o’clock. We went our separate ways briefly, Janice to shop for presents for the great-nephew and me to have a mugshot taken by John Giles for Co-Op purposes.

EP was looking a picture in the watery sunshine and the pitch, as ever, was perfect to the last blade of grass.

Dave Challinor’s team brought me an 8/11 on FanHub, his changes certainly made for an interesting team:

Cardiff were, as expected, young, rapid and impressive and my initial thoughts were that we’d do well to keep them at bay. Oh, me of little faith! We matched them very well indeed, where they were quick we were quick and when they wanted to wrestle, we were capable of wrestling back. Kyle Wootton and Beno Andrésson looked as good a working pair as they’ve ever been, Tyler Onyango and Ben Osborn continued to impress, Odin Bailey was making the most of his first start of the season and the defence looked secure whenever called upon. The only thing missing was a goal, and that came from an Ollie Norwood penalty after a Andrésson was flattened in the box. The goalie went the wrong way, and Norwood kindly pointed to where the ball was as he was picking himself up. We might have had more, too; Andrésson hit the post when perhaps he should have scored and had a couple of attempts well saved. We did have a couple of scares, of course, but we kept it to 1-0 at half time.

The second half continued in much the same vein, County were on top but despite creating several chances the second goal wouldn’t come. We were denied a second penalty when Andrésson was flattened again in a repeat of the incident in the first half but for some reason the Referee waved it away. Cardiff made a series of substitutions from the hour mark, presumably in search of fresh legs. Dave Challinor followed suit, taking Bailey and Andrésson off and replacing them with Callum Camps and Owen Moxon. This was followed by Corey O’Keefe coming on for Onyango and Callum Connolly for Jack Diamond. Good as it was to see Camps back on the pitch, this concentration on defence meant that we were under siege for the remainder of the game and you could tell that everyone feared the worst when seven minutes of time added were announced. The seemingly inevitable equaliser came in the ninety-seventh minutes when Corey Addai half came out to claim a cross then retreated, none of the army of centre halves we now had on the pitch picked City’s Salech up and he headed home unopposed. A real kick in the teeth after one of our best performances of the season and against an unbeaten team to boot.

It was such a frustrating end to the game, and it inevitably raises questions about our tactics late in matches. We have a definite tendency to score a single goal then try to defend it. Sometimes it comes off but even when it does, we spend the last quarter of the game with our penalty area looking like a re-run of the Alamo. Is it because our Manager and his assistant were both defenders? Wouldn’t we be better maintaining a balanced side on the pitch to keep the opposition occupied further upfield and stop them massing at the edge of our penalty area?

Today’s tune, in the spirit of conceding an injury time equaliser, is a jolly little ditty entitled “Depressed Beyond Tablets” by Half Man Half Biscuit:

Sunday, 14^th September 2025.

Matchday: Blackburn Rovers WFC v Stockport County Ladies, FAWNL Division 1 North.

County Ladies were over the border in Lancashire today at the Loom Loft Stadium, home of Clitheroe FC. This is Blackburn’s first season at this level, being demoted by the FA after their parent club’s Indian owners refused to honour league requirements for the second tier.

Here’s how the Ladies lined up:

County took the lead on twenty-one minutes when a Shauna Jein cross from the right took a deflection and Jess Battle headed it into the net. Rovers then equalised but County regained the lead just before the break. This time it was Livvi Turkington who played the ball over the top to Jess Battle who tapped it past the oncoming keeper.

It was 3-1 within two minutes of the restart when a rebound landed at the feet of Shaunna Jein who fired home for her first goal of the season. Jess Battle completed a superb hat trick and a 4-1 victory on eighty-four minutes when she got on the end of a deflected Em Lysons ball into the box.

This splendid result leaves County in third place behind Cheadle and Huddersfield.

The Ladies’ next league match is against Doncaster Rovers Belles at Stockport Sports Village on Sunday.

Today’s tune, very loosely inspired by Jess’ hat trick, is “Back Into The Battle” by Skinny Lister:

Monday, 15^th September 2025.

The TSBW’s Match Review gang were on point to explain the ins and outs of Saturday’s match. This week’s panel was Jimmy Harmer, Dan Culverwell, Dave Whitehead and Steve Bardsley.

• The starting lineup looked like this:

Addai

                                    Olowu            Pye                 Hills

                                    Onyango                               Osborn

                                    Bailey                                     Norwood

                                                            Diamond

                                    Andrésson                            Wootton

• Despite Cardiff being top of the league with eleven goals for and only one against, everyone expected a reaction to the Plymouth defeat.
• Those expectations were rewarded with perhaps our best performance so far this season. Bailey, Hills and Onyango were particularly impressive. We were all over them, never giving them a chance to settle.
• The penalty award might have looked a bit soft but it was a good job we got it because despite coming close, we failed to convert any of our other chances. Beno Andrésson was particularly unlucky, hitting the post, having a header and another shot saved.
• This continued into the second half and everyone agreed that we should have had a second penalty, it was perhaps a stronger claim than the one given earlier. Maybe the Ref had used up his quota for the week.
• Cardiff had thrown on their entire supply of substitutes with twenty minutes to go. We countered with Camps and Moxon for Bailey and Andrésson, which may have reduced our threat up front too much.
• O’Keeffe coming on for Onyango may have been the result of an injury or cramp, which is fair enough, but the later swap of Connolly for Diamond seemed to disrupt our previously secure defensive line.
• The equaliser was discussed at length; should Ethan Pye have done more to prevent the cross? Should Brad Hills have got closer to the scorer? Should Corey Addai have stayed on his line or come all the way? Are we short of leadership at the back? Could a spell on the bench for Corey and a few starts for Ben Hinchliffe help matters?

See what you think:

Here’s the League 1 table; I’m not used to showing the whole thing, it’s my fervent hope that our form improves so I can go back to showing just the top half:

PPG Prophet’s latest graph shows our line dropping just below the playoffs zone but despite some disappointing results, we remain in a relatively healthy position.

Today’s tune could almost have been written looking forward to an uptick in our form, it’s Billy Bragg with “Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards”:

Tuesday, 16^th September 2025.

The highlights of Saturday’s game are out now. Those of a nervous disposition may wish to cut the clip short at the ninety-minute mark:

The debate over Corey Addai, his part in Saturday’s equaliser and his keeping in general continues to dominate the County socials. Among other things, it’s been suggested that he’s under instruction not to leave his six yard area and that he was subject to criticism in the dressing room after the match and walked out, having to be coaxed back. Whatever the truth of all that, there’s no doubt that his post on Instagram showing his baby son watching clips of Corey catching crosses has stirred up the hornets’ nest even further. None of this is going to help his already fragile confidence and it really makes one wonder about the wisdom of players having open social media channels.

The club’s Community Trust and the Players’ Association continue to do excellent work in the local area. The spotlight this week is on The 90 Minute Club, their weekly Sporting Memories programme aimed at participants aged fifty or over and living with memory loss and dementia. Relatives, carers and companions are also welcome. Sessions take place every Wednesday afternoon from 2.00 to 3.30. Anyone wishing to attend should contact Stockport County Community Trust or email Eddie Owen at e.owen@stockportcounty.com

A new issue has cropped up that seems to combine the ticketing system and the membership scheme. At the time of writing, a handful of days before the game, there hasn’t been any general sale for Rotherham tickets. The minimum loyalty points required to buy one is 50, the exact figure you get for joining the membership scheme. Perhaps the club will announce something on Wednesday, but they’re cutting it fine even though this is an electronic ticket match. If I was desperate to go to Rotherham and didn’t have any loyalty points, I might be tempted to pay for membership to make sure I was able to get a ticket.

I’ve seen a few things this week that lead me to think that the club are disappointed with the take-up of the membership scheme and are trying various ways to increase it. I wonder if selling tickets only to those with a minimum of 50 loyalty points is a further manifestation of that?

Today’s tune, apropos of nothing, is “Sneaking Suspicion” by the kings of the Thames Delta, Dr. Feelgood:

Wednesday, 17^th September 2025.

Tickets for Rotherham away on Saturday finally went on open sale today at 12:30. Two and a half days before the match and with the Ticket Office closed on Thursdays, it didn’t leave much time for anyone to buy tickets in person. Still, in the absence of any previous announcement, I did wonder if they would go on open sale at all.

Members of the Supporters’ Co-Op board had a Zoom meeting with Martyn Henderson of the Independent Football Regulator at teatime tonight. He’s been speaking to fans’ organisations around the country to outline the role of the IFR and what it means for them, but they have been informal meetings and haven’t involved the discussion of club affairs. Further details of the meeting will be given once agreed with the IFR.

This was followed by a regular Co-Op board meeting, the first with Paul Dawson as a member. He will be familiar to many of you as one of the organisers, along with Steve Cunningham, of Edgeley Con Club Coaches. As the board is currently short of the optimal number of members, Paul has agreed to be co-opted pending the official election process at the AGM. The move strengthens the Co-Op’s existing affiliation with Edgeley Con Club Coaches, who offer a £2 discount on coach travel to away games to Co-Op members. With thirty-six years’ experience in insurance and financial services, Paul brings valuable transferable skills to the board and we are all very much looking forward to working with him.

All this formal business meant that I wasn’t able to watch this week’s Scarf Bergara Wore pod live but I caught up with it later. On the panel tonight were Russ Johnson, Waggie, Andy Reding and a debut fan guest in the shape of Daughter Fantastic, Georgia Flynn. The last seven days were scrutinised as follows:

• Cardiff (H): The best performance this season let down by a silly mistake right at the last knockings. Our opponents were sharp and showed why they are top of the league but we were all over them from the start. We should have been well ahead at half time and missing a handful of chances was our undoing in the end, just as much as the defensive clusterfsck in the ninety-seventh minute. Taking off Beno Andrésson and Odin Bailey, the latter having his best game for months, seemed to tip the balance in the Bluebirds’ favour. As regards the equaliser, Corey Addai has taken flak for his failure to commit one way or the other but the rest of the defence should also share the blame for failing to stop the cross or the header.
• Who should be in nets this Saturday? Corey’s confidence looks shot, which is bound to infect those around him. In addition, his controversial Instagram post has wound an already-febrile fanbase up even further and probably put the tin hat on it. The popular vote seems to be for Ben Hinchliffe to start this week.
• Rotherham (A): Everyone agreed that we should go with the same outfield players as last week and hope for a repeat of the intensity we’ve come to expect from a Dave Challinor team.
• Membership: The scheme appears to have been received less than enthusiastically by the fans and some season ticket holders are annoyed that members are getting exclusive rewards despite spending much less overall.
• Fan Guest: Georgia is the manager of the new Pure Gym, which opens this Friday afternoon in the old Marks and Spencer building on Commercial Road in Hazel Grove.  I suppose it’s fitting that the building that used to sell those chocolate-coated Custard Creams should be repurposed to allow people to work their effects off. It’s a no-contract gym and there’s a special offer on membership of £17.99 per month against the standard thirty quid. Details here:

Georgia reports that having a footballer for a father didn’t make a huge difference to her or her actor brother Tom’s childhood, and she regards Mike as “an all-round top guy.”

• Random Shit Of The Week: Not, surprisingly, a reference to one of the many Cardiff fans gloating about the equaliser on County socials this week, but the latest game devised by Waggie to round off the pod. The rest of the panel had to guess the name of past County players from the list of clubs they’d played for before us and it turned out to be most entertaining. Definitely one they should use again.

An excellent hour-or-so of County chat, catch up with it here:

Today’s tune is The Levellers’ live version of “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”:

Thursday, 18^th September 2025.

Matchday, County U21 v QPR, Premier League Cup.

I’d like to have gone to this, I enjoy catching up with how the young players are getting on, but I’m not heading back from Wales until tomorrow. County are in Group F this season, along with Burrrnley, Cardiff and QPR. The other two home games don’t take place until December. There are eight groups and the top two teams from each go through to the Round Of Sixteen.

Here’s how County lined up:

QPR went into the break 1-0 up with a 35^th minute goal from Jake Coomes. They increased their lead on fifty-three minutes through Isak Alemayehu Mulugeta before Matthew Whittingham (who I assume is the ex-City and Wolves academy man playing as a triallist) got one back for County four minutes later. Gabriel Oluwabusola sealed a 3-1 win for the visitors on 83 minutes.

TSBW have a Match Preview pod this week, Steve Bardsley represented County and spoke to Matt Lax of Rotherham’s New York Talk podcast. Matt reports that the Millers benefit from stable ownership these days but they aren’t awash with money, so the aim seems to be sustainability rather than advancement at any price. Ex County midfielder Matt Hamshaw is the current manager, replacing Mr. Popular, Steve Evans, in March this year.

Under Hamshaw, recruitment has concentrated on youth in direct contrast to the Evans era. They generally prefer a 3-5-2 lineup but they have loads of injuries at the moment and may have to change tack accordingly. Their heads can drop if they go behind, so the first goal could be critical. Nevertheless, they have a good home record so Matt foresees a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

Players to watch for include their no. 44 on loan from United, Dan Gore, Dutch no.22 Denzel Hall and their sole fit forward, no. 9 Jordan Hugill.

Get the whole thing here:

Today’s tune, for no other reason than it’s an absolute belter and it suddenly sprang, unbidden, into my head this morning, is Dave and Ansel Collins with “Double Barrel”:

Friday 19^th September 2025.

Trips to Rotherham always remind me of a game I went to at Millmoor in December 1972. It was the second round of the FA Cup, Rotherham were in the Third Division at the time and County were, as ever, in Division Four. We won 1-0, hurrah, but the thing I remember most about it was Alan Ogley and Paul Hart pushing and shoving at each other as part of a frank exchange of views over a defensive error.

Here’s my guess at a lineup. I’ve had a bit of a job squeezing everybody in and the positions are a bit eccentric but we’ll see how it goes:

Geordie Hatter, mimicking the team itself, has taken his time to get going this season but will be back to keep us all entertained before the game on Saturday. We’re promised the usual mix of excitable semi-informed chatter, time-honoured features and tip-top tunes. It’s a rare treat to be able to listen from home rather than from my seat on the Fingerpost Flyer, so at 9:30 I’ll certainly be logged into Mixlr and joining in with the usual suspects via the live chat.

I’ve been aware of Brian Bilston the poet for some time, but Brian Bilston the front man with The Catenary Wires was a closed book to me until Geordie Hatter’s show on the way to Plymouth. Today’s tune is one of theirs, entitled “Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You”:

See you all at Rotherham!

Animo et fide.