Saturday, 28^th February 2026.

Matchday: Stevenage v County, League 1.

I was unable to travel to Stevenage today, being in loco parentis to Floricel the dog again. I don’t like missing any game, but our current form and St. Evenage being a right slog, even on the Flyer, softened the blow somewhat.

Despite Ben Hinchliffe’s less-than-stellar performance at Burton, I was still surprised to see Corey Addai among the starters. I was right about the other ten, though.

Corey Addai’s first couple of actions weren’t of the best, a long ball that went out for a throw and a pass to a colleague that nearly dropped us in the mire. Once he got going though he did very well indeed, making a double save that prevented us from going behind. Adamah Sidibeh was buzzing about as he does, making life difficult for the home team’s back line. There’s a definite pattern developing where he’s concerned, though; teams try to put a straightener into him early on to slow him down. Stevenage were no exception and Sid was soon writhing about on the deck clutching his knee after a tackle by their No.2, Wilden. It looked iffy to me but the referee didn’t even give a free kick, never mind any further sanction. He did book Josh Stokes shortly afterwards for something equally sinister though, so there’s the usual lack of consistency. Notwithstanding all that, County were the better of the two teams, which was a blessing after the last two away games. This superiority was confirmed after half an hour when Sidibeh got on the end of an Odin Bailey corner from the right to nod us ahead. That was encouraging but Stevenage are an awkward proposition and managed to draw level a few minutes later through a Piergianni (who else?) header from a corner. County continued to huff and puff for the remainder of the half but couldn’t trouble the scoreboard operator any further.

Whether it was County fading or Stevenage playing better I can’t say, but our performance dropped off from the start of the second half; not to Burton levels but certainly well below those of the first period. We went behind after twelve minutes. Tayo Edun was bundled off the ball by White, who headed straight for goal through the Stockport Sculpture Park. He passed it to Reid and Phillips put his cross away. Dave Challinor tried to pep things up by introducing Malik Mothersille and Ben Osborn to replace Odin Bailey and Tayo Edun but it made no appreciable difference. A later change, Tanto Olaofe for Adama Sidibeh, was equally ineffective. Apart from the loss and another uninspiring performance, we also gained five bookings against the home team’s one, which can’t be entirely down to subconscious bias on the referee’s part.

In search of positives from the day, I can only come up with Corey Addai’s performance, Adama Sidibeh’s goal and the fact that I didn’t travel down south for hours to witness it all.

Today’s tune is for those who travelled, the Oysterband with a live version of “All That Way For This”:

Sunday, 1^st March 2026.

No game for County Ladies today, so nothing from that direction to lift the gloom.

At first glance, the League 1 table this morning shows us reasonably secure in the playoff positions. Looking deeper, however, things are more concerning. We don’t have a League game for two weeks and even when we do it’s Lincoln (A). On current form we could be down to eighth before we play Northampton at home. We’ll have games in hand but that’s cold comfort the way we’re playing.

PPG Prophet’s graph doesn’t concern itself with games in hand but gives a rough idea of where we are in relation to last season’s playoff places.

A personal bright spot to close off an otherwise depressing weekend; our caravan in that Wales is available to us again after the winter break. Flori and I were on the road by breakfast time to join Janice and No.2 Daughter who were waiting for us to put the water system back together. The lack of leaks when I turned the supply back on didn’t make up for County getting beat, but it was the sort of little victory that cheers you up.

On the theme of looking for little consolations, today’s tune is “Hard Time For Dreamers” by Reverend and the Makers:

Monday, 2^nd March 2026.

TSBW’s match review came along this morning to throw light on the goings-on at Stevenage. Jimmy Harmer was joined by Dan Culverwell, Nick Reid and Lee Rowley, and this is what they thought:

• The team:
  • Goal: Corey Addai.
  • Back 3: Brad Hills, Ethan Pye and Josh Dacres-Cogley.
  • Wingbacks: Jack Diamond and Tayo Edun.
  • Midfield: Odin Bailey and Ollie Norwood.
  • Forwards: Josh Stokes and Adama Sidibeh
  • Striker: Kyle Wootton.
• The keeper quandary: Having been dropped at this late stage in the season, have we seen the last of Ben Hinchliffe as a starter? It sounds as though Corey Addai will play on Tuesday, so Ben’s opportunities are going to be limited. The two men both have different strengths and weaknesses, perhaps the time has come to get a new No.1 who has a more complete game, capable of commanding his area and inspiring confidence in those around him (Ben’s strengths) and stopping shots and playing out from the back (Corey’s). They don’t grow on trees or come cheap either.
• There’s growing consternation about us continuing to play three at the back when there’s a glaring need, even DC has mentioned it, to get more legs into midfield. Ollie Norwood hasn’t recaptured his earlier form since coming back from injury and needs someone to do the running for him if we’re to get the ball forwards at pace. Playing him as a pair with Lewis Bate or Ben Osborn patently isn’t the answer.
• Jack Diamond: He’s not a wingback; it’s a waste of his abilities shoving him out there. See also Josh Stokes toiling away wide left.
• Adamah Sidibeh: As ever, the liveliest player on the pitch. Came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, once just before he got our goal. Brad Hills played a significant part in the goal, having the ‘keeper in a crafty arm lock as the ball came in from Odin Bailey’s corner. DC mentioned in his post-match comments that Sidibeh’s chaotic running makes it difficult for his team mates to link up with him, but perhaps that will come in time. As it is, he’s a joy to watch, I hope they don’t coach the spontaneity out of him.
• The equaliser: Not Edward Woodward or Queen Laitifa, but Carl Piergianni, as usual when we play Stevenage. Corey Addai made an impressive double save just before but couldn’t do anything with the goal. The question was asked, would we be better off with Piergianni him in our team? It think Lee had it right; we’ve got the players we need in Pye, Hills and others, we just need to use them effectively.
• Second half: No subs at first, as befits a half where we had most of the possession. Unfortunately, Stevenage got the winner early on when Tayo Edun was mugged, the ball was moved swiftly forward and Phillips put the cross away. Our opponents are always superb at holding a lead and sucked us into playing the game their way. The subs we made introduced fresh legs but we don’t have the personnel to change the approach in any meaningful way.
• What next: Chally was spiky in his post-match when it was suggested that we should be looking over our shoulder, but the automatic promotion places look well out of reach now and the chasing pack are definitely closing in. Perhaps we’ll have a sudden resurgence, beat Lincoln and make our playoff position more secure. Perhaps.
• Recruitment policy: Has the plan to buy young, promising players to improve and sell at a profit sacrificed some of our momentum up the leagues? Malik Mothersille is improving, but the massive transfer fee has meant that fans are kicking off because he’s not working miracles straight out of the box.

I felt better having watched that, I hope you will too:

Here’s my suggested team for tomorrow. I’m not totally convinced by the formation but the manpower won’t be a million miles out:

This is the time of year when work often took me up to the Western Isles. To celebrate the fact that those days are long gone, today’s tune is “Stornoway” by Peat & Diesel:

Tuesday, 3^rd March 2026.

Matchday: Doncaster v County, Vertu Trophy semi-final.

This was another game I couldn’t be at in person, but luckily Sky were showing it so I was able to watch it at the caravan.

I wasn’t far out with my guess at the lineup; DC had gone for Lewis Bate and Ben Osborn where I had Odin Bailey and Tayo Edun.

I was interested to hear from both Doncaster’s manager and the experts in Sky’s studio that County are a danger from set pieces, especially long throws, and that our opposition had changed ‘keepers on the strength of this. I really do wonder where they get these insights.

Two well-known County faces were interviewed for a vlog before the game:

It was obvious that County fans had turned up in decent numbers and were making a decent racket. Although they were outnumbered by Donny fans, I heard nothing from the locals at all, The Scarf and all the usual favourites came over loud and clear throughout.

The pitch looked pretty ropey, I’d forgotten that the local rugby league team play on it. It was being well watered before kick-off but my fears that they were overdoing it were pretty much unfounded.

After a couple of early incursions into our half by Rovers, County soon gained the initiative and this dominance was crowned with a goal just twelve minutes in. Ben Osborn was downed by Rover’s McGrath on County’s left, well within Norwood range. Lewis Bate looked interested in the planning but all the execution was down to Blue 26; Doncaster lined a wall up but they just watched the ball whiz between two of their number on its way into the net. They may as well not have bothered lining up, in fact, if they hadn’t at least the keeper would have had a better view.

Ollie Norwood had charge of a second free kick from same area later in the half, which he directed to the top right-hand corner, but the ‘keeper made a superb save to keep the lead down to a single goal.

There wasn’t a duff performance anywhere on the pitch in the first half but the highlights for me were Adama Sidibeh continuing to plague their defence, Lewis Bate looking more lively as he continues his recovery and Kyle Wootton being his usual magnificent self.

The home team made four subs at half time, County just the one, Roman Dixon coming on for Josh Stokes. Whether it was the subs or the half-time roasting I don’t know, but Doncaster were much more of a threat in the second half.

Dave Challinor attempted to stem the tide with two substitutions on sixty-six minutes, introducing Odin Bailey and Tanto Olaofe for Lewis Bate and Adama Sidibeh.

Later in the half we witnessed a first in a County match, as far as I know; Corey Addai held on to the ball for too long and the referee invoked the 8 second rule and gave a corner to Doncaster. It would have been very County to concede from that, but we got away with it. Addai later made amends by making an excellent save from Gibson, the pick of Doncaster’s players.

The longer we went without increasing our lead, the more concerned I became. Our inability to put teams away when we’re on top is a real Achillies’ heel, I was convinced they’d get a sneaky one and we’d be going to penalties. These fears were unfounded, fortunately, and after four minutes added time, we were through to the final.

One bright spot from the second half was the form of Tanto Olaofe; I thought he looked more like his old self, he created a good chance for Norwood on seventy-one minutes that he just edged past the post.

Dave Challinor made a good comment post-match about Ethan Pye; he hoped that a chance of playing for County at Wembley would make up for his being recalled from his loan at Gateshead when he would otherwise have played for them.

Today’s tune comes with a drop of dance thrown in gratis; it’s the Bunnies From Hell dancing to “News Of The Victory”:

Wednesday, 4^th March 2026.

As a result of County reaching the final of the Vertu Trophy, the away game at Wimbledon, which has already been rearranged once, will move back one day to Wednesday, 15^th April. It’s going to a busy old week, with Wembley on the Sunday, Wimbledon (A) on the Wednesday and Exeter (A) on the Saturday.

There were a couple of games in League 1 last night, the one of most interest to us was Wycombe beating Barnsley 1-0. One team always comes up on the rails towards the end of every season and it looks like being Wycombe this time. They’re now one place and three points behind us in sixth.

Luton beat Northampton in the second semi-final tonight, so it’s going to be Hatters v Hatters at Wembley on April the 12^th.

TSBW’s main show this week was mainly concerned with the win at Doncaster but there was plenty of other grist for their mill to deal with. Tonight’s panel was Russ Johnson, Waggie, Andy Reding and Ryan Bradley. Once everyone had established their credentials as fervent supporters of the Vertu Trophy, and therefore their entitlement to go to the final at Wembley, the discussion went like this:

• Doncaster (A):
  • Was it our most complete 90 minutes of the season so far?
  • We’re still not clinical enough, 1-0 is always a dodgy lead, but their ‘keeper was the main factor in keeping the score respectable.
  • The officials were a mixed bag; they kept the game flowing but the decision to invoke the 8-second rule was iffy and Roman Dixon was unlucky to be cautioned for delaying a throw-in.
  • Individual performances:
    • Adama Sidibeh: A rough diamond and doesn’t always make the right decision but frightens defences to death. I’m not a fan of post-match fist bumps but if anyone has the right to make them, he does.
    • Tanto Olaofe: He’s starting to show more of his old self.
    • Josh Stokes: We missed his work behind the strikers after he was substituted.
    • Jack Diamond: Continues to frustrate; he isn’t a wing back and I’ve head it suggested that he’s really a No.10 but when he moved to the centre after Josh Stokes was substituted, he practically disappeared.
    • Ben Osborn: He isn’t a wingback either but does a good job in that position.
  • Could this game be the turning point of the season? I don’t think Doncaster were good enough opposition to make that work; the forthcoming game against Lincoln will be more of a test.
• Simon Wilson’s Club Update:
  • Perspective: Simon’s statement that promotion would mean the season was a success but that staying in League 1 for another would not be a failure is a fair point, given that we have another season of the Seven Year Plan to go. We’ve now established ourselves as top League 1 team and, with some of the younger players still maturing, perhaps we will be a better team next term.
  • Grove Lane development: It wasn’t discussed at great length, but for the full story, see my article on the Supporters’ Co-op website: https://www.countysupporterscoop.co.uk/planning-application-for-grove-lane/
  • Edgeley Park development: It was interesting that this didn’t feature at all. Then again, it’s pretty much accepted that we won’t see much happening until we get promoted to the Championship.
• Random Shit Of The Week: An entertaining cross between Family Fortunes and a training course for postmen. I got 21 points, if anyone wants a benchmark to aim for.

An entertaining episode, as ever, watch here and as Kenny Boxshall says, have your pens and pencils ready:

To mark the fact that we don’t have a game on Saturday, today’s tune is “Lost Weekend” by Roddy ‘Radiation’ Byers and the Skabilly Rebels:

Thursday, 5^th March 2026.

The highlights of the semi-final are available now:

Geordie Hatter’s Thursday show was a two-hander this week, Nick Lee joining Jonathan at the controls. The Committee, including our international members, were out in force in the live chat and the usual mix of chat and tunes was as strong as ever. Jonathan is away next week, so Nick will be going solo. If you missed this week’s show or haven’t listened before, the recorded version is here:

https://the-geordie-hatter.mixlr.com/recordings/3056695

I had one eye on Spurs v Palace tonight and it’s obvious that Spurs are in a real mess. It was 3-1 to Palace at half time and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was emptying as though the last bus was about to leave. Even though there was no further scoring, the footage of the Spurs fans who were still there at the final whistle didn’t need any commentary. If they continue in this doom spiral and we somehow manage to gain promotion to the Championship, it opens up the intriguing prospect of league games between the two of us next season. It’s difficult to imagine a greater contrast than Spurs fans peering past the stanchions under the bake-off tent in October and our lot rattling round in their 63k capacity multi-use stadium in February.

My suggestion for a Spring-themed song was chosen for tonight’s GH Show so I’ve made it today’s tune. It’s Sinead O’Connor and Terry Hall’s version of Dana’s Eurovision winner, “All Kinds Of Everything.” Two great talents lost too early and the rare sight of a happy Sinead make it a compelling watch:

Friday 6^th March 2026.

County have announced the ticketing arrangements for the Vertu Trophy final. The highlights are these:

• Tickets sales will be phased, starting with season ticket holders next Wednesday, the 11^th of March.
• County’s own ticketing system will be used, so you need an account to buy, but you can buy a total of four tickets per account and there’s no need to set up additional accounts for the three extra tickets.
• There’s an initial allocation of 10,000, which could rise to just under 37k if necessary.
• The tickets are all digital.
• We have the west side of the ground this time, the opposite to where we were for the playoff final against Carlisle.
• Full details are here: https://www.stockportcounty.com/news/2026/march/05/ticket-info—vertu-trophy-final/

It looks to me as though the club have taken a very sensible approach to the sale; there are bound to be some supporters who have issues with navigating even a simplified system but there is help from the club if required.

No game for the men this weekend, but County Ladies are away against Doncaster Belles on Sunday. The match takes place at 2:00 at Retford FC’s SL2 Rail Stadium.

Today’s tune, inspired by the Ladies’ opponents on Sunday, is “Yorkshire Belle” by Skinny Lister:

Animo et fide.