Saturday, 18^th April 2026.

Matchday: Exeter City v Stockport County, League 1.

The penultimate away trip of the regular season was another early dart, so I was up while the lark was still fast asleep. Flori didn’t fancy Great Moor Park in the dark, so we patrolled the streets instead. Nobody else was around, of course, it’s generally only County fans and burglars about at that time of the morning.

The recent rash of long-distance games had taken its toll on passenger numbers; we were just twenty-one souls on the Fingerpost Flyer. Not good for the finances but I was glad to be able to stretch out and I slept for most of the way to Stensham Services. I did wake up long enough to buy the remaining six squares on the football card from Angela Moore.

We rolled into Exeter nice and early and for the second game in a row I must compliment the home club on the welcome we received. Perhaps it’s a fan-owned club thing.

As we parked up, a steward came aboard to welcome us and let us know their excellent Fanzone was at our disposal. Everyone I met around the ground was friendly, chatty and helpful. Except the lion, the lion didn’t say much.

My attempt at guessing the team was surprisingly accurate, given the depth and width of our injury troubles. DC had picked Jack Diamond and Ben Osborn to start where I had Odin Bailey and Tanto Olaofe.

It was a beautiful afternoon, albeit chilly when I sat in my allocated seat which was in the shade of a concrete wall and acted as a very effective heat sink.

County started in fine style, after just nine minutes Jack Diamond made a run down the right into the penalty area and put a tempting ball across. It went just behind Adama Sidibeh but Malik Mothersille galloped onto it and fired it unerringly past the stranded ‘keeper. Exeter weren’t out of it though, Tayo Edun earned himself a yellow card for a foul on Niskanen and Wareham had a shot that just went past Corey Addai’s post. Malik Mothersille turned provider on twenty-eight minutes when he crossed the ball from the left for Josh Stokes to rifle home. Any thoughts of a walkover were banished after thirty-five minutes when a rapid break down the left and some deft passing allowed Reece Cole to get a goal back, the ball flying past an unsighted Addai. County remained on top for the remainder of the half, coming close with attempts by Stokes, Diamond and Edun.

At the start of the second half DC changed Tayo Edun, who was on a yellow, for Odin Bailey. County’s 27 was soon in the action, supplying Adama Sidibeh whose goal-bound shot was blocked. Malik Mothersille, having his most productive game for us so far, had a couple of decent efforts, one saved by Bycroft and one blocked by a defender. He was substituted shortly afterwards, along with Sidibeh, to be replaced by Tanto Olaofe and Louie Barry. Exeter were starting to come to the fore at this stage and Corey Addai had to be on top form to keep out attempts by Wareham, Gomes and Brierley. Exeter made the score 2-2 on seventy minutes when Tuterov, a recent substitute, beat Roman Dixon to a cross from Niskanen and shot into the bottom left-hand corner. As the dust settled, County made a further substitution, bringing Lewis Fiorini on for Josh Stokes. Seven minutes later I thought we’d secured the win when a Louie Barry shot rebounded off the post and fell to Odin Bailey, who made it 3-2. Towards the end of the half, County seemed to find it impossible to get out of their own half, the pressure mounting and mounting. Anxiety among the blue army increased when the board went up to show seven minutes of time added. Exeter, who were desperate to get something out of the game to have a chance of avoiding relegation, sent ‘keeper Bycroft up for the last few seconds and, sure enough, he got his head on the end of a corner and made the score 3-3. Cue wild celebrations by home players and fans alike, and who can blame them.

A last-minute equaliser always feels like a defeat for the team on the receiving end but as the journey home progressed I started to regain some perspective. Generally, a point away is decent and, as the proprietrix from Bob’s Country Bunker would say…

Watching another chapter of Spur’s descent into chaos, this time against Brighton, passed some of the trip home and I even broke my own rule about watching United live to try and keep awake. We may have stopped briefly at Stensham again, or we may not, I was in a bit of a trance by this stage, but I got off the coach somewhere to use the facilities. I ordered a curry to delivered at home as we trundled up the M6, just to prove that we really do live in the future, and we were back at the Fingerpost for 21:40.

Today’s tune is from the James Oliver Band, an R&B power trio in the Wilko Johnson – Johnny Kidd & The Pirates mould with a McDaniels/Smith composition, “I Can Tell”:

Sunday, 19^th April 2026.

I’m hearing unsubstantiated rumours that Joe Olowu and Beno Andrésson may be available for the games at the end of the season. It sounds very unlikely to me but the Iceman was on the pitch warming up with the squad yesterday, so he’s obviously on the road to recovery, but Joe was still on crutches so I’ll believe it when I see him start a game.

TSBW have announced that their Match Reaction pod will now go out live at 7pm every Sunday instead of being recorded then and released on Monday morning. In this episode, Jimmy Harmer, Steve Bardsley and Dan Culverwell welcomed TSBW grande fromage Russ Johnson to talk about the 3rd away game in 6 days. It went like this:

• The team: Owen Dodgson was the unfortunate loanee to drop out of the squad. Odin Bailey was adjudged very unlucky not to start but there must be some managing of minutes going on.
  • Addai
  • Edun, Pye, Wootton, Dixon
  • Osborn, Norwood
  • Mothersille, Stokes, Diamond
  • Sidibeh
• A point won or two lost?: Given that we were two goals up at one stage, arguably the latter.
• Hot legs: A Norwood – Osborn midfield is undoubtedly skilful but lacks the pace to get us forward. Bailey, widely suspected to be moving on at the end of last season, has proved invaluable in that role this term.
• Individual performances:
  • Malik Mothersille: His best performance so far, scored one and made one and looked happy in the process. It would have been good to see him play all ninety minutes but understandable if his game time is being managed.
  • Lewis Fiorini: Did well when he came on, perhaps we’re about to see him live up to his potential.
  • Josh Stokes: Much happier as a 10 and scoring goals too.
  • Corey Addai: made some superb saves, not to blame for the goals we conceded and looks full of confidence.
  • Roman Dixon: Ever-improving, especially considering he’s coming back from a major injury.
  • Tanto Olaofe: His reactions and confidence aren’t quite there yet. If he was at the top of his game he’d still be at Charlton, not on loan with us.
  • Louie Barry: Definite signs of his old self coming to the fore. Everyone knows he’s going to cut in from the left and shoot but that doesn’t mean they can stop him doing it. Created our third goal for Odin Bailey by doing exactly what he does.
  • Kyle Wootton: Working wonders as a makeshift defender. A Hills or an Olowu might have dealt with the third goal better but that’s hardly a fair criticism of our leading scorer.
• Ref watch: Apart from a dodgy decision when Exeter’s ‘keeper was rewarded with an uncontested drop ball after being flattened by his own player, Kirsty Dowle did a decent job.
• Exeter’s goals:
  • The first: The issue stemmed from midfield, allowing them to run at us. Their man took it very well.
  • The second: Tuterov beat Roman Dixon to a cross from the right to fire home.
  • The third: A corner from the right headed home by the unmarked goalkeeper.
• A better change: Would it have been better to bring Christy Grogan on instead of Lewis Bate when we were so much under pressure?
• Emergency strikers: DC says he wouldn’t have sent Corey Addai up if we were desperate to score like Exeter were. An interesting point of view that we’re unlikely to see tested.

A fascinating review of the game, watch here for further insights:

I couldn’t watch the live reaction pod because Janice and I were at Band On The Wall to see The John Jones Trio, the rump of the Oysterband. Keith and Jeanette of Forever Friends Of Uganda were in the audience as well, so it was nice to have a quick chat with Keith.

Today’s tune is one by the full Oysterband, “Corner Of The Room”:

Monday, 20^th April 2026.

County Ladies have announced details for their Cheshire FA Women’s Challenge Cup Final. They will face Crewe Alexandra Women at Nantwich Town’s Optimum Pay Stadium on Tuesday 28th April in a 7:30pm kick-off.

Here’s my suggested team for tomorrow. Similar to Saturday but I’d start Odin Bailey in the middle instead of Ben Osborn to give a bit more mobility in that area. Perhaps Osborn could play at left back instead of Tayo Edun if DC doesn’t want to rest him.

Today’s tune might make a good basis for a chant for our number 29 rather than “Tequila,” it would scan if we used his full name and I’d be happy to join in with the “Hai!” bit if necessary. This is Los Del Rio with “Macarena”:

Tuesday, 21^st April 2026.

Matchday: County v Mansfield Town, League 1.

Adventures in IT: Spent ages getting increasingly annoyed and frustrated trying to get the camera on my new laptop to work ready to appear on The Scarf Bergara Wore tomorrow night. Reinstalling drivers, updating software, searching the web for solutions &c. &c. Eventually contacted the nice County fan who supplied it, who asked “Does it have a little shutter cover on it? A lot do these days.” I wish I’d asked him sooner….

The holy ground was looking resplendent before kick-off tonight:

Here’s tonight selection of square pegs in round holes. Another 9/11 for me, I was expecting Diamond and Dixon to start in place of Barry and Osborn.

I was surprised to see Osborn and Barry start on the right, the latter making his fiftieth appearance for County, but our injury woes make all sorts of positional oddities necessary. Mansfield had obviously come to press and deny us time on the ball, which led to some terrifying close passing near our goal and too much emergency defending for the sake of my blood pressure. We had a let-off as early as the second minute when Town’s Russell misdirected a simple header past the post. Malik Mothersille carried on from where he left off on Saturday, he really is starting to show us what he can do after a slow start for the club. The Cheadle End showed him plenty of love throughout the game, I hope it’s helping him feel wanted. Louie Barry looked lively, creating chances for himself and others, but the closest we came was hitting the woodwork a couple of times. Adama Sidibeh buzzed about as usual to keep Mansfield’s defenders honest but couldn’t trouble the scoreboard.

I’m notoriously cloth-eared, but at half time I thought I heard Ken read out a birthday wish for “Tess Tickle.” This was confirmed for me on Facebook this morning:

I’m glad I wasn’t hallucinating. I wouldn’t stoop to pranking Ken or taking drugs in the toilets but we all have to find our own paths through games against Mansfield.

The second half started without a change in personnel. Whether it was efficiency from Mansfield or a lack of ambition on our part, we had plenty of possession around the halfway line but preferred the safe option rather than trying to create something. We still had chances but couldn’t make anything of them. Things went to pot from the hour mark, beginning with the substitution of Louie Barry and Adama Sidibeh for Jack Diamond and Tanto Olaofe. Three minutes later Mansfield were ahead; a cross from the left was headed back across and rifled home. They nearly got a second a few minutes later but Corey Addai managed to push the shot round the post. DC rolled the dice on seventy-two minutes, bringing on Christy Grogan and Che Gardner to replace Josh Stokes and Malik Mothersille. The ploy was obviously to send Kyle Wootton up front to see if he could get us a goal. He did manage a header from a Ben Osborne cross but most of the ammunition sent his way for the remainder of the game misfired. Only three minutes of added time were allowed, and a final change to bring Lewis Fiorini on for Tayo Edun failed to have any major effect.

A very disappointing evening altogether. I don’t expect us to get very far in the playoffs, but I would like us to get there. One more win from our remaining three games will probably do it but that’s easier said than done.

Today’s tune is a traditional Morris tune called “Monck’s March” from Ashley Hutchings’ album “Son Of Morris On.” It’s named after the 17C General Monck, who was often accused of taking one step forward and two back. Certain parallels with our results of late, the more cynical among us might think:

Wednesday, 22^nd April 2026.

Here’s the state of play after last night’s games. At 0-0 we looked like going fourth but Bradford got an equaliser against Plymouth, so the defeat leaves us where we were, in fifth.

Luton and Plymouth are the remaining threats to our playoff place and both have two games to play.

• Luton: They have to play Barnsley (H) and Bolton (A) and currently have a goal difference of +10. Win both and they would end up with 74 points and a goal difference of at least +12.
• Plymouth: They have to play Port Vale (H) and Northampton (A) and currently have a goal difference of +10. Win both and they would end up with 73 points and a goal difference of at least +12.
• County have 71 points and a goal difference of +10 with three to play. One more win would keep Plymouth out of the equation but leave us vulnerable to Luton if they won both games. A win and a draw would assure us of a playoff place whatever anyone else does.

As ever this season, our wiggly line on PPG Prophet’s graph demonstrates our inconsistency:

I was excited to be invited for a guest spot on TSBW’s Main Show tonight. Apprehensive too, though; as a man of few words I always worry about having enough to say on the hoof. The usual triumvirate of Russ, Waggie and Andy were there to put me at my ease, and it went like this:

• Gardening: There was some discussion about Andy’s working week, which led to mention of my garden railway. Luckily, as I was using my Railway Room as a studio, I had one of the battery powered diesel-outline locos I designed and built handy to illustrate the scale of things.
• Mansfield (H):
  • It’s always them: Given their lowly position in the league, they obviously don’t have the same Indian sign over the rest of the league as they do over us, so why do we struggle so much against them? Does Clough find Chally’s tactics so easy to read and counter?
  • Our subs: Taking Sidibeh and Barry off was probably the right thing to do but the players who came on, Diamond and Olaofe, didn’t keep the pressure on. Bringing Grogan on to allow Wootton to go up front made sense but replacing Edun with Fiorini with only a couple of minutes to go was baffling.
• Individual performances:
  • Louie Barry: His performance was a bright spot in a frustrating evening, even playing out of position on the right he made a couple of decent chances.
  • Christy Grogan: Didn’t look out of place on his EFL debut. Has the time come to let him start, so Woots can revert to leading the line?
  • Malik Mothersille: He gets better every game and it was a shame to see him withdrawn. Are we managing his minutes? Has he still got an issue with his back? He seems to have won most of the fans over, which is bound to help. He’s building up a promising partnership with Josh Stokes.
• Ref watch: Scott Jackson was OK in the first half but poor in the second. Was there something in his half time cup of tea? He didn’t play much added time at the end of either half, especially as there were further injuries and substitutions in both added periods. Is it time we introduced a game clock to ensure we get the amount of football we pay for?
• Crowd coaches: The players are never short of advice from the stands, most of it of questionable value as it would require a Ronaldo or a Messi to carry most of the suggestions out.
• Ticket prices: Russ was surprised when he had to pay £14.50 for a match ticket for a sixteen-year-old and found that an adult ticket was £28.00. I was too, but as a season ticket holder and an OAP into the bargain, I’m insulated from the cost of individual match tickets.
• Dedication or madness: Those of us who went to all three of the recent away games, Wembley, Wimbledon and Exeter, have been invited to a Pitchside Celebration on Saturday, immediately after the final whistle and prior to the End of Season Awards on the pitch. I’m told there are 127 fans who meet the criteria but I’ve no idea how many will actually be on the pitch. I’ve thanked the club for the invitation but explained that my dodgy ankle prevents me making it onto the grass.
• Bask is back: Benji Taylor and John Fitzpatrick are uniting to reopen the bar next to Stockport Station as Bask. We’re promised the return of live bands and all the features that made the place such an iconic venue in the past. Opening day is Friday, 1^st May.
• Random Shit Of The Week: A last-minute creation by Waggie, a Higher or Lower game based around County managers’ win percentages. I fell at the first hurdle and once Russ got on a roll, Andy hardly got a look-in. He declared himself the winner on a percentage basis, mind you.

An excellent episode, even allowing for my involvement, watch it here:

Following on from last night’s appearance, today’s tune is “You Talk Too Much” by George Thorogood & The Destroyers:

Thursday, 23^rd April 2026.

County Ladies play their last league fixture under that name at Edgeley Park on Sunday at two o’clock against Leeds United. The afternoon has been designed as a tribute to over thirty years of women’s football in Stockport and the volunteers who gave their time and energy through the decades to create opportunities for countless players.

Tickets are available from County’s usual ticketing site.

For TSBW’s preview of Saturday’s match against Peterborough, Steve Bardsley spoke to Lodz of Up The Poshcast:

• A good spanking: They beat us 3-0 at their place earlier in the season. It was absolutely perishing; I think that was the match that convinced me to buy a heated waistcoat. It was Luke Williams’ fourth game as manager and Lodz rates it their best performance of the season.
• The season since: It’s been very mixed. Williams enjoyed a new manager bounce of four games followed by a slump. Things improved to the point where they looked like challenging for the playoffs but then the wheels came off after centre half Tom Lees was injured and they’ve only won one in twelve since. They currently lie in seventeenth place.
• Formation and style: Lodz hopes they’ll stick to 4-2-3-1 but they’ve gone to 4-4-2 recently. They struggle against big awkward teams, so he thinks our style might suit them.
• Key players:
  • Kyrell Lisbie: Rapid winger who led us a right dance in the away game. May be showing signs of fatigue after a long season.
  • Bolu Shofowoke: Another rapid winger, just seventeen years old.
  • Archie Collins: A midfielder, underrated backbone of the team.
• Weaknesses: Their defence, the fullbacks in particular, are short of confidence and fitness.
• Prediction: With both defences looking iffy, Lodz is going for a score draw, perhaps 2-2 or even higher.

A cracking job by Steve again but don’t take my word for it, watch it here:

Jonathan the Geordie Hatter presented his penultimate Thursday Show of the season tonight and a select band of listeners enjoyed the usual mix of County topics, indie tunes and weird tangents in the live chat. I hear more new-to-me music through this show than every other source put together and it’s a great addition to the County socials. If you missed it, you can get the recorded version here:

Today’s tune is my favourite from last night’s show, “Richard Jobson Dance” by Cuckoo Land:

Friday 24^th April 2026.

There’s been some discussion this week about the number of times we’re asked to clap in memory of people who have passed away, some of them with only tenuous connections to the club. My point of view, for what it’s worth, is this; very few of these accolades are actually sanctioned by the club, they’re requested on social media and most people, being compassionate, tend to go along with them. Those who don’t think they’re justified are at liberty to ignore them if they like, just like I don’t sing along to the song about kicking an opposing fan to death. I take the happy clapper approach if I know about them, it’s sixty seconds out of my life I won’t miss.

I see from Sam Byrne that one of County’s Kings Of The North is to retire from playing this weekend. Sam Walker went from the ignominy of being subbed off early by Jim Gannon and shipped out on loan to Curzon Ashton to becoming an integral member of team that won the National League North. His nickname, the Bredbury Busquets, was well earned. Sam will play his last game as assistant manager for Halifax Town against Woking tomorrow.

Tracey Neville has recoded an interview ahead of County Ladies’ game at EP on Sunday. It’s well worth a watch but this is the executive summary:

• Sunday is all about celebrating the team’s heritage as County Ladies and showing everyone where it’s heading as County Women.
• The plan is to make progress without forgetting all that has gone before.
• Although recruitment is now underway, there’s a determination to remain rooted in the community and preserve a pathway from the grassroots to the first team.
• With only one team promoted from the current league, progress isn’t going to be easy.

The interview itself is here:

Here’s my hostage to fortune of a selection for tomorrow. Although Christy Grogan did well in his cameo on Tuesday, I expect Kyle Wootton to start at the back again. I suppose Louie Barry might start on the right again to let Malik Mothersille start the game against his old team but my selection has Louie starting on the left and Malik replacing him after an hour.

Head Groundsman Liam Cash and his staff have been highly commended once again for the absolute lawn of a pitch they have prepared week in, week out at Edgeley Park. They received the accolade at the EFL Grounds Team of the Season awards after inspection of the pitch by members of the Sports Turf Research Institute. I mean to say, just look at it, especially compared to some of the middens we’ve seen away from EP recently:

Today’s tune, in honour of all those who work on the pitch is “Oblong Of Dreams” by Half Man Half Biscuit:

See you all at Edgeley Park!

Animo et fide.