Club History

Established in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, in 1890 the name was changed to Stockport County to reflect the town gaining County Borough status.

After winning the Lancashire League in 1900, County gained admittance to the Football League, drawing their first match 2-2 away to Leicester Fosse (now Leicester City).

Having finished in the bottom three in their first four seasons, County failed to gain re-election in 1904 and so spent a season in the Lancashire Combination; they won the League at the first time of asking and made an immediate return to the professional ranks.

County would be proud Football League members for more than a century.

Joining the League meant the club soon outgrew their ground behind the Nursery Inn on Green Lane in Heaton Norris and, in 1902, they moved south of the River Mersey to Edgeley Park, then home of Stockport RLFC.

It has been County's home (even though they are tennants not owners of the ground these days) ever since.

By the late 19th century Stockport had become a national centre for the hat-making trade, and by 1900 County's nickname of 'The Hatters' had became synonymous with the club.

Having played in a variety of kit colours in the club's early years, usually a variation on blue & white, County switched to white shirts and black shorts from the '30s until the mid '60s. Throughout this period they were often referred to as the Lilywhites.

In 1965 flamboyant chairman Vic Bernard, as part of his GO GO GO COUNTY revolution, reintroduced the Hatters' famous royal blue strip; colours they still adopt today.

The club stayed in the 4th Division doldrums until the turn of the 90s, when Uruguayan manager Danny Bergara turned the Hatters into regular top-of-the-table challengers.

Danny Bergara

Promotion came in 1991, and was followed by four visits to Wembley in two years - twice in playoff finals, twice in the Football League Trophy. Unfortunately County lost on each occasion. 

Following Bergara's departure in 1995, Dave Jones took charge and gave the club its most memorable season.

In 1996/97, the Hatters won four games against Premiership opposition, including a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough in the League Cup semi-final - unfortunately, the tie was lost 2-1 on aggregate.

Other runs in the FA Cup and League Trophy meant County played almost 70 games that season, and finished 2nd in the Second Division - the large amount of games almost certainly costing them the title.

After Jones' departure for Southampton, County consolidated in the First Division until relegation in 2002. What followed was a largely downward spiral back to the bottom division, twice finishing a season on just 26 points, and by Boxing Day 2005 County were well adrift at the bottom of the Football League.

Jim Gannon

In came former player Jim Gannon as manager, who led the team to a remarkable run of form and, with an incredibly tense 0-0 draw on the final day against Carlisle, eventual safety.

This was followed by a promotion push in 2006/07, when County memorably set a new professional record of 9 consecutive wins without conceding. But promotion was just out of touch, with a playoff place being denied by Bristol Rovers in the dying minutes of the season despite County winning 5-0 at Darlington.

That success finally came the next season. After finishing fourth, Gannon's side beat Wycombe in the semi-finals followed by a thrilling 3-2 win over neighbours Rochdale, finally ending the club's hoodoo at Wembley. 

Unfortunately, the Hatters couldn't build on that success and went in to administration before the final game of the season at Brighton.

Then, in the 2009/10 season, administration took its toll, and County finished on a new record low of 25 points and were relegated back to the bottom flight. 

In the summer of 2010 the club was taken out of administration by a group of local business people, ensuring the club’s survival.

However, fortunes took a downturn on the pitch and the Hatters finished bottom of League Two, meaning that they would compete outside the Football League - in the Conference National, for the first time since 1905.

Ian Bogie

During 2011, Liverpool-based businessman Tony Evans headed up a consortium of new investors in the club, who appointed former German international Dietmar Hamann as manager.

However, following the consortium’s failure to take charge, Hamann’s squad struggled in the league and in November he was replaced by former manager Jim Gannon.

The size of the task ahead of Gannon was even bigger than the one in 2006, and the team initially continued to struggle but found resurgent form in Spring. Safety was secured with a 1-1 draw at home to Braintree, allowing the Hatters to enjoy a peaceful summer for the first time in four years. 

However, that stability didn't last long and in 2012-13 more financial issues off the pitch restricted the squad on it. With his team in the lower half of the table, Gannon was sacked in January 2013 and replaced by Bosnian coach Darije Kalezic.

Results got worse, and with County staring at relegation Kalezic was replaced by former Gateshead manager Ian Bogie, but he too could not stop the slide.

A 4-0 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers saw Stockport County relegated to the Conference North, meaning the Hatters would be playing regional football for the first time since 1905.

To be continued....

CLUB HONOURS

Football League

• League Cup
  • Semi-finalists: 1996–97

• Division Three/League 1
  • Runners Up: 1996–97

• Division Three (North)
  • Champions: 1921–22, 1936–37
  • Runners Up: 1928–29, 1929–30

• Division Four/League 2
  • Champions: 1966–67
  • Runners Up: 1990–91
  • Play-Off Winners: 2007–08

• Football League Trophy
  • Runners Up: 0–1 vs. Stoke City 1991–92
  • Runners Up: 1–2 vs. Port Vale 1992–93

• Division Three (North) Challenge Cup
  • Winners: 1936–37
  • Runners Up: 1937–38

Other Competitions

• Lancashire League Champions: 1899–1900
• Lancashire Combination Champions: 1904–05
• Manchester Senior Cup Winners: 1897–98, 1898–99, 1914–15, 1922–23
• Cheshire Medal Winners: 1922–23, 1924–25, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31
• Cheshire Bowl Winners: 1933–34, 1948–49, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1956–57,
  1958–59, 1960–61, 1962–63
• Cheshire Friendly Trophy Winners: 1965–66, 1966–67
• Cheshire Premier Cup Winners: 1969–70, 1970–71, 2010–11

Youth Competitions

• Puma Football League Youth Alliance Cup Winners: 2006–07
• Puma Football League Youth Alliance Cup Runners Up: 2009–10
• The UMBRO Cup Winners: 2007

CLUB RECORDS

Team records

• Biggest home win: 13–0 vs. Halifax Town, 6 January 1934, also a Football League record

• Biggest home defeat: 0–6, twice, most recently 24 April 2010 vs. Huddersfield Town

• Biggest away win: 7–1 at Bradford City, 18 September 1965

• Biggest away defeat: 0–9, vs. Everton Reserves
• Consecutive wins: 9, 2006–07

• Consecutive away wins: 8, 2007–08

• Consecutive wins without conceding a goal: 9, 2006–07, also a Football League record
• Consecutive defeats: 12, 2009–10
• Consecutive games scored in: 30, 2007–08
• Consecutive League games scored in: 26, 2007–08
• Highest attendance: 27,833 vs. Liverpool, 11 February 1950
• Highest attendance (all-seated): 10,273 vs. Leeds United, 28 December 2008
• Lowest attendance: 1,089 vs. Southend, 15 February 1985
• Longest match: 3 hours 23 minutes vs. Doncaster Rovers, 30 March 1946, also a world record
• Lowest number of paying spectators: 13 vs. Leicester City (at Old Trafford, 7 May 1921) also a Football League record^*.

^{*It is estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 people actually attended the match; Manchester United and Derby County had played immediately beforehand, and some of the spectators for that match had stayed on to watch the Stockport match for free. However, only 13 people paid at the gate to watch the Stockport match by itself.}

Player records

• Most goals (season): 46 League by Alf Lythgoe, 1933–34
• Most goals (career): 132 by Jack Connor (1951–1956)
• Most appearances (career): 555 Andy Thorpe (1978–1986, 1988–1992)
• Most international appearances (caps) – 9 Jarkko Wiss, Finland (2000–2002)
• Youngest player: Paul Turnbull, aged 16 years 97 days v Wrexham, 30 April 2005
• Oldest player: Alec Herd, aged 47 years 40 days vs. Crewe Alexandra, 25 December 1951
• Most capped player while at the club: Jarkko Wiss 9 capps for Finland
• Most consecutive clean sheets: 9 by Wayne Hennessey, 2006–07, coinciding with league record for consecutive wins

Nine game winning run

Stockport County currently hold the record for winning nine Football League matches without conceding a goal. This record ran from January to March 2007, as manager Jim Gannon led the club to the best form shown by a football club in Football League history.

Wayne Hennessey, who was on loan to Stockport at the time from Wolves, kept all the clean sheets in his first nine games in professional football. He made his footballing debut against Boston United where Stockport won 2–0.

The players involved in the record-breaking run were:

Wayne Hennessey, Robert Clare, Michael Rose, Ashley Williams, Gareth Owen, Stephen Gleeson, Jason Taylor, Adam Griffin, David Poole, Damien Allen, Anthony Pilkington, Tony Dinning, Dominic Blizzard, Liam Dickinson, Adam Proudlock, Tes Bramble and Anthony Elding.
During this time Wayne Hennessey received the League Two Player of the Month Award and Jim Gannon was candidate for the Manager of the Month Award twice.