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First County Visit:	Tuesday 20th August 1985
Competition:	Milk Cup – (Round 1 – 1st Leg)
Result:	Bolton Wanderers 4 – 1 Stockport County
Attendance:	3,311
Away Trip:	36
Away Day:	115
County Line-up	1 Mike Salmon; 2 John Rutter; 3 Les Chapman; 4 Paul Lodge; 5 Andy Thorpe; 6 Nigel Smith; 7 Mark Wroe; 8 Paul Hendrie; 9 Mark Leonard; 10 Paul Smith; 11 Steve Sherlock
Scorer:	Paul Smith
Manager:	Colin Murphy
County Visits:	5

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IS THAT A CHIP ON YOUR SHOULDER … OR A FULL FISH SUPPER

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A loss to Bolton fans, deprived of a ground in their town; a loss to visiting fans who now miss out on a trip to a ground steeped in history and a loss to football in general.  Just look what has replaced it.  An out of town ground in the middle of a shopping emporium.  Totally soulless.  They can call it what they like.  Accounting artifices have deemed it to be the Reebok and the Macron, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that it is simply not a football ground … or how I like them anyway.  But more of that anon when we come to Away Trip 93.

Maybe my memories are coloured by the fact that I saw an FA Cup semi-final there back in 1970, some 15 years before County appeared. It was a second replay between the two Uniteds of Leeds and Manchester.  I can’t remember how I blagged a ticket but I did, and found myself amongst the swaying mass in the Great Lever End, (no seats under there then). 

The record books show that 56,000 were crammed into Burnden Park that evening, (some 22,000 more than watched the 5 games that I saw County play there years later!).  The enmity between the two Clubs provided an atmosphere which could be cut with a knife. Leeds actually won it with a goal from Billy Bremner fairly early on in the proceedings but my memory is that it was the very last time that I saw my favourite player of all time in action in the flesh. 

The incomparable Denis Law came off the bench to try and rescue the tie for Manchester, but failed to do so.  I didn’t know at that time but I would never again see in live action the one player that I had idolised from being 8 years old. People always say to me “well what about Best”.  Not for me.  A truly great player without a scintilla of doubt; different skills to the Lawman; an entertainer unquestionably but at the risk of repeating myself from Away Trip 4, (Old Trafford), the flaxen haired one was, and still remains for me, the one footballer who captured my imagination from the first moment I saw him.  A goalscorer supreme with more than a hint of combativeness – no one can sway me away…..

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So all of that was around 15 years before County turned up at Burnden Park.  The ground was much the same as it had been for that semi-final replay – just occupied by 53,000 less.  It was a Milk Cup 1^st Round 1^st leg tie, and the second game of Colin Murphy’s first coming to EP. 

The season had started 3 days previously with a trip to the far reaches of Colchester, and a disappointing 3-1 defeat.  Paul Smith, on loan from Sheffield United had been the scorer as in deed he was at Burnden Park that evening albeit in a losing performance again as County went one goal worse than the Colchester game, losing 4-1, and thereby consigning the 2^nd leg to mere academic status.  In a brief stay at County he played 9 games, hit the target 6 times and got himself somewhat of a cult hero status.  He disappeared back to Bramall Lane just prior to a trip to Roots Hall and that was that.

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Strangely enough the next trip to Burnden was a mere two weeks later.  I suppose that it might form some kind of quiz question.  “Name the team that played both of its 1^st round games in the 1985/86 Milk Cup away from home on the same ground”.  Works had been needed to Edgeley Park with the Cheadle End Stand, then less than 20 years old, but fabricated from wood fell victim to safety certificate requirements following the events at Valley Parade only three months before. 

Additionally, the concreting of the Railway End was also required.  It left County on the road for the first 7 games of the season until the required permission was given and the EP season began with a visit from Hereford in mid September. The second visit was, as noted above, merely academic, and both teams seemed satisfy to play out a pretty dreary 1-1 draw.

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It stood on the Manchester Road side of the ground, and was approached from the road by way of a huge car-park

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But turning to the ground.  I opened up this trip with a view that Burnden Park was a grievous loss, and I am even more of that view as I bring back the old stadium back to mind.  Approaching from Manchester Road a huge car park fronted what was a collection of offices and other facilities behind which was the Main Stand.  It’s difficult to comment on the view from there – I never went in that part of the ground, but I always thought that it was pretty imposing. Not particularly tall, that’s for certain but a structure which seemed to hug the playing area, and undoubtedly contributing to the atmosphere.

To its right was the Great Lever Stand, where I had been for the semi-final 15 years earlier.  By 1985 the stand had been converted into seating, hardly an improvement, and I suspect not the greatest of views, because even as a standing area, the terracing was fairly shallow.  It had certainly lost something by that change. Opposite was the Burnden Stand.  A sizeable paddock stood in front of covered seating, and I always stood there for non-County fixtures. 

Indeed it wasn’t unusual from 1975 to 1977 for fairly regular visits.  My accountancy training was conducted at Preston Polytechnic and required attendance up past Deepdale and conveniently these fell on mid-week days.  What could have been easier than stopping off at Burnden for mid-week fixtures on the way back – which is what myself and a couple of travelling companions did. It was always a decent view, but only as long as we didn’t station ourselves too near the front.  Much akin to Old Trafford the playing area was raised above the level of the front of the terracing, which might have brought you near to some of the crunching tackles on the near touchline but effectively negated any sight of the far side of the pitch.

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Seats behind with a good sized terrace in front. Seen here from the visitors accommodation at the Railway, (or in later days the Co-op) End

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To the left of the Main Stand was a big bank of open terracing.  On my first visits there was a railway line running right behind this, but well before the move out of town this had disappeared, as indeed had half of the terracing as the local Co-op took over that corner of the ground.  On reflection seating in the Great Lever Stand and the advent of the retail emporium took away a lot of the attraction of Burnden Park – but even in its latter state was simply far better as a football ground than that new edifice out Horwich way can even aspire to be.

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Bolton Wanderers of course come with a proud history, or so their supporters were keen on telling you.  Founder members of the Football League; winners of the first ever Cup Final held at Wembley; recipients of a world record transfer fee when David Jack moved to Arsenal in 1928, (for the princely sum of £10890), and of course the local hero was the Lion of Vienna, Nat Lofthouse.  A pity all of this was donkeys years before what were visits to Burnden Park in the lower reaches of the Football league. 

The Trotters support always seemed to come out with stuff about this heritage and maybe even more pointed comments about having to play against rubbish like Stockport.  Well boys you may have had some kind of history but you were down at that level simply because on the field you were no better than us.  People talk about having a chip on their shoulders – I’d suggest it was more of a full fish supper in the late 1980’s.  Yes they have returned, and spent a fair amount of time in the Premier League, but never forget there is no automatic right to be at a certain  level. 

And being quite honest that’s what tees me off about some of the County support.  I keep hearing comments about getting out of this “god forsaken pub league” or “Brackley – nowt but a parks team”.  These characters need to recognise that we are in the sixth tier of English football simply because the abject level of biblical mismanagement in the early part of the millennium means that is where we deserve to be.  No automatic right to Football League status – that will have to be earned, and as I write it looks as though Jim Gannon, on the field, and decent management off it, is putting in place the groundwork to earn that improvement.  But please…. Don’t let it be accompanied by a move to some soulless place.  Edgeley is our home, and should remain that way.  Don’t follow the Bolton model.

February 2017

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Tues	20/08/85	Milk Cup	Round 1 – 1st Leg	Bolton Wanderers	L	1	4	3,311	115
Tues	03/09/85 (Game transferred from EP)	Milk Cup	Round 1 – 2nd Leg	Bolton Wanderers	D	1	1	2,573	118
Mon	28/12/87	Barclays League Division 4	Tier 4	Bolton Wanderers	L	1	2	6,607	155
Tues	10/03/92	Barclays League Division 3	Tier 3	Bolton Wanderers	D	0	0	7,365	227
Tues	06/04/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Bolton Wanderers	L	1	2	13,773	258

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – TURF MOOR Next stop – DEEPDALE