SUMMARY

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Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Ave Att:
24	11	8	5	2,377

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This issue was for the game against Swindon in September 1983 – a 3-1 loss. The centre picture features Mike Power in action at the Cheadle End in the game against Colchester a couple of weeks previously.

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GOALS AND ENTERTAINMENT – MIKE QUINN

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The New Year started in fine style. Three weeks before 1983 dawned Quinny had struck a hat-trick against Crewe. Having missed out in a trip to Colchester, (a 3-0 defeat), he added one in each of the Christmas games against Blackpool and Chester, and with a real thirst for goals. made it 8 in five games with another triple as Halifax were put to the sword.

We started the year almost exactly in mid-table, (13th), on 27 points, 18 adrift of leaders Bury. There was still a chance to push for promotion. It was the second season of “3 points for a win”, so 4th place when we were 14 points adrift of Port Vale was’t out of the question with 24 games left and Qunnny in such prime striking form. By the end of February we’d picked up 13 point from 5 home games, but the away form was abysmal, with but a single win. That run included the 7-0 defeat at Hull referred to in Away Day 24.

I’ve seen 1,757 games and this was the first of 4 occasions I had seen us concede 7. The others were at Maine Road when we played Sheffield Wednesday and staggering 7-2 reverse at the hands of Rochdale which came only a month after the record breaking “9 wins in a row without conceding” run in early 2007.

The final one was a night of infamy at Grimsby in November 2011, shortly after Gannon’s second coming. It occasioned the classic “social loafers” quote from him, and for those present at Blundell Park it appeared as close as can be that the players, who purportedly hadn’t taken kindly to him, had gone on strike such was the disgraceful nature of the performance.

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Back to 1983. The away form in the early part of the year came to EP as well. The last 15 games produced 11 points, and a final placing of 16th. But the last game of the season at EP, against Port Vale was the most memorable. Not for the football, (it was a 2-0 loss), but for the fact that there was huge doubt as to whether there was a future. Problems in paying bills had come to a head with seemingly no solution. It was a dire prospect.

Vale could secure promotion that evening, and brought a decent following but there was more than suspicion that there were a fair few ghouls who turned up. wanting to be able to say that they were there when Stockport County played their last ever game, A crowd of 5.516 was recorded, 50% larger than the next best for the season, (against Blackpool at Christmas), and 3,207 greater than the average for the season. I left EP that Friday evening hoping against hope that a financial knight in shining armour would appear on the horizon.

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1983 marked the centenary of the Club. We wondered whether it would mark the end. Obviously it didn’t. A Centenary brochure, (above), was published. It featured on the cover Mike Quinn; Les Bradd and Colin Parry. Three players who have featured strongly in my County journey. Quinn is my favourite all-time players; Bradd of course scored his hat-trick at Barnsley, and Colin Parry featured in the first game I saw in 1963.

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Postscript 19th August 2020: Rereading this post it was announced last week that Colin Parry had passed away after suffering serious illness.

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Only problem with this was that the photo had been inverted!! A close inspection shows this from the badge on the shirt and also the row lettering in the stand!! Consequently the players names were all wrong!! (Photo from @FAutographs).

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The following season started slowly, but with the New Year approaching we went on a run of 4 successive home wins. But once again it was the away form which was poor. Early wins at Mansfield; Crewe: (yet another Micky Quinn hat-trick which is described in more detail in Away Day 5), and Chester gave us hope of a decent campaign. The next 5 away games delivered a mere 2 points, and as we went into 1984, we stood 12th in the table. In the middle of this poor away run came a humiliating FA Cup exit at Telford. As with the Crewe game there’s more reflections on that debacle in Away Day 31.

It was a year when we had 24 home games and for me it was a 100% record. Halifax were the most welcome visitors. We started the year off by sticking them for four, and in November replicated it! Indeed looking back at the records the last two home games I have seen against them have seen us scoring five. Welcome visitors indeed!

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Back to 1982 Forward to 1984 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 1983

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THE HOME GAMES I SAW THIS YEAR

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Home Game
Sat	01/01/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Halifax Town	W	4	2	2,871	155
Fri	21/01/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Tranmere Rovers	W	3	2	2,198	156
Sat	12/02/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	D	1	1	2,232	157
Mon	14/02/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Bury	W	2	1	3,058	158
Sat	26/02/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Aldershot	W	2	1	1,853	159
Fri	11/03/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Wimbledon	L	1	3	2,396	160
Fri	18/03/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Bristol City	D	2	2	2,036	161
Sat	02/04/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Chester	D	3	3	2,008	162
Fri	08/04/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Mansfield Town	D	1	1	2,202	163
Sun	17/04/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Torquay United	W	1	0	1,986	164
Fri	22/04/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Colchester United	W	3	0	1,733	165
Fri	06/05/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Port Vale	L	0	2	5,516	166
Fri	09/09/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Colchester United	D	0	0	2,077	167
Mon	12/09/83	Milk Cup	Round 1 (2nd Leg)	Rochdale	D	2	2	2,160	168
Fri	23/09/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Swindon Town	L	1	3	2,244	169
Mon	26/09/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Wrexham	D	1	1	2,031	170
Mon	03/10/83	Milk Cup	Round 2 (1st Leg)	Oldham Athletic	L	0	2	4,640	171
Sat	15/10/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Darlington	W	2	0	1,360	172
Mon	17/10/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Aldershot	D	2	2	1,895	173
Sat	29/10/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Blackpool	L	1	2	2,602	174
Fri	11/11/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Halifax Town	W	4	0	2,140	175
Fri	02/12/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Torquay United	W	2	1	1,874	176
Fri	16/12/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Tranmere Rovers	W	2	1	1,644	177
Tue	27/12/83	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	W	1	0	2,287	178