There were 407 games in the 1980’s – it’s a simple division to work out that it averaged just under 41 games a year. My County journey was well under way, with each season covering around 50 games, (a league programme of 46 matches plus the expectation at that time of little progress in the cups). The decade saw the introduction of the Football League Trophy, known then as the Associate Members Cup, with County exiting very early in the first campaign in 1983/84 . Not sponsored at the time it was to prove a rich source of County memories in the 1990’s with two Wembley visits. It was named the Freight Rover Trophy in 1984/85; the Sherpa Van Trophy in 1986/87 and then the Leyland Daf Cup as the decade closed.
We spent the full decade in Tier 4, (still Division 4), This first saw sponsorship in 1983/84 as the Canon League; changing to the Today League in 1986/87 and 12 months later the Barclays League.
The League Cup was first backed in in 1981/82, being known as the Milk Cup. In 1986/87 it switched backer and became the Littlewoods Challenge Cup
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HOME GAMES
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| COMPETITION | P | W | D | L | F | A | Ave Crowd |
| TIER 4 | 221 | 98 | 62 | 61 | 327 | 251 | 2,430 |
| FA CUP | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 4,393 |
| LEAGUE CUP | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 3,872 |
| FOOTBALL LEAGUE TROPHY | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 1,590 |
| TOTAL | 248 | 104 | 70 | 74 | 356 | 288 | 2,537 |
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There’s an old adage that successful teams, wanting to be involved in promotion races, need to win at home and draw away. Carrying this sort of approach through it would give 92 points for a season and with it a more that serious interest at the top of the table. Over the decade County averaged around 36 points a season at home and that tells its own tale. In the 10 seasons from 1979/80 to 1988/89 we finished on average 17th; had to apply for re-election once, (in 1984/85), and skirted with automatic relegation for large parts of the 1986/87 season.
In Stockport County – A Complete Record Peter Freeman and Richard Harnwell sum things up pretty well. “Those who not only supported County, but watched them for any length of time between 1969 and 1989 are unlikely to yearn to return to those days”
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For more information on the home games I saw in the 1980’s check HERE . There’s a page for each year, with a commentary about how the year went, together with any other County related stuff that I thought may be of interest.
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AWAY GAMES
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The statistics tell it all. The 80’s were a grim period throughout, and a paltry 31 wins from the 159 away games that I travelled to are a correct representation. I’ve often said to Jeff Lawrenson when we set out on away trips throughout the 1990’s and subsequently that “we travel more in hope than expectation”. The mood was significantly darker than that in the 80’s. An away point was to be savoured, and generally those had to be in a scoreless draw – after all we failed to stop the opposition breaching our defence in only 29 games!!
There were some desperate trips – 7 goal beatings at Boothferry Park and Maine Road, (at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday in a ‘home’ game transferred on police advice), and an ignominious FA Cup exit at Caernarfon. We did score 4 at both Sealand Road and The Racecourse, but on 59 occasions failed to trouble the scorers, to use cricketing parlance.
Based on the 3 points for a win format we averaged under a point a game, (116 in total), from the 134 League games!! It’s an era of sorry memories in general.
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| COMPETITION | P | W | D | L | F | A | Ave Crowd |
| TIER 4 | 134 | 27 | 35 | 72 | 122 | 227 | 2,914 |
| FA CUP | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 4,494 |
| LEAGUE CUP | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 24 | 3,916 |
| FOOTBALL LEAGUE TROPHY | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 1,750 |
| TOTAL | 159 | 31 | 41 | 87 | 149 | 285 | 3,019 |
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For more information on the away games I saw in the 1980’s check HERE . There’s a page for each year with a list of games that I went to. If I visited a new ground in that year there’s a link to an article which reflects my thoughts about the ground and any other memories it brings.
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ALL GAMES
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The table below is pretty stark. The League games tell their own tale, but a dismal record is also reflected in our Cup performance. Three wins in the FA Cup in 15 attempts, (the vanquished being non-league outfits Runcorn; Mossley and Telford). The Runcorn game was one in which the incomparable Frank Worthington featured – it was a joy to watch him for those 13 games, (plus one more as sub). The League Cup saw similar travails and as for the Footbal League Trophy in its various guises the less said the better!!
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| COMPETITION | P | W | D | L | F | A | Ave Crowd |
| TIER 4 | 355 | 125 | 97 | 133 | 449 | 478 | 2,613 |
| FA CUP | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 23 | 4,447 |
| LEAGUE CUP | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 25 | 39 | 3,892 |
| FOOTBALL LEAGUE TROPHY | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 33 | 1,664 |
| TOTAL | 407 | 135 | 111 | 161 | 505 | 573 | 2,725 |
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407 games in 10 years and with 159 away games a fair bit of mileage under the belt. All in all 132 players turned out in those games. Andy Thorpe started in 286 of those and other double centurions were John Rutter, (223); Tommy Sword, (214) and Tony Coyle, (213). At the other end of the list were but single substitute appearances for Peter Fletcher; David Liptrot; Martin Melvin and Roy Mitchell. To check on who they all were click on ‘Played in the County games I saw in the 1980’s‘.
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WHERE THE GAMES WERE
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It’s no shock that the most visited grounds were those close to home. There were 11 trips to both Gresty Road and Spotland, and closely following them, with an average of one visit a year were 10 trips to the Shay, and perhaps surprisingly given the distance, Edgar Street. In total the 159 away games encompassed 44 different venues, including of course Edgeley Park.
Click on the Ground name for my memories of the stadium when I first visited, together with any other thoughts which have come to mind as I have put this together. An asterisk, (*), by the ground name indicates that it was a “new” ground on my County travels.
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| Ground | Opposition | P | W | D | L | |
| Abbey Stadium | * | Cambridge United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Anfield | * | Liverpool | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ashton Gate | * | Bristol City | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Belle Vue | Doncaster Rovers | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| Bloomfield Road | * | Blackpool | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Bootham Crescent | York City | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Boothferry Park | * | Hull City | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Boundary Park | * | Oldham Athletic | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bramall Lane | * | Sheffield United | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Brisbane Road | * | Leyton Orient | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bucks Head | * | Telford United | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Burnden Park | * | Bolton Wanderers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Canal Street | * | Runcorn | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Deepdale | * | Preston North End | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Edgar Street | Hereford United | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| Edgeley Park | 248 | 104 | 70 | 74 | ||
| Elm Park | * | Reading | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Feethams | Darlington | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Field Mill | * | Mansfield Town | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Gigg Lane | * | Bury | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Gresty Road | Crewe Alexandra | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |
| Leeds Road | Huddersfield Town | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| London Road | * | Peterborough United | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Maine Road | * | Sheffield Wednesday | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Millmoor | * | Rotherham United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Molineux | * | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Old Show Ground | Scunthorpe United | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| Prenton Park | Tranmere Rovers | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| Roots Hall | * | Southend United | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Saltergate | * | Chesterfield | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sealand Road | * | Chester City | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Seamer Road | * | Scarborough | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sincil Bank | * | Lincoln City | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Spotland | Rochdale | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| Springfield Park | Wigan Athletic | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| St James Park | Exeter City | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| The County Ground | Northampton Town | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| The Oval | * | Caernarfon Town | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| The Racecourse | * | Wrexham | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| The Shay | * | Halifax Town | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Turf Moor | * | Burnley | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Vale Park | Port Vale | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Valley Parade | * | Bradford City | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Victoria Ground | * | Hartlepool United | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 407 | 135 | 111 | 161 |
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