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First County Visit:	Saturday 28th September 1991
Competition:	Barclays League Division 3 – (Tier 3)
Result:	Stoke City 2 – 2 Stockport County
Attendance:	12,956
Away Trip:	53
Away Day:	216
County Line-up	1 Neil Edwards; 2 Darren Knowles; 3 Paul R Williams; 4 Andy Thorpe; 5 Tony Barras; 6 Bill Williams; 7 Jim Gannon; 8 John Paskin (12 Andy Kilner); 9 Kevin Francis; 10 Peter Ward; 11 Mark Lillis
Scorers:	Mark Lillis; Kevin Francis
Manager:	Danny Bergara
County Visits:	4

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ONLY 10 GAMES OVER 5 YEARS BUT A TRULY BITTER RIVALRY

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Most of these will be when teams from the same area, town or city are involved but the early 90’s introduced two hitherto, and on the face of things, most unlikely contentious confrontations for County.  With our immediate geographical footballing neighbours operating at a level significantly higher there was and remains no natural rival. 

The 70’s had seen the search for hostilities centre around Bradford and I certainly witnessed some hairy episodes.  On the other hand there was never much in meetings with Crewe or Tranmere, and even in later years Macclesfield were regarded as no more than the country yokels. 

But it’s fair to say that the period from September 1991 to April 1993 covered 20 months of acute bitterness both on and off the field as County faced Stoke on 7 occasions.  4 league games; 2 play-off semi-finals, and an Autoglass Final at Wembley.  And each and every one of them was a fraught day.  Quite where all this antagonism came from is a bit of a mystery considering that the Clubs had never played each other in the preceding 64 years.

The first of these seven meetings came a fortnight after the trip to the Hawthorns in between which were a loss at Exeter and a home win over Bury which saw the first appearance for keeper Neil Edwards (below), who had been acquired for the princely sum of £5k from Leeds.  He went on to play 217 (+1) games for the Hatters, but the arrival of Paul Jones prior to the 199/97 season saw him relegated to the bench for that campaign, (he started in only 2 of the 67 games).  He left EP to move to Rochdale and subsequently Bury, but is still fondly remembered by County fans.  We were still well positioned, lying 3^rd in the table, and when the teams lined up there was another debutant, Mark Lillis

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A great servant, for 6 years, In that period he fought off challenges for the No.1 shirt from Dave Redfern; Phil Kite; John Keeley, Matt Dickins and Ian Ironside, and averaged getting on for 40 games a season. He faded off the scene upon the arrival of Paul Jones in the summer of 1996

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We were stationed on the terraced element of the Stoke End, above which were seats.  With visitors below and home fans above it was potentially a recipe for trouble.  And that September afternoon there were a few isolated instances of projectiles launched from above landing in the terraced area.  But this was nothing compared to the experience a matter of 7 months later.  But more of that anon.

At the other end of the pitch stood the Boothen End, an impressive covered terrace which housed the more vociferous of the Potter’s support.  It held 9,700 (at the time of our first visit was the largest capacity terrace in the country), and certainly on our 2^nd trip, for the Play Off semi-final was substantially occupied. On our left was the Butler Street Stand, much like it’s counterpart, the Boothen Stand, (the Main Stand), on the other side, with seating at the rear and terracing at the front. 

The whole place could hold around 25,000 at that time – although in the pre H&S days it had been as high as 50,000. I’d actually been there some years previously when the Stoke End was a reasonable large uncovered terrace, and since that trip the Butler Street Stand roof had been replaced after being severely damaged in a gale.  So it was a ground significantly changed in the space of around 20 years since my previous trip.

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Visitors stood on the terracing with the seats for the home fans. Whoever dreamed that one up must have been rather dim to not anticipate the consequences!!

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The game in September 1991 ended in a 2-2 draw, and came and went without much else to notice.  However, 7 months later things were more than a bit different.  The return league game at Edgeley was on 20^th April 1992, and marked the first of 4 games between the clubs in 26 days.  Stoke were in 2^nd place, a couple of points behind leaders, (but later to be pipped to the title by Brentford), Birmingham with County in 4^th, adrift of the Potters by 4 points.  It was a crucial game in the race for promotion with 3 games left.  Over 8,000 turned up at EP for what was a bitter game, which ended up in a goalless draw, which was of little use to either team and there was tension, and a little more outside the ground.  Results for both in the remaining games consigned both to the Play-Offs, with the positioning bringing them together for 2 games a matter of only 3 weeks later.  The first of these was at Edgeley on a Sunday dinnertime with County taking the honours with a superb free-kick from Peter Ward.

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The return was at the Victoria Ground 3 days later and drew 16,170.  A very early goal from Chris Beaumont put County in the driving seat with a two goal lead on aggregate.  The atmosphere was toxic to say the least, and the location of the Hatters contingent, on the terracing at the Stoke End, providing an ideal target for a barrage of missiles of varying types which rained down form the seating above.  It was a singularly unpleasant 90 minutes, made even more so after a late strike from Mark Stein, (more of whom later), put Stoke back into the game.  County held on to get the win and the prospect of promotion when they faced Peterborough 10 days later. 

However, my memory of the game is not what happened on the field but in the 60 minutes that followed the final whistle. Having watched getting on for 3,000 games over the years, at all levels, and in all parts of the country I’d seen a fair bit of trouble at grounds and in the surrounding areas, Being involved in it had never held any interest, and I’d learned how to pick up the signals that indicated danger to my person and give it a wide berth.  But that night was without doubt the one where I feared most for personal safety. 

The final whistle blew and Wembley beckoned, but of more immediate concern was the exodus from the Boothen End.  The normal method of leaving was ignored by the more excitable of the Stoke contingent who vaulted the fence and charged down the pitch.  There was nowhere to turn.  The exit for County fans was to the rear of the standing enclosure and this was barred by the local constabulary who had deemed it appropriate to require us to stay behind whilst the streets around the ground cleared.

It was on reflection a frightening prospect – we were sitting targets for whatever projectiles were available, and potentially with the advancing hordes seemingly hell-bent on engaging in hand to hand combat, the prospect of the local infirmary A+E department being more than occupied that evening looked to be a probability more than a possibility.  The day was temporarily saved with the arrival of the cavalry – literally.  The mounted division of Staffordshire’s finest emerged at the corner of the ground nearest to us and drove the invaders back to the half way line.  It was a stand off. 

Support for the County faithful came from our right as the strains of “We’re all going to Wembley” came from the window of the away team dressing room, which opened up onto the paddock in front of the main stand.  It was great to hear for us but left the locals even more enraged.  Eventually they were pushed back but it was around an hour after the final whistle that we were given the nod to leave.  It was then about 10.30 and with only 35 miles or so to home a midnight arrival at worst looked to be on the cards.  But the night’s “entertainment” was far from over.

It was a hairy walk back to the car, but with plod stationed at regular intervals nothing went amiss initially.  The police coverage got lighter and lighter as I approached a side street where my car was parked.  It was somewhere I’d used on the previous trip.  My pride and joy at the time was a Mini Metro Turbo purchased a couple of years previously from Messrs Lockwood and Greenwood of Audenshaw, Manchester.  The aforementioned dealer, keen on a bit of advertising, had put one of those stickers in the back window, and I had given in no further thought until settling down in the drivers seat that night in Stoke. 

From behind I could a commotion and a speedy glance in the rear view mirror saw an phalanx approaching, clad in the red and white of our hosts that evening.  They were undoubtedly not out for a gentle stroll on a pleasant early summer evening. It became quickly evident that their purpose was to engage with anyone not from the immediate area. 

The legend is that a red rag enrages a bull.  Well, blue and white shirts, scarves and other “favours” as they were quaintly described in my early years clearly had the same effect on the residents of the Potteries. 

Quickly stuffing my scarf under the seat the only sign that I was not from those parts was the dealers ad in the rear window.  The road ahead was blocked as traffic looked to turn onto a major road.  Keeping an eye on the mirrors the advancing mob got closer.  Some of them split off having found a target in a car parked about 25 yards to my rear.  An advance party of a couple got closer as I made sure that the doors were locked and sat there, engine running, desperately looking for the chance to get away. 

The scouting mission identified me as an “invader” as they saw the Lockwoods sticker.  They called for reinforcements, and as a group of around 10 were within reach suddenly a gap appeared in the traffic.  Accelerating away I not only breathed a huge sigh of relief, but also recognised what would have befallen me. 

Looking in the mirror there was a car which had been parked only a couple of vehicles behind.  It wasn’t following me, and without the help of the breakdown people was never likely to.  The locals were rocking it violently and as I turned into the main road my last sight was of it being rolled onto its roof.  It was the nearest I ever came to being a victim of what was mob violence, and I still remain more than thankful for that small gap which allowed me to avoid it

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For those few years in the 1990’s there was a real animosity between the two clubs, and it wasn’t just between the supporters.  It stretched to on-field matters as well and crystallised in a much reported contretemps between County legend Jim Gannon and Stoke striker Mark Stein.  The bare facts are that Stein assaulted Gannon after County lost 2-1 at the Victoria Ground in March 1993 and was subsequently charged and the case went to court.  He received a conditional discharge but evidence presented at court revealed that there was what the judge said was “extreme provocation” after what he, (Stein), claimed to be racial abuse.  I make no further comment about the circumstances other than to say that neither party emerged well out of the episode. It was another sorry event in the bitterness that existed at that time.

All in all I liked the Victoria Ground as a football arena, despite it holding other memories.  We went there 4 times and it was only on the last, (in January 1997), that we tasted victory.  It was a murky night to say the least, and the game was in doubt until the last few minutes as fog enveloped the ground. 

The trip down with Jeff and Tony Lawrenson had been hairy with thick fog making the normally easy ride down through Macclesfield and Congleton a case of crawling and stopping to make calls to determine of it was or off.  It did happen, and Stoke’s last ever FA Cup game at a place they had called home for 119 years provided a 2-0 win, courtesy of Keiran Durkan and Alun Armstrong.  It was the 36^th game of a campaign which eventually encompassed 67 in total, and ended up with a League Cup Semi-Final and of course promotion to Tier 2. 

The journey around grounds previously not used to County as visitors will be chronicled when we reach that point.  Prior to then there will be another 33 new grounds and 146 away days to cover.

April 2020

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Sat	28/09/91	Barclays League Division 3	Tier 3	Stoke City	D	2	2	12,956	216
Wed	13/05/92 (Highlights)	Barclays League Division 3	Tier 3 Play-off semi final	Stoke City	D	1	1	16,170	234
Tues	09/03/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Stoke City	L	1	2	17,479	254
Wed	15/01/97	FA Cup	Round 3	Stoke City	W	2	0	10,287	343

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – THE HAWTHORNS Next stop – ST ANDREWS