SUMMARY

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Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Ave Att:
31	20	8	3	5,045

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It features “Robbies”, (official name Frederic Robinson Limited), as Official Club Sponsor for the first time. The brewery, local to Stockport, has had a long association with the Club. Featured on the cover of this issue, for what turned out to be a 2-0 win against Port Vale, is Andy Preece. The game was originally scheduled for 26th January was postponed and was played on 16th February. At the time of the originally scheduled game Preece was in prime form, having scored 8 in the preceding 11 games.

I recall the original date. Arthur Brotherton and I were sat in the Robbie Peel, and come 7.15 wondered why it was so quiet. The landlord, having furnished us with a couple of pints each, then informed us it had been postponed an hour or so earlier, but didn’t want to miss out on some trade by letting us know!!

31 home games in the year once again demonstrates the success we were enjoying. There were 7 cup ties, 1 play off game and 23 league fixtures. I’m still glad that I made it to each and every one. And it was becoming very much a habit, made all the better by the quality seen on the field. The last home game I had missed was against Wolves in September 1986, in those dreadful Melia days. By the end of 1993 I’d seen 199 consecutive home games. It was a run which was to go for another 11 years. The next EP fixture I missed was in December 2004, when I was ‘obliged’ to go to a work based function in London. We beat MK Dons in our very first encounter with the franchise outfit. Disappointing to miss it, and to break a run of 491 home games.

I should say at this point that I am far from the most regular County follower. There is one character, who always wishes to stay ‘anonymous’. The last time I heard he had done over 2,500 consectuive games, home and away. I am but a mere amateur compared to that.

The year started off brilliantly. We did exit the FA Cup in a fog-shrouded game at the Baseball Ground, (reflected in Away Trip 63), but thereafter came 5 wins in 7 league games, the last of which was a game of very fond memory. West Brom were the visitors, and with it came a 5-1 win , with Paul A Williams, who had just returned to EP after a fruitless spell at the Hawthorns, scoring the final goal. It must have been sweet for him.

A month after that triumph came a defining moment in County’s history. We had gone through an ‘iffy’ spell. Only 2 points from 5 games but we hadn’t really fallen away from the promotion race. Bergara moved to strengthen his team, and made 2 signings from Preston. Martin James, a winger was the first. I always thought he was useful but his County career was mainly a peripheral one, with 21 of his 36 appearances from the bench. A few days afterwards, Bergara returned to Deepdale and for what turned out to be a ‘snip’ paid out £125,000 for a centre half.

The signing was pivotal to our success to the turn of the decade. He ended up playing 460 times, after his first appearance which was as a sub at Plymouth. (That ended in a 4-3 win, and is still one of my favourite County trips – see Away Trip 64). His impact that day came as we saw for the first time his trademark long throw. He launched it into the box, finding Kevin Francis head, leading to the equaliser for the third time. A great day!

Mike Flynn went onto become a County legend, and some of the most vivid images of the Annus Mirabilis are of him leading us to those famous victories. His connection with County was long standing. After finishing his playing career a few years after leaving County he was back, initially as a scout, then on the coaching staff. he even took charge of the first team for one game against Nuneaton in January 2016, filling in the time between Neil Young’s departure and Jim Gannon’s 3rd coming. He is of course in the County Hall of Fame, and remains a Vice-President of the club even though he has moved onto a coaching role with Rochdale.

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The picture shows in on the evening that we won at Blackburn in the League Cup in October 1996 and is correctly and very accurately captioned “Captain Fantastic”. It was a great evening as virtually all of the great team of the 1990’s turned out

As an aside we also another debutant in that game. Phil Kite came in to replace Neil Edwards. He lasted 5 games before Bergara realised the errors of his ways and Edwards returned. Flynn is a legend in County fan’s eye. Kite certainly not so!!

The season ended up with a disappointing defeat in the Play-Offs at the hands of Port Vale, which we qualified for with a better goal difference than Leyton Orient. The Vale had the better of us in the Autoglass Trophy as well, winning the Wembley final 2-1.

The 1993/94 season started really well. 11 wins in the first 15 league games, (with only the one defeat, at Hartlepool). We’d scored 32 and only conceded 10. It was virtually the same team that had finished the previous campaign, but with the addition of winger Darren Ryan. Te made a good impression and was a fixture for the first half of the season, but thereafter faded out of the picture.

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Back (l to r). Mike Flynn; Jim Gannon; Paul A Williams; Alan Finley; Tony Barras; Bill Williams; Jim Carstairs

Middle (l tor). Martin James; Sean Connelly; Neil Edwards; Ian Ironside; Ian Wilkinson; Dave Miller; Chris Beaumont; Darren Ryan

Front (l to r). Kevin Francis; David Frain; Mike Wallace; Danny Bergara, (manager); Peter Ward; Lee Todd; Andy Preece

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At the same time we were making good progress in the Autoglass Trophy, and hopes were high for a 3rd consecutive final appearance. Together with two FA Cup wins, (which would of course lead to the famous tie against QPR), we rifled in 14 goals in 4 ties in the two competitions. At the end of November we were 2nd, a point behind Reading and with a 5 point cushion over 3rd placed Bristol Rovers. But December was a poor month. Only 4 points from 4 league games, and we went to Brentford for the first game of 1994 still 2nd but Reading had opened up a 7 point gap. The remainder of the season promised to be exciting, and so it proved, but it was of course ultimately heartbreaking.

We had played 63 games in the calendar year. There had been 31 wins; 15 draws and 17 losses. Together with the 31 home games I saw, I added 23 away trips. What I had seen was real evidence that the work that Bergara had done in his 4 years had turned the Club upside down. No longer were we one of those clubs that continually struggled. We had seen promotion; been to Wembley and had a team with exciting players. The future looked good as we moved into 1994.

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Back to 1992 Forward to 1994 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 1993

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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	09/01/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Bradford City	D	2	2	4,999	410
Tue	12/01/93 (Highlights)	Autoglass Trophy	Northern Round 1	Hartlepool United	W	1	0	2,383	411
Fri	22/01/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Chester City	W	2	0	4,427	412
Fri	05/02/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Wigan Athletic	W	3	0	4,800	413
Tue	09/02/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Bolton Wanderers	W	2	0	7,363	414
Tue	16/02/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Port Vale	W	2	0	7,449	415
Sat	20/02/93 (Highlights)	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	West Bromwich Albion	W	5	1	7,181	416
Tue	23/02/93	Autoglass Trophy	Northern Semi-Final	Chesterfield	W	2	1	4,613	417
Fri	26/02/93 (Highlights)	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Mansfield Town	L	0	1	5,307	418
Sat	13/03/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Brighton & Hove Albion	D	0	0	5,298	419
Tue	23/03/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Hartlepool United	W	4	1	4,154	420
Sat	03/04/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Stoke City	D	1	1	9,402	421
Fri	09/04/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Rotherham United	D	2	2	5,440	422
Fri	16/04/93 (Highlights)	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	Reading	D	2	2	5,001	423
Tue	20/04/93 (Highlights)	Autoglass Trophy	Northern Final (2nd Leg)	Wigan Athletic	W	2	0	6,315	424
Sat	01/05/93	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3	AFC Bournemouth	D	0	0	5,446	425
Sun	16/05/93 (Highlights)	Barclays League Division 2	Tier 3 Play-Off Semi-Final (1st Leg)	Port Vale	D	1	1	7,856	426
Tue	17/08/93 (Highlights)	Coca-Cola Cup	Round 1 (1st Leg)	Hartlepool United	D	1	1	2,915	427
Sat	21/08/93	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Cambridge United	W	3	1	3,782	428
Tue	31/08/93	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Bradford City	W	4	1	4,236	429
Sat	04/09/93	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Wrexham	W	1	0	4,886	430
Sat	18/09/93 (Highlights)	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Burnley	W	2	1	5,122	431
Sat	25/09/93	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Rotherham United	W	2	0	4,903	432
Tue	28/09/93	Autoglass Trophy	Northern Preliminary Round	Wigan Athletic	W	2	0	2,393	433
Sat	16/10/93 (Highlights)	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Exeter City	W	4	0	4,349	434
Sat	30/10/93 (Highlights)	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Swansea City	W	4	0	4,641	435
Tue	02/11/93	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Leyton Orient	W	3	0	4,323	436
Sat	20/11/93	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Bristol Rovers	L	0	2	5,250	437
Tue	30/11/93	Autoglass Trophy	Northern Round 1	Rochdale	W	4	0	2,484	438
Sat	04/12/93 (Highlights)	FA Cup	Round 2	Halifax Town	W	5	1	5,496	439
Fri	17/12/93	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3	Plymouth Argyle	L	2	3	4,174	440