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First County Visit:	Saturday 16th May 1992
Competition:	Leyland Daf Cup – (Final)
Result:	Stoke City 1 – 0 Stockport County
Attendance:	48,339
Away Trip:	59
Away Day:	235
County Line-up	1 Neil Edwards; 2 Darren Knowles; 3 Lee Todd; 4 David Frain (12 Andy Thorpe); 5 Tony Barras; 6 Bill Williams; 7 Jim Gannon; 8 Peter Ward; 9 Kevin Francis; 10 Chris Beaumont; 11 Paul Wheeler (13 Paul R Williams)
Manager:	Danny Bergara
County Visits:	4

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A VALE OF TEARS – STEIN, CHARLERY AND ELLERAY

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Long since demolished it was a music hall in the early years of the 20th century. In 1912 a performer at the theatre, Jack Judge, purportedly took a 5/- bet that he couldn’t write a song. Not only did he do it but it was played the next evening, and presumably picked up his five bob. It’s a tune that became a marching favourite of soldiers in the First World War, and is still well known today.

It’s also been amended by football fans over the last few decades to celebrate a visit to the national stadium.

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“It’s a long way to dear old Wembley

It’s a long way to go

It’s a long way to dear old Wembley

Where all the best teams go”

There then follows a line which references the teams beaten on the way. In 1992 the ditty would continue

Goodbye York City, Goodbye Burnley too

It’s a long, long way to dear old Wembley

But County are through

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I never thought in my first 15 years of watching County regularly, and 29 years after my first visit to EP, that we would be dusting down Judge’s old tune, (A Long Way to Tipperary, of course), in readiness for a trip to the twin towers. For much of that time we were only likely to see one tower, never mind two, and that was the Portwood Cooling Tower. Even that had disappeared by 1981.

Wembley of course was but a fond, and far stretched, extension of the imagination in the days when solely the FA Cup and the League Cup were the only routes. The opportunities expanded in the 1980’s. In 1983/84 the Associate Members Cup was introduced for (then) 3rd and 4th Division Clubs. The intention was to play the final at Wembley, but the venue had to be changed. The Horse of the Year Show had rendered the traditionally pristine Wembley surface a morass, and the rather humbler surroundings of Boothferry Park played host to the final. Not that it bothered us – we had exited at the very first time of asking in a penalty shoot out against Crewe, where we failed to hit the target on a single occasion.

The following years were equally fallow. It took 7 seasons before we won a game in the competition, (which seemed to have a different sponsor each year), and before the 1991/92 competition, we had played 19 games and got no nearer to Wembley than a 30 mile trip to Gresty Road. I saw every one of those games.

But hope of reaching Wembley had also been extended by the introduction of the Play-Offs. In their first three seasons, Wembley wasn’t an option. The finals were played on a two-legged basis. the change came in 1990. Travelling over Tideswell Moor to Chesterfield on Sunday 13th May 1990, not only was promotion talk in the air, but also the possibility of walking down Wembley Way. By 2.00pm that day, (the game having had a noon kick off), those hopes had been dashed, as recounted in the piece on Saltergate.

It was to be a further two years before the holy grail was come into sight. And like the appearance of the proverbial London buses, when it did, there were not one, but two visits. The first had been secured with sweet two-legged victory over Burnley in the Autoglass Trophy leaving us to face Stoke in the final. In one of those quirks we had played Stoke in the Play-Off semi-finals twice in the seven days prior to the Wembley trip, (which actually made it 4 games against them in a month).. And had been victorious there as well meaning that we knew that a second, and more important visit was to be made 8 days after the first, with Peterborough being the opposition. The prize was a place in Division 1, (Tier 2), for the 1992/93 season.

So it was with great anticipation, and if truth’s known, a fair degree of expectation that tickets were procured, travel arrangements made, and various memorabilia purchased.

There was a hiccup a couple of days before the Autoglass final. Arthur Brotherton called me to say that his wife wasn’t well and he couldn’t go. For someone whose County following, at that date, had been far longer and more widespread than my own, it must have been a bitter moment. (Thankfully he made it to the Play-Off game a week later).

My brother, Howard, took his place. Now he’s a Blue, (strange that a family of three brothers would see one City, one United and myself as a County fan!!). I will say this for him. He’s not a Johnny Come Lately ‘Bitter’ – he first went in the late 60’s and has been a season ticket holder for most of the time since then.

He, sadly, fell in thrall to the Abu Dhabi changes, and proclaimed once in my hearing that their “success was a right”. He has over the last couple of years been coming gradually to the conclusion that what has happened at Eastlands is probably not so good for the game. One day realisation will dawn properly!! But he certainly came in useful that day. His tried and trusted access to Wembley, (park up at Stanmore; Jubilee Line to Wembley Park, and then walk down the famous Wembley Way), is one I have used each time I have been there since, whether to the ‘old’ or ‘new’ stadium.

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So, onto Wembley Way, (Olympic Way to give it the official title). I’m certain that any County fans that day had great expectation not only about the game, but also the Stadium. Whatever the outcome of the former, I knew that they were in a for a real disappointment with the latter. I had been there previously. An England v Scotland game in 1965, (with my Dad, on a day County beat Newport 2-0); and two FA Cup finals in the 1970’s. Putting things simply, for a national stadium, it was a disgrace.

Emerging from Wembley Park station the place certainly looked impressive at a distance. The Twin Towers framing the end of the approach. Getting nearer the initial impression was diluted. Simon Inglis, (in the first edition of The Football Grounds of England & Wales), on approaching the Twin Towers under which stood the Royal Entrance commented, “The enormous arched doorway ….looks more like the entrance to one of Her Majesty’s prisons”. The Towers themselves were in poor condition; effectively just huge concrete constructions which the ravages of weather and time had not treated well.

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Barely a decade after our first visit it had gone, after being the ‘apex’ of the English game for nearly 80 years

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Once inside things didn’t improve. In the third edition of his book Inglis reflects on the decision, which at that point, (1996), was about to be made to demolish the stadium first opened in 1923, and build a replacement. He talked about financial financial reasons but in terms of what County fans found he has it spot on.

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“Regular male visitors thus have learnt not to wear smart shoes at Wembley, while many a normally law-abiding fan has found himself reluctantly joining the ranks of relief-seekers crowding into dark corners of stairways or corridors. Once in ones seat, the Wembley experience can then vary considerably. On the lower tier the sight-lines are dreadful”.

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I can assure him that further up the experience was little improved. For each of the 4 games we played there, I sat in roughly the same spot, level with the Royal Box and mid way between the half way line and the penalty box. The seats were in remarkably poor condition; the “facilities” grim, and the catering scandalously priced and poor to boot. As these scribblings show I’ve travelled to 180 different grounds following the Hatters and there’s been a wide variety of experiences.

The ticket for Wembley that day cost well over £20 when the going rate for ordinary County games was under a tenner, The’National Stadium’ traded on its name; the experience and the chance to see your team on the biggest stage. Beyond that it was, as I noted above, a disgrace. The replacement was vastly improved but that is something for Away Trip 116. (In the course of writing this piece I spoke to former FL referee Peter Tyldesley. He had officiated there as a linesman in an FA Trophy Final. He told me that the facilities underneath for players and officials weren’t much better either!!).

So, onto the football side of things. The Stoke game was played on a warm day; there was none of the usual bonhomie seen between rival fans at Wembley after the events 3 days previously, (see the post on the Victoria Ground); and frankly it didn’t commend itself as a football spectacle. Referees were to feature heavily in our Wembley trips. Elleray was chief amongst sinners, two years later, but Mr Hart of Darlington, cost us an early lead when adjudging the Potters keeper, Peter Fox, to have been fouled. Nonsense – Paul Wheeler’s challenge was fair and Fox just flapped and dropped the ball into his own goal.

The longer of the two highlights clips I’ve included omits this from the action, (possible because it was a Stoke production), but I’ve sourced another clip which shows it clearly. After that I never had the impression that we were going to score and when Stein ran through and smashed the ball beyond Neil Edwards that was that.

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Danny Bergara leads the team out; followed by David Frain; Darren Knowles; Peter Ward; Lee Todd and Tony Barras.

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The final whistle blew, and not wanting any more, Howard and I turned, ran up Wembley Way; got the tube; retrieved the car from Stanmore and headed North. By 8.45 I was back in Ashton CC. It had been a disappointing experience, but there was always the following week to look forward to.

Eight days later we were back. Arthur made it this time. It was another glorious day weather-wise, but the outcome much the same, albeit far more disappointing for us. The Autoglass, much as a win would have been satisfying, was but a day out compared to the prize of Division 1 football. The two teams had been evenly matched through the season, with only a couple of points separating them. Both had qualified for the final by beating higher placed opposition, (Stoke in the case of County, and Peterborough had come from behind to overcome Huddersfield at Leeds Road).

Both had won the respective home games during the League programme. So things looked evenly matched, and it stayed that way in a goal-less first half. Six minutes into the second stanza Ken Charlery rose to head a corner downwards. It hit the bar and bounced down. Shades of Geoff Hurst in 1966. And with the same result. Referee Martin Bodenham, (later to have an interesting career change as he retired from football to become a first class cricket umpire), took the advice of his linesman that it had crossed the line. Video coverage from the day is a bit grainy. I’ve tried to screen shot it. It doesn’t look from this that the “whole of the ball crossed the whole of the line’. But let the reader be the judge!!

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Chasing the game County put the Posh defence under a lot of pressure. Francis had a goal chalked off for a very questionably offside, and it looked bleak. That is until 2 minutes from time. Preece got the ball out in the right. A fierce shot was too much for Fred Barber to cope with, and the ball looped nicely fro the incoming Francis to nod in. Absolute pandemonium reigned in the County section of the crowd. Extra time looked odds on,and maybe even a repeat of the previous days 4th Division Final where Scunthorpe had beaten Blackpool on penalties.

If only there’d been that chance. With the sands of time ebbing out Charlery picked up a long ball, and evading Tony Barras, lobbed Neil Edwards and the game was lost. How bizarre that the same player, having been key in the dying stages of this game, was to play a similarly key role late in the game at Chesterfield five years later!!

Twelve months later we were back. Another Autoglass Final, this time against Port Vale, and as with Stoke a year earlier it was the third game in a week. We had lost in the Play-Off semi-final at Vale Park 72 hours previously. And we did at Wembley as well. We were poor in the first half, and went in for the break 2-0 down. The game looked lost, but suddenly, and really out of nowhere the County contingent found its voice. It was incessant for much of the second half, and seemed to inspire the team.

About 20 minutes from time Peter Duffield, making his 9th and final appearance in a County shirt whilst on loan from Sheffield United, got the ball way out on the right. He threw in a high looping cross. Vale keeper, Paul Musselwhite came for it, but lost out in a battle with Kevin Francis who headed into the net. 2-1 and 20 minutes left. the rest of the game was played in the Vale half, but the equaliser wouldn’t come, despite a close run thing with an Andy Preece header.

It was the third Wembley defeat in 12 months and hard to take. Maybe the result reflected the form of the team in the last few weeks of the season. Including the Play-Offs and the Autoglass Final we won only 2 of the last 13 games of the campaign. As we walked away that afternoon it was inconceivable that something even harder to swallow would be on the menu another 12 months down the line.

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We had lost to Vale in the Play-Offs, and arguably that was fair. We had finished 17 points behind them in the regular league season. In 1994 we qualified for the play-offs 12 points ahead of a Burnley team that we faced in the final. Burnley had become a regular foe.Up until 1985 we had faced them only 6 times, largely because they featured towards the top end of the hierarchy, and were even Champions in 1960). On 29th January 1985 we faced them in a Football League Trophy game. It was to be the first of 27 encounters in the next 9 years.

I saw each and every one of these, and they were on the whole fractious affairs on and off the field. The atmosphere wasn’t helped by the fact that, despite the efforts of the police to get the two sets of fans to approach Wembley by different routes, that was clearly never going to be truly effective, with the M6 being the sole conduit for 100 miles of the outgoing and return trips. Let Peter Freeman summarise things:

“With no love lost between the two teams, nor between some of the supporters, it was not predicted to be the friendliest of games“.

Somewhat of an understatement as things unfolded. Writing about Valley Parade I digressed into the appalling ineptitude of Mr Kettle of Rutland. One of the officials who have crossed our paths darkly. Never mind Mr Willis of County Durham.

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Kettle at least has been consigned to the lower reaches for the majority of his career. Sadly Elleray reached the peak. A good referee is one who leaves the pitch at the end of 90 minutes, with the fans never mentioning the state of the officiating. Never let that be said of the Harrow schoolmaster – ask Chesterfield fans. For it was he, three years later, who cost them an FA Cup Final appearance. And on 29th May 1994 he cost us promotion.

Yet the game started so well. Barely 3 minutes were on the clock when Chris Beaumont, with a glancing header, put us into the lead. And all was good for the next 10 minutes. It was a bad tempered affair and Elleray had already twice reached for his yellow card, one for a disgraceful challenge by John Francis on John Keeley, our keeper. The ball was out on the County left when Mike Wallace was dispossessed by Ted McMinn. Wallace chased back, tackled McMinn who went down in a heap in true pantomime villain style.

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Looking back at the video, (see the list below), it was a “six of one” incident. A talking to; both booked or both given their marching orders. To single Wallace out was a disgraceful decision. 10 against 11 for nearly 80 minutes. It was 1-1 at half time.

Elleray compounded his felony 15 minutes into the second half. Beaumont was sent off – and to this day it is not apparent why. 9 against 11 for half an hour. The task was impossible, and we were cheated of a rightful promotion. Maybe those who regard this as a “biased view” should ask themselves how a team which had won a Fair Play award with the best disciplinary record in the Division could become the first team to have two players sent off in a Wembley final.

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Pictures of both sendings-off taken from Phil Brennan and Richard Harnwell’s book “A Pictorial History of Stockport County 1883 – 2006”

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Leaving the old version of the National Stadium for what turned out to be the last time the feeling was infinitely worse than any of the other 3 defeats. The trip back North was a sorry time too, with the triumphant Burnley fans on the same motorway. Hilton Park services was not the place to be that evening for any casual travellers. It was more a battlefield. All the pent up rivalry of those 27 encounters in 9 years was unleashed.

So as it turns out the old Wembley comes second to St Andrews in terms of a venue without reward. 4 visits and 4 losses. It’s better forgotten!!

May 2020

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Sat	16/05/92 (Highlights) (Highlights 2)	Leyland Daf Cup	Final	Stoke City	L	0	1	48,339	235
Sun	24/05/92 (Highlights)	Barclays League Division 3	Tier 3 Play-off final	Peterborough United	L	1	2	35,087	236
Sat	22/05/93 (Highlights)	Autoglass Trophy	FInal	Port Vale	L	1	2	35,885	263
Sun	29/05/94 (Highlights)	Endsleigh League Division 2	Tier 3 Play-off final	Burnley	L	1	2	44,806	281

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Next stop – DEVA STADIUM Previously – MOSS ROSE