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From the beginning of the decade until the end of January 2017 I had missed only two home games, (against Crewe in the Cheshire Senior Cup and Hyde in the FA Cup in 2016, – a business meeting then a family wedding if you ask!). On 31st January 2017 I started chemo. The following Saturday we were at home to Stalybridge – my only recollection of that game is about having just about enough strength to turn the radio on. I remember saying to Julie that day, “if this is what it’s going to be like I wonder whether it’s worth bothering!”. Fortunately the initial impact soon lessened, and I started to make it back. My away trips were pretty much curtailed, but an outing to EP was generally possible, although there were occasions when I simply didn’t feel up to it.

For completeness sake County played 260 competitive home games in the 2010’s. I missed 16 of them in total.

It was of course the decade of non-league football. We saw three relegations, (from league 1 in 2010; League 2 a year later; and Conference National in 2013. The latter part of the decade saw a renaissance after Jim Gannon came in for his third spell in early 2016. We improved each season under his tutelage and were promoted in 2019.

What of course is quite remarkable from the table below is the way in which the crowds held up. A descent into regional football would be expected to see a steep decline in those attending but a large part of the decade saw us in Conference North, where crowds are generally numbered in hundreds on the fingers of one hand. In League games while we were at that level the average crowd was 3,231, including a record for Conference North and South of 6,311 when we played Spennymoor in March 2019. I place on record my belief that the work done in attracting youngsters in the late 90’s is still paying dividends today. A supporter base was established at that point and is still in place today. So well done to those with not only the foresight, but also the hard work put in 20 years or so ago.

Click on the year to see details of the games, plus a little commentary from my perspective.

If I’ve managed to find any video footage on line, this is indicated by “Highlights” in the date column on the individual year pages

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	P	W	D	L	Ave Gate
2010	24	2	11	11	4,073
2011	27	5	11	11	3,702
2012	25	12	6	7	3,531
2013	26	10	3	13	2,806
2014	23	13	6	4	2,644
2015	24	8	5	11	2,907
2016	26	13	5	8	2,722
2017	20	9	11	0	3,254
2018	26	14	7	5	3,139
2019	23	16	2	5	4,096
TOTAL	244	102	67	75	3,283