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SUMMARY

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Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Ave Att:
25	12	6	7	3,531

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GANNON RINGS THE CHANGES

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It was the first season in non-league, with the first home game, (a 1-0 win), was against Kettering, not a name we were familiar with. This is the programme for that game – I was delighted to see Mike Quinn on the front cover! It was to be first of many games that season where we met opposition for the first time. In the case of Kettering their visit to EP was their first and last, The went into admin during the season, (when they were homeless and played at Nene Park, Rushden), and at the end of the campaign they dropped into the Southern League.

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New Years Day saw us host Barrow. The drop into non-league meant that the Christmas and New Year fixtures were always against the same club, home and away. It was something I welcomed – reasonably local games, (particularly in the Conference North), and is a model that should have been copied in the FL years ago. Instead we found ourselves with trips to places like Brighton and Torquay. It was a win as well, the first since Gannon returned, and featured an absolute screamer from Sam Sheridan, who I saw playing in the curtailed 2019/20 season for Ashton United, and still giving 100% as I thought he always did for County.

Also on the scoresheet was Joe Connor, (left), who had joined the Club a week or so before Christmas, and in doing so became the third generation in the Connor dynasty to feature for the Hatters. He had been playing the USA and impressed Gannon sufficiently to be signed on non-contract terms

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His grandfather, Jack, was a County legend. In the 1950’s he scored 140 times in 217 games, and retained his affiliation with County being a Main Stand regular until not long before he passed away in 1998. He had two sons – Jim and Joe. The former played twice for County, (one as a sub), in early 1979, and the latter, a speedy forward, looked like he was going to breakthrough until suffering a serious injury in a Lancashire League game much around the same time. Both went on to play a lot of non-league football – I saw them both a fair few times for Mossley. The third generation Connor became a regular feature in the team and was rewarded with a contract. He was clearly a Gannon type player in terms of attitude.

The player changes that were inevitably going to come after the ‘social loafer’ comment from Gannon began to emerge. Danny Rowe came in on loan from Fleetwood, after a short, but prolific, spell with Droylsden earlier in the season. He announced himself in style with a blockbuster at Braintree giving us an early glimpse of his shooting power. Matty Mainwaring returned on loan from Hull, and the game at Luton saw a league debut for Ian Ormson, (who had appeared in an FA Cup game at Southport 3 months previously). It spelt the end for Matt Glennon, who left shortly afterwards to move to Chester. Also making a loan return was Paul Turnbull.

All 5 of the ‘newcomers’ played consistently for the rest of the campaign, and no more was seen of the majority of those than Hamann had brought in. Gannon had changed the personnel but at the end of January there had been only one more win, (over Kidderminster), we were just above the drop zone with work still to be done.

A couple of wins eased things slightly, (one of them being at Darlington who were to fold at the end of the season), but then a spell of 3 defeats in a row, (two of which were real spankings – 6-1 at Alfreton in a shameful display and 5-0 at Southport), put us back in the mix.

Gannon needed some firepower, (15 goals in 13 games was hardly the sort of return needed, especially when we had conceded 26 in the same period), and he signed Danny Hattersley from Lancaster, who played 3 divisions lower, and Sean Newton from Telford. They were important acquisitions. Hattersley struck 5 times, as 5 wins in the last seven games kept us in the Division, which was secured with a home draw against Braintree with 2 games to spare. We finished 16th but it had hardly been the season anticipated the previous August. But after 2 consecutive relegations it was somewhat of a relief.

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SPENCER FEARN TURNS UP

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But whilst the team on the field had got some semblance of stability there had been a move off the field which was to lead to a relegation 12 months down the line. On 14th January Spencer Fearn had joined the Board. He had gained a fair amount of publicity, getting involved at East Stirling, known through a TV documentary and a book, (“Pointless”), as Britain’s worst club. Seen as a sugar daddy there he had undoubtedly presided over an improvement in their fortunes, but left in 2010. having handed over his shareholding with a view to creating a fan owned club.

Based in Sheffield, it had been suggested that he had looked at getting involved in Grimsby; Darlington and Mansfield before settling on County. His tenure on the Board lasted 16 months, during which time we saw the arrival of McKnight; the sacking of Gannon; the ludicrous appointment of Kalezic and his departure shortly afterwards; the advent of Ian Bogie and of course relegation to regional football. An impressive track record. He quit two weeks or so after that relegation. But more about this time on the Home Games: 2013 page.

Alan Lord had been named as Gannon’s assistant, after Willie McStay left at the end of the season. News had also emerged that Sale’s use of EP had come to an end. They had moved in at Salford Red Devils ground near the M62. This was more than welcomed by all County fans – we might have a pitch to play on that was fit for football, after the appalling surface that had been imposed on us over the previous few years. County had control of the ground and vitally, the match day revenue streams as well. One caveat was Cheshire Sports still owned the ground but Kennedy agreed a 65% rent reduction.

The loss of £865k had been made in the financial year 2010/11 was known publically, through information at Companies House, but it would be the end of the season before publication of the 2011/12 results which showed a further loss of £401k. So the rent reduction was at least some solace

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TOP AFTER TWO GAMES – THE HIGHSPOT OF THE SEASON

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Gannon had effectively cobbled together a new team in the latter half of 2011/12, and many of these players were retained. The disappointment was the exit of Tom Elliott. The work put in with him by Gannon had turned him into a player with huge promise, (in my view). He elected to move to Cambridge, and his subsequent career is a solid answer to those who criticised him when he was at County. I reflect more on his treatment by the fans in the Cressing Road, Braintree post. There were a a handful of incomers.

It has been a constant theme over the years that players who start at County do, in many instances, return. This time round it was James Tunnicliffe. I had always been interested in his career – he had been at school with Rob, and I remember them having a conversation on the Cross Street End at Saltergate one miserable, wet evening in October 2004. After leaving County in 2009 he had played for 5 different clubs in the 3 years he had been away.

Also arriving were Craig Hobson, Alex Kenyon; Alex Meaney; Jordan Fagbola and Lewis King, a keeper from Sunderland who had been on loan from the Black Cats at the back end of 2011/12. Non league status meant that shopping was also in general done at that level. Hobson had been at Stalybridge; Kenyon at Lancaster and Meaney was a product of Myerscough College, which was the source of a number of players in regional football days. The first signing of the summer had been Tom Collins, from Hayes and Yeading. That was an unusual one with the player moving the length of the country. He hadn’t played against us in the last game of the the previous season, so quite where the connection was is a bit of a mystery.

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Pictured before the start of the season in the three strips, (the 3rd choice, worn by Tom Collins on the left and Andy Halls, on the right, is a truly awful shirt). In white, (the ‘away’ kit) are Joe Connor and Danny Hattersley, with James Tunnicliffe and Danny O’Donnell in the home kit.

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A home win over Alfreton, and a victory at Grimsby, (avenging the 7 goal humbling 9 months previously), left us at the top. From thereon it was only downwards. The next 9 games brought only 5 points, although there were signs that there was some strength up front. Hattersley, Hobson, and Danny Whitehead, (who was breaking into the team from the youth set-up), were hitting the target. Three wins in 4 games, (plus a victory over Stalybridge in the FA Cup which gave us a game at Southend in the First Round), suggested that things were improving. It was the game at Root Halls, (a 3-0 defeat), which Mark has always highlighted as the point at which we realised how big a gulf we had to bridge if we were to have any aspiration to return to the FL. It was a dispiriting drive back to say the least.

Gannon brought in Connor Jennings, on loan from Scunthorpe. It reunited him with Hobson – the pair had been prolific as a striking partnership at Stalybridge. After the defeat at Southend 7 league games brought 4 points. The game at Woking in December was one of the 5 defeats. It ended with a bizarre scene at the end of the game where Chairman, Peter Snape, seized the Pure FM microphone from Jon Keighren, and declared,

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“I’m getting pretty fed up of watching part-time teams beat Stockport County, Changes are going to be made unless things improve. Jim Gannon’s pretty good at telling me how this club should be run. Well I’m going to tell him that I’m not impressed by the way the team is being run at this particular time. If we lose a couple of our next games, we’re in a relegation battle with a much bigger budget than most of the teams down there with us, which quite frankly is not good enough”.

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I was driving back from Woking, and Mark told me what had unfolded as it hit the message boards. My response was that “Gannon won’t last long now”. We were 19th – it wasn’t good – but getting rid of Gannon was never going to be the answer. I have to say that Boxing Day was truly dispiriting. Hyde came to EP and won with the ease. I’d watched Hyde many times over the years in my travels around the Tameside non-league scene, and never really considered that we would play at the same level. To be humiliated like that showed just how far we had fallen. It was to be yet another fight against the drop as 2013 arrived.

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Back to 2011 Forward to 2013 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 2012

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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
Sun	01/01/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Barrow	W	3	2	3,301	909
Tue	24/01/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	AFC Telford United	D	2	2	2,831	910
Sat	28/01/12 (Highlights)	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Kidderminster Harriers	W	2	1	3,728	911
Sat	11/02/12 (Highlights)	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Newport County	D	2	2	3,565	912
Sat	25/02/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Wrexham	W	1	0	4,518	913
Sat	10/03/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Cambridge United	L	0	1	5,957	914
Sat	24/03/12 (Highlights)	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Bath City	W	4	0	3,744	915
Sat	07/04/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Lincoln City	W	4	0	3,975	916
Sat	14/04/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Braintree Town	D	1	1	3,199	917
Sat	21/04/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Tamworth	W	2	0	6,393	918
Sat	11/08/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Alfreton Town	W	1	0	3,448	919
Fri	24/08/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Gateshead	L	1	2	3,213	920
Sat	01/09/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Cambridge United	D	1	1	3,060	921
Tue	04/09/12 (Highlights)	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Macclesfield Town	L	3	4	4,208	922
Sat	15/09/12 (Highlights)	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Woking	L	1	2	3,151	923
Sat	29/09/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Ebbsfleet United	W	3	1	4,641	924
Wed	10/10/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Wrexham	L	2	3	3,789	925
Sat	13/10/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Kidderminster Harriers	W	1	0	3,426	926
Sat	20/10/12	FA Cup	Qualifying Round 4	Stalybridge Celtic	W	5	3	2,123	927
Tue	06/11/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Barrow	W	3	1	2,805	928
Sat	24/11/12	FA Trophy	Round 1	Ossett Town	W	6	0	1,679	929
Sat	01/12/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Southport	L	3	4	3,445	930
Sat	15/12/12	FA Trophy	Round 2	Southport	D	1	1	1,328	931
Wed	26/12/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Hyde FC	L	0	2	3,963	932
Sat	29/12/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	AFC Telford United	D	2	2	2,791	933