EDGELEY PARK – HOME FROM HOME

Edgeley Park today (Image – screenshot from Bing,com maps)

..

EDGELEY PARK – MY SPIRITUAL HOME

..

Elsewhere on this site I have referred to Edgeley Park as “my spiritual home”. From my first visit back in October 1963 to the last game I saw, (against Barnet in March 2020), it has provided me with all the varying emotions with which fans of any Club are more than familiar. Football, for the fan, is about experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows; seeing your team achieve against all the odds and conversely failing, in style, to meet expectations. It’s about despairing whether there is a future; and if so what will it look like; it’s about celebrating success; it’s about seeing talented players display their skills, and many, many more whose provenance to play the game at this level is in serious doubt. It’s about the expectation that comes when one of the ‘big boys’ comes to town and so desperately wanting to see an upset, or hoping that the minnows, who are ‘up for the cup’ don’t inflict humiliation.

But it’s about far more than just the football. That’s what binds the faithful together. It’s about standing, (or sadly these days sitting), with the same set of fellow supporters and enjoying the banter. These are people who are met rarely, if ever, outside of the hallowed portals, but for the 90 minutes we are bound together in a common purpose.

This page acts as the introduction to my 57 years of coming to EP. The links on it trace the history of the Club both on and off the field. looking at things year by year. These are woven around a comprehensive list of each and every game I have seen there. Elsewhere on this site I have reflected on all the grounds I have visited with County. It’s only right then that I describe the way in which Edgeley Park has changed and developed since that first visit. Check out my thoughts HERE.

..

ALL THE HOME GAMES – DECADE BY DECADE SUMMARY

..

With 1,107 visits to Edgeley Park for competitive first team fixtures to list them on one page would be unwieldy, if not unmanageable. To put some sense of order into things I have created a page for each decade.

Click the link on the decade below. It will take you to a page on which the games are summarised. There are then links to each year.

I’ve organised things into calendar years rather than seasons. There was an argument for both ways,but on reflection, my personal preference was to look at things on an annual basis.

On each of these sub pages I’ve reflected on things both on and off the field at EP. We all go there for the football but some of the off field antics have verged on triumph in terms of good management and the sheer despair that Hatters followers have witnessed at the biblical scale mismanagement. It’s no more, and no less, than my take on things.. Following them through the years gives a potted history of the club; the games; the players, the managers, and of course the directors.

..

PWDLAve Gate
1960’s & 1970’s813825184,017
1980’s24810470742,537
1990’s27715277485,616
2000’s25182651045,503
2010’s24410267753,283
202061234,067
Total1,1074793063224,261

..

57 years and 1,107 games seen at my spiritual home of Edgeley Park against a variety of opposition. Over the years, 11 of the current 20 Premier League teams have appeared in league action, and of the remaining 9 Arsenal; Everton; Liverpool and West Ham featured in cup ties under the lights. Only Aston Villa , Chelsea; Manchester United; Newcastle and Spurs haven’t featured.

Of the current 24 clubs in the Championship only Derby haven’t faced us in League action at EP, and even then they played in a League Cup tie back in 2006. There are 48 clubs in Leagues 1 and 2, the only side I haven’t seen in a home game is Crawley, and that’s simply because as we fell into non-league they moved upwards and out of it.

It’s a measure of how far we rose and then subsequently fell that over the years I saw 86 of “the (current) 92” run onto the hallowed turf. (There’s a little bit of journalistic licence here, because at the time of writing there are only ’91’. Bury’s demise in 2019 saw the number reduce – but given I have seen them on 14 occasions at EP I’ll include them anyway!!)

It’s a similar story from our non-league days. Seventy three clubs, (not including any of those mentioned above), have visited including those like Wrexham, York, Hartlepool and others who were regular opponents in the League days.

It’s quite remarkable that over the years I have seen 161 different clubs face us in home games. If you took 161 teams in order from the Premier League downwards you would include every club down to and including both the National League North and South. That’s a huge range and gives a real idea of the variety and breadth of opposition. (For a comprehensive list of all the Clubs I have seen us play – home and away – check this page)

..

HOME GAMES EACH YEAR

..

Click on the year to see the full list of home games that I saw then. Under each year if I have been able to source video footage of games this is linked on the column which shows the date of the game.

..

YearPWDLAve Gate
1963 – 197673225,195
197727131223,927
19782414374,510
1979238873,252
198028108103,187
19812014152,506
1982258982,300
19832411852,377
19842411672,207
19852411671,907
1986248792,439
198728107112,155
1988239952,646
19892812973,460
19902412753,705
19912617634,007
199230181025,015
19933120835,045
199433184115,213
199527121054,874
19962915775,781
19972819727,787
19982510877,794
199924111037,146
20002439126,979
20012666146,535
200226113125,315
200325510105,020
20042586115,249
20052238114,319
20062814684,983
20072310675,459
20082915685,936
20092375115,076
201024211114,073
201127511113,702
20122512673,531
201326103132,806
20142313642,644
20152485112,907
20162613582,722
20172091103,254
20182614753,139
20192316254,096
202061234,067
TOTAL1,107 4793063224,261