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5th May 1990 was a gloriously sunny early summer day. The Hatters made the trip “over t’hill” knowing that a win, (and a failure of Southend to win at Peterborough), would give them an automatic promotion spot and a return to Division 3 which they had left 20 years previously. The intervening years had seen 4 successful applications for re-election in the days prior to automatic relegation and generally for most of the other seasons a lower table placing. Promotion, and success, was something that a generation of County fans had missed out on. It certainly dragged a lot of County support out the woodwork. A crowd of 4,744 gathered, and it’s a fair bet that well over 3,500 of those had made the journey. There was little in it for Halifax. They ended up next to bottom, but safety had been assured a week or so before this encounter despite Colchester picking up points. It was only 1 up and 1 down back then so the Halifax faithful had little to attract them to the game.

The encounter didn’t start off well. Neil Matthews, who within 12 months would play a fundamental role for County at the tail end of the 1990/91 season, rifled the Shaymen in front, and the gloom amongst the County fans was further deepened as news came through of a 2 goal Southend lead at half time. The play offs beckoned for the Hatters. With quarter of an hour left, and having had a blatant penalty turned down, Chris Beaumont brought County level, and within minutes sub Ian McInerney cut in from the right wing and whipped the ball past Brown in the home goal. Cue delirium, but the more level headed knew that events at London Road were crucial. With referee Hills’ final whistle a pitch invasion ensued, and news was awaited from Peterborough.

In a cruel twist of fate what would today be described as the “dissemination of fake news” some clown sent round a rumour that the Posh had levelled things 140 miles south. Promotion was celebrated, but only momentarily. The more prepared souls who had equipped themselves with a transistor put a huge, nay massive, dampener on things, as James Alexander Gordon, or whoever was fronting Sports Report that day brought grim tidings. I reflect now as mobile technology is at the forefront of society, just how much its availability back then would have saved so much suffering!

Ecstasy turned to agony as the prospects of an open topped bus parade down Wellington Road in Stockport disappeared, Confirmation that Southend had held on for the win despite conceding one, left a “slough of despond” moment, followed by the realisation that the season was not yet over, but that a two leg play off against Chesterfield was on the cards. And that didn’t end happily either…..

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Memories of trips to The Shay

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THE GAMES

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Where the date is in bold click for highlights of the game

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	Date	Venue	Ground	Competition		F	A	Att:
Mon	31/01/77	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	D	1	1	3,004
Sat	25/03/78	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	1	3	2,168
Fri	23/03/79	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	1	2	3,033
Tues	22/04/80	a	The Shay	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	3	1	1,233
Fri	02/05/80	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	4	1	1,979
Fri	29/08/80	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	D	1	1	2,487
Sat	24/01/81	a	The Shay	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	2	3,286
Fri	13/11/81	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	2	1	2,493
Fri	02/04/82	a	The Shay	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	1	4	2,135
Sat	01/01/83	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	4	2	2,871
Fri	13/05/83	a	The Shay	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	1	1,522
Fri	11/11/83	h	Edgeley Park	Canon League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	4	0	2,140
Fri	09/03/84	a	The Shay	Canon League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	2	1,261
Tues	23/04/85	a	The Shay	Canon League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	1	2	1,291
Mon	06/05/85	h	Edgeley Park	Canon League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	3	1,480
Mon	04/11/85	h	Edgeley Park	Canon League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	2	1	1,673
Fri	04/04/86	a	The Shay	Canon League Division 4 (Tier 4)	D	0	0	1,836
Fri	19/09/86	a	The Shay	Today League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	2	0	1,071
Sat	14/02/87	h	Edgeley Park	Today League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	2	0	1,835
Fri	16/10/87	a	The Shay	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	2	1,696
Fri	04/03/88	h	Edgeley Park	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	1	0	2,171
Mon	19/09/88	h	Edgeley Park	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	D	1	1	2,206
Sat	04/02/89	a	The Shay	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	D	2	2	1,958
Fri	03/11/89	h	Edgeley Park	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	1	5,490
Tues	30/01/90	a	The Shay	Leyland Daf Cup (Northern Quarter-final)	L	1	3	1,779
Sat	05/05/90	a	The Shay	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	2	1	4,744
Fri	18/01/91	h	Edgeley Park	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	5	1	4,030
Sat	04/12/93	h	Edgeley Park	FA Cup (Round 2)	W	5	1	5,496

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