Don't talk crazy
Another unhinged instalment of Wrexham vs Stockport
“We’re all from Stockport! Who the f*** are you?!”
County fans looked a bit deranged, didn’t they? Dancing in the corner of the Yale End on Saturday afternoon, butchering The Beautiful South’s ‘Rotterdam’ at full volume with their homemade lyrics.
“We’re all from Stockport! Who the f*** are youuuu?!”
These were the same people who spend more hours of the day talking about Wrexham than they do about Jim Gannon and Joy Division. Yet, here they were, leaping and singing like caffeinated frogs in a karaoke booth, claiming they had no idea who we were.
Weird, yes. But there was no need for the Red Army to start nudging one another with concerned looks and whispering about calling the men in white coats. It was all ok, really. County fans haven’t been wearing their precious hats too tight, nor have they banged their heads on too many division ceilings during their rocket ride up the football pyramid. They’re all fine. They were just giddy that their favourite fixture of the season had come around, and they wanted to wind up their “rivals” as best they could.
The Hatters are superb supporters. Loud, proud, and multitudinous. But they do tend to get a bit overstimulated for Wrexham (A), making some very silly statements in the heat of battle over the years. This latest tie produced one of the most head-slapping yet: Claims they had turned up and “showed Wrexham how to play football” during their fourth defeat in a row at Y Cae Ras were more absurd than a Dean Saunders soliloquy on talkSPORT. Even manager Dave Challinor - who looks like one of those guys you see buying Pepparami and big cans of Monster Energy at six in the morning in Rhosddu Spar - admitted they were second best.
This fixture never fails to cause a firestorm. The days of Paddy Madden vs Pele Mullin are well and truly over, but Wrexham and Stockport continue to find themselves in the same room four years on, bickering like two siblings on the backseat of a long car journey. We have too much in common to get along. But there was at least one thing that both of us could agree upon after Saturday: The people placed in charge of our latest tie were completely out of their depth.
Referee Simon Mather seemed to be watching a different game on an illegal video stream that was lagging 10 seconds behind real time, waving away stonewall penalties and awarding the least convincing of the bunch. Mather was talked into free-kicks, talked out of free-kicks, and spent the second half looking like a panicked substitute teacher trying to get the class back on-side: Punishing anyone who looked at him the wrong way. He issued a needless number of warnings and put County’s best player Brad Hills in detention. When obedient star pupil Arthur Okonkwo is being yellow carded, you know the ref has completely lost control and perspective. The officials also missed a supposed punch-up between McClean and a County fan, which is now being investigated by the powers that be.
It was farcical at times. But you can only play to the whistle, and we were definitely due a slice of good fortune in the opposition box having only been awarded one penalty all season. J-Rod did flirt with the idea of missing it before converting the rebound, and thank God he did score in the end, because it might just prove to be one of the most important goals of the year.
Another grinding, hard-fought 1-0 win over top opposition has convinced even the most suspicious members of the Red Army that this history-making feat is actually possible. Every week we edge a little closer.
Back-to-back-to-back promotions. It could happen. We believe now. We’re not crazy. We’re from Wrexham, that’s all. Who the f*** are you?
Another banger