What is Stockport's problem?
Hatters gonna hate... but do they mean it?
‘The biggest rivalry in the EFL’
“Wrexham vs Stockport County has the potential to be the biggest rivalry in the EFL!”
A County fan bellowed out this brave announcement during a sports podcast earlier this season. Once he had finished his statement, he looked up at his fellow football supporters sat around the table.
There was a beat of silence. And then hysterics. They just didn’t get it.
Still, that County fan can relax in the knowledge he’s not alone. He isn’t the first to slap the “big rivalry” label on the Wrexham vs Stockport fixture. And he won’t be the last, either.
With so many Stockport supporters probably conceived inside the Hacienda, you’d have thought they would be a happy-go-lucky bunch. And for the most part, they are. But this changes when you mention Wrexham. Don’t do that. Whatever you do. Some of the Quasi-Mancs really, really do not like us.
Hostility has followed the Wrexham vs Stockport fixture around like a bad smell for half a decade now. In that time, County have sung songs about us (players and manager also got involved); made flags about us; and even paid for planes to fly above our ground with mocking messages trailing through the clouds. All that money probably would’ve been better spent on pints down The Underbanks or on a multi-course curry at the gigantic Stockport Pyramid buffet. But, hey-ho, each to their own.
What’s weird is the fact that Wrexham and Stockport have been playing each other on-and-off for over 100 years. And it never used to be like this. It was always just another game.
So, where did all this acrimony come from?
The trigger can perhaps be traced back to 2021. Times were good and things were looking up, finally, for Wrexham and County. We were both flush and in our strongest ever positions to earn promotion from non-league. Trouble is, there was only room for one of us.
Des, the author of the excellent Stockport magazine The Scarf My Father Wore, agrees 2021 was the turning point. He says he is still hurting from a “devastating FA Cup first round exit at the Racecourse” in 1994, with a late winner from Steve Watkin “ruining the chance for memories to be made”, but he considers the post-pandemic era to be the moment where it all cranked up a notch.
“Even as a young kid, I can still remember the ‘God Save the Queen’ chants and all the sheep stuff… I think County v Wrexham always had an undercurrent of feistiness, but nothing compared to recent years,” he explains.
“For me, the fuse was lit, post-Covid, in 2021-22 – the first year we went head-to-head for the title. You lot went berserk when Paul Mullin scored after a minute at our place, as did we when Ryan Rydel scored a late winner.
“Then we had two toxic afternoons at yours at the end of the season, as you prevented us getting to Wembley and then stopped us winning the league… temporarily!”
To take Stockport’s side for a moment: It must be hugely irritating to have the Wrexham Story unfolding when you are busy trying to enjoy your own fairytale.
The County resurgence has been well worthy of plaudits and attention - but we have stolen all their headlines. To make matters worse, they always lose when they come to Wales.
“The worst [was] Mullin’s chip…” Des tells us.
“I’m still not over that.”
Exacerbating matters is the fact that County have, according to Des, “never had a proper rival.” A peculiar trait, given their proximity to so many clubs in the North West.
“[It] does explain a little bit why we’ve got over excited when we’ve played Wrexham in recent years,” Des admits.
“There’s always been disgruntlement towards City and United, seeing their shirts all over the town, although there’s far more County tops these days which is heartwarming to see. We’ve not played United since 1978, but things did get nasty with City when we played them in the late 90s / early 00s. We played them six times in the second tier, losing just once.
“In the early 90s we had some right battles with Stoke, Port Vale and Burnley, in the league and at Wembley. In recent years, we’ve been scrapping it out with Chorley and AFC Fylde. Then, there’s County fans who hate Crewe, Rochdale, Macclesfield.
“If you asked 10 different County fans, you’d honestly get seven or eight different answers. Personally, I’ve got a feeling Bolton’s going to go up a notch or two next season…”
Elon Musk would be proud of social media’s role in turning this formerly innocent tie toxic. Viewing Wrexham vs Stockport through a digital bubble has distorted and magnified the squabbles, but the hatred might not actually be as widespread - or authentic - as it seems. A lot of it is actually tongue-in-cheek.
Des illustrates: “We’ve both got a load of giddy kippers from the Ticky Tocky generation who seem to get far too carried away when we meet. Older fans actually have a grudging respect for each other I’d say.
“Two great Football League clubs, both working class, both in the centre of the town, both the beating heartbeat of their local communities, both properly shit on by previous owners, and both thoroughly deserving of their current success…”
It seems common sense is still intact among many County fans after all. Still, Des can’t help getting one last dig in..
“…[but] you did have to bung the officials a big brown envelope when you beat us at your place in March….”
Being a division apart next season may help cool some heads - and prove whether this is indeed a rivalry or not.
The difference between a true grudge match and an artificial one reveals itself when clubs are kept at arm’s length. Our distaste for Jester is as acrid as ever, despite the fact we have not seen them for seven years and may never see them again. Whereas, Notts Co - formidable and rancorous foes in 2023 - have long been forgotten.
The absence of the Wrexham vs Stockport fixture in 25/26 will tell us more about how serious this rivalry actually is. But we may not get to test this theory out for long. With their mighty resources, fanbase and ambition, how far behind us can Stockport be?
For one season, at least, let’s enjoy some peace and quiet. And be classy winners. Here’s to wishing Stockport all the best for next season...
I think.
Huge thanks to Des for the interview. You can read the opinion from the other side of the border here: The Scarf My Father Wore Substack.