Stockport County was formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers at McLaughlin's Cafe in Heaton Norris, by a group of pupils from Stockport Sunday School.[2][3] After playing home matches in different parks in the Stockport area for several years, Rovers moved to Green Lane in 1889. This is recognised as their first official ground.[5] The club changed its name to Stockport County in 1890, the year after Stockport became a county borough.[3] The team played in the Lancashire League and local cup competitions until 1900, when they gained admission to the Football League Second Division.[6]
Stockport left Green Lane in 1902 and moved to Edgeley Park,[3][7] which was also home to rugby league club Stockport RFC.[8] County finished in the bottom three for their first four seasons, and failed to gain re-election at the end of the 1903–04 season.[9] After spending one season in the Lancashire Combination,[10] the club was readmitted to the Football League.[11] In October 1908, it was confirmed that Stockport County would become a 'limited liability company'.[12]
David Ashworth was appointed as the team's first manager in 1914.[17] After the outbreak of the First World War, competitive football was suspended. Stockport did, however, compete in the Lancashire section of the Wartime Football League, which was played from 1915–16 to 1918–19. Ashworth managed County throughout the war until the end of 1919, when he joined Liverpool.[18]
The 1920–21 campaign saw Stockport finish bottom of the Second Division; however, instead of facing re-election, they were placed in the new Third Division North.[19] The team won their first Football League title in 1921–22, when they defeated Darlington in front of 18,500 fans at Edgeley Park.[20] The manager Albert Williams was presented with the trophy seven days later, before the final home game against Lincoln City.[21][22] The club's goalkeeper Harry Hardy was called up for the England national team in 1924,[24][25] and kept a clean sheet in a 4–0 win against Belgium.[26]
In the early 1930s, Stockport County played in a black and white home kit, and were briefly nicknamed the 'Lilywhites'.[31] On 23 July 1935, Edgeley Park's wooden main stand burned down, which caused damage to neighbouring houses. The fire also destroyed the club's records until 1935.[32][33] A new main stand was built in 1936 and officially opened by Charles Sutcliffe, then president of the Football League.[34][35] In 1936–37, the team won the Third Division North title and promotion to the Second Division following a last-day title decider against Lincoln City which was attended by more than 27,000 fans. They finished in bottom place the following season and were relegated back to the Third Division North, remaining there until the divisions were reorganised in 1958.
During the 1939–40 season, Stockport played only two matches before the Second World War started; the Football League was suspended and did not resume until 1946.[36] Regional league competitions were set up; the FA Cup was also suspended and was replaced with the Football League War Cup.[37] In March 1946, Stockport hosted Doncaster Rovers in a League Three North Cup match which lasted 203 minutes, and is considered the longest professional football game.[38][39]
The regional Third Divisions were combined into the national Third and Fourth Divisions after the 1957–58 campaign. County were founder member of the new Third Division, but were relegated after one season.[40][41] During the 1964–65 season, Stockport chairman Vic Bernard re-introduced the royal blue strip,[31] and hired former Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann as the club's general manager to improve its image.[42] Bernard and Trautmann decided to move matches to Friday evenings in an attempt to increase revenue.[43] Trautmann resigned from his position in 1966.[43][44]
The club was relegated back to the Fourth Division at the end of the 1969–70 campaign, and remained in the fourth tier until 1991. Eric Webster managed Stockport on five separate occasions, four of which were as caretaker manager during the 1980s, having first joined the club in 1974 as youth coach.[46][47] Following the introduction of automatic promotion and relegation between the Football League and the Football Conference at the start of the 1986–87 season, Stockport faced the prospect of non-League football, with just six points from 13 games. However, Colin Murphy was brought in for his second spell as manager, and Stockport gained 45 points from their final 31 games to remain in the division, although Murphy left shortly after the season.[5]
Danny Bergara was appointed manager in March 1989, and gained automatic promotion to the Third Division in 1990–91.[48] In the 1992 Associate Members' Cup Final, Bergara became the first South American to lead an English team at Wembley; Stoke City defeated County 1–0.[49] He led Stockport to Wembley on three further occasions, once more in the 1993 Football League Trophy Final and twice in the play-offs, but lost all.[50] In March 1995, Bergara was sacked after an altercation with then chairman Brendan Elwood,[51][52] and was succeeded by Dave Jones.[53] That same year saw the opening of the new all-seated Cheadle End stand, whose capacity was just over 5,000.[34]
With Stockport bottom of the First Division in October 2001, a home defeat against Millwall saw manager Andy Kilner sacked.[57] Former England international Carlton Palmer was appointed in November 2001,[58][59] but he failed to save the club from relegation to the third tier that season.[60] Palmer was unable to build a team capable of returning to the First Division the next season.[61] The summer of 2003 saw an ownership change. Elwood sold the club to Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy in a move that would see Sale play their home games at Edgeley Park. A new company, Cheshire Sport, was established,[62] which combined ownership of Stockport County, Sale Sharks and the Edgeley Park stadium.
In 2005, after reportedly losing £4 million in operating costs,[64] Kennedy handed ownership of the club to the Stockport County Supporters' Co-operative.[65][66] Former County player Jim Gannon was appointed manager, initially as caretaker manager.[67][68] He led the club to safety in 2005–06,[69] and sustained a promotion challenge the next season but eventually missed out on the League Two play-offs on goal difference.[70] The team continued their success during the
In April 2009, Stockport County was placed into administration due to a loan to a creditor of around £300,000, and a tax debt of £250,000 to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.[73][74] Two months later, County's administrator, Leonard Curtis, announced terms had been agreed with the Melrose Consortium—headed by ex-Manchester City player Jim Melrose—for the sale of the club.[75][76] In July, administrators agreed to a company voluntary arrangement with the previous shareholders and creditors.[77] The Melrose Consortium bid was rejected by the Football League, however, in March 2010.[78] A new consortium, the 2015 Group, was given exclusivity to work towards a takeover of the club.[79]
The purchase of Stockport County by the 2015 Group was approved by the Football League in May 2010, with the takeover announced in June.[80] Before the start of the 2010–11 season, the new owners pledged to "rebuild the club from top to bottom",[81] and appointed Paul Simpson as manager.[82][83] He was sacked after only six months in charge,[84][85] and Ray Mathias was brought in as interim manager.[86] Despite an upturn in results, County were relegated to the Football Conference for the first time in their history.[87]
