Stockport County celebrates its 140th anniversary this Summer, and so we’re taking a look back at some of the standout moments from the club’s long and illustrious history in our Flashback series.
2023 marks a special year for the football club, and tickets for our day of celebration at the end of the month are available online now, as we host founding Football League members Preston North End at Edgeley Park – click here to order yours today!
In our latest flashback piece, Club Historian Des Hinks looks back at the club’s 50th anniversary season – a record-breaking season for County and their in-form striker:
Stockport County approached 1933-34 with a great sense of optimism.
The previous Division Three (North) campaign had seen the Hatters finish in 3rd spot, five points behind champions, Hull City, but after the summer signings of Welsh amateur international, Len Jones, from Rhyl, plus the talented Joe Hill from Queens Park Rangers, the whole town was optimistic that County could mark their historic 50th season with promotion back to the (old) Second Division for the first time since 1926.
In the end the Hatters again had to settle for a third-placed finish, but there is no doubt that County marked their jubilee season in style, by creating a number of records that, arguably, are never likely to be bettered.
The campaign began with victories over Accrington Stanley and Doncaster Rovers, which extended their unbeaten league run to 18 games. Alf Lythgoe, inevitably, scored two in each game.
The run ended with defeat at Halifax, but, by the time November came around, County were nicely placed in the promotion pack when Southport were blown away at Edgeley Park, with Lythgoe scoring four – including a three-minute hat trick – in his side’s 9-2 victory. It was County’s biggest since entering the Football League in 1900.
Remarkably, that club record would last just two months!
The first home game of 1934 saw 5th place Halifax Town, the team who had ended County’s record 18-match unbeaten run earlier in the season, arrive at EP looking to complete the double and enhance their own promotion credentials at the same time.
Trailing 2-0 at the interval, the visitors, who had played against the wind, could never have imagined how the second half would unfold.
Lythgoe’s brilliant individual goal after 50 minutes sparked a spell of scintillating attacking football that saw County score another nine in the following 16 minutes to lead 10-0!
Three more goals in the final ten minutes saw County, ‘stagger the football world’, with a Football League record 13-0 scoreline that still stands to this day.
Easter arrived with the Hatters’ looking to have the title in their grasp – only the champions were promoted at the time – but two defeats over the busy holiday period severely dented their promotion aspirations.
A defeat at rivals Barnsley soon after, where a massive County following saw the Oakwell attendance touch 27,000 at a time the Tykes’ season average was 9,000, caused further disappointment.
When the campaign’s final weekend came around, league leaders, Chesterfield, arrived in town with a two-point advantage over the Hatters, who had a superior goal difference.
Barnsley, in second place, and away at New Brighton, had the same 60 points as Chesterfield.
A County win coupled with a Barnsley defeat would see County return to Division Two. A Chesterfield win at EP would see them win the one coveted promotion place.
Barnsley’s 1-0 win saw them champions, as County and Chesterfield played out a goalless draw in front of more than 21,000 at EP.
That County failed to score on home soil for the only time that season was a great source of frustration, as their previous 20 games at, quite literally, Fortress Edgeley, had yielded a quite incredible 84 goals. Their final home record was Pl 21 W 18 D 3 L 0 F 84 A 23.
With another 31 goals scored away from Edgeley Park, County finished their Jubilee season with another club record that still stands to this day, of 115 goals scored.
And Alf Lythgoe’s haul of 46 – from 39 games – is another record that has never been bettered. When you include his cup games, the tally of one of County’s greatest-ever front men was an astonishing 52.
During the campaign, the Nantwich-born striker joined an elite band of players to have scored hat tricks in three consecutive games. Three in the 6-0 demolition of Darlington, another three in a 4-1 win at Southport, then four when Wrexham were routed 7-3 at EP in March 1934.
After scoring 15 goals in the opening ten games of the 1934-35 season, Huddersfield Town paid £3,500 to take him to Leeds Road where he became an instant hit, scoring 21 times to help the Terriers avoid relegation from the (old) First Division and, in doing so, topped both Town and County’s goal scoring charts in the same season.
In 1935, his talent was rewarded when he was selected for the Football League against the Irish League in Belfast.
He returned to County in March 1938 and, before his release just prior to World War II, added another 20 goals to take his Hatters tally to 110 from just 129 games, a total only beaten by Jack Connor and Kevin Francis.
Division Three (North) Cup Heartache
After falling at the last hurdle in the league title race, County were also, agonisingly, denied glory in the very first Division Three (North) Cup competition.
Victories in the earlier rounds over Rochdale, Accrington Stanley and Mansfield Town saw the Hatters head to Old Trafford for the final against Darlington, where, leading 3-2 with just a couple of minutes remaining, the north easterners hit back to win 4-3.
Don’t forget – tickets for our final pre-season friendly against Preston, featuring a family fun day at Edgeley Park, the appearance of players past and present, and a limited edition kit, are available to purchase online now!
Click below for to view our other Flashback series articles:
