When Danny Bergara paid £15,000 to bring Andy Preece, who was languishing in Wrexham's reserves, to partner Kevin Francis in Stockport County's forward line, many Hatters fans would have been forgiven for wondering why.

With the club in with a shout of promotion to the Second Division, and already on the way to a Wembley Cup Final in the Autoglass Trophy, for which Preece was cup tied, it did seem a little strange that the new striker was unknown to most County fans.

'Preecey' made his debut for the club as a substitute in a Boxing Day defeat at Preston North End, and scored his first goal two days later in another defeat at Swansea City. He scored another twelve that season, including a hat-trick as the Hatters won at Darlington, and although he was to miss the Autoglass Final he played in the Play-off Final eight days later, supplying the cross from which Kevin Francis scored the club's first ever goal at Wembley.

Following the team's two defeats beneath the Twin Towers, Andy played his part in another good season for the team, scoring thirteen goals for the second successive campaign, as the club again earned a place in the end of season play-offs and reached another Wembley Autoglass Final.

Unfortunately, just two days after Port Vale had beaten County in the play-off Semi-Final, the Valiants were to inflict more heartache on the Hatters faithful, as a potteries side lifted the Autoglass Trophy again.

The 1993/94 season Andy showed just why Danny Bergara had believed that he would be a good signing for the club, his five goals in the opening four games saw the Hatters once again top the table. With Kevin Francis once again regularly hitting the back of the net, the two forwards were to terrorise defences all season.

Andy was to gain national fame during the team's F.A. Cup run, having firstly scored a dramatic last minute winner at Rotherham United in the first round, Andy and Kevin played a big part in the defeat of Queens Park Rangers in the third round.

With many of the Premier League team's players appearing to want the game called off due the hard ground conditions, following an overnight frost, the Hoops took a first half lead only for The Big Man to equalise before half-time. In the second half, following a Peter Ward free kick, Andy scored a memorable volley to win the game for the Hatters, a goal that was struck so sweetly it made Goal of the Month on BBC's Match of the Day.

Having been knocked out of the cup in the next round by Bristol City, County concentrated on the League, and with the team suffering only two further defeats before the end of the campaign, automatic promotion was well within their grasp. Unfortunately for Andy his team-mates too many games ended in draws, and they were once again, for the third consecutive season, condemned to the lottery of the play-offs.

Having won a close semi-final against York City, bitter rivals Burnley, who had finished an amazing twelve points behind the Hatters, were the only thing stood in the way of promotion, that is apart from a terrible refereeing display from a certain Harrow schoolmaster.

History will show that Andy Preece's last appearance for the club was yet another controversial Wembley defeat, as following a £350,000 bid from Crystal Palace during the closed season, he became the club's record sale with a move to the Premiership new boys.

For a very small sum of money, Stockport County fans had seen another forward write his name into club folklore. Only the eleventh player in the club's history to score over fifty goals, his ratio of one goal in every two games has surely earned Andy Preece the title of an Edgeley Park Hero.