Stockport County are heading back to League One for the first time in 14 years, after Dave Challinor’s men secured automatic promotion on an afternoon of celebration at Edgeley Park!
First-half goals from Tanto Olaofe and Fraser Horsfall secured a sixth straight win for County at home to Morecambe, which was enough to guarantee a top three finish with three games remaining.
Players and staff alike celebrated in front of a jubilant crowd of over 10,000 in SK3, after the Hatters recorded their 25th win of the season to take them to 86 points – already a record points tally for the club in the Football League. It continues County’s remarkable rise in recent years, with this the club’s third promotion in the last five years, taking us from the National League North all the way to League One.
2023/24 is a season that will go down in the history books for Stockport County Football Club. After a difficult start that saw us win only one of our first six games, manager Dave Challinor guided us on a remarkable 12-game winning run in League Two, equalling the division’s all-time record for consecutive wins, as we stormed to the top of the table. We haven’t dropped out of the top three since, despite an injury crisis along the way.
Challinor has become just the second manager in the club’s history to guide the Hatters to two promotions. Attention now turns to securing the League Two title, with County requiring * points from our final four games to secure a first EFL title since 1966/67.
It’s also been an incredible year for the Hatters both on and off the pitch, the Club is achieving record attendances at Edgeley Park and is currently bringing forward exciting plans to take the historic ground from a capacity of just over 10k to around 18k.
Stockport County’s academy which achieved Category Three status in the 22/23 season when County returned to League Two has signed 200 young players to develop their game, creating pathways into professional football, and the Club has nearly doubled its revenue in the last financial year (from £4.6M to £8.6M), testament to the great work the Club is doing both on matchdays and throughout the year.
Stockport County CEO, Jonathan Vaughan said:
“It’s been an incredibly competitive season. To secure automatic promotion with three games to spare is a brilliant achievement for the club, and is testament to the hard work of Dave, Simon, the players and everyone else behind the scenes.
“Promotion was always the aim this season after coming so close at Wembley last year, I’d like to take the opportunity to again thank the fans for their support, home and away, all season long. Our success on the pitch will always be reliant on growth off it, and to see record breaking crowds at Edgeley Park every week, just highlights what an exciting time it is to be a Stockport County fan.
“We will all celebrate tonight, but focus quickly switches to finishing the season as Champions.”
