The Champions are in action one last time this season on Saturday, as we travel to the STōK Cae Ras to take on 3rd place Wrexham.
With promotion already secured for both of these teams, and the League Two trophy already making itself at home at Edgeley Park, Saturday’s game has the air of a post-season friendly about it, with little to play for for either side.
There are still minor prizes up for grabs. Three points for County would see them beat the club’s previous record points tally, set two years ago when picking up 94 points in our National League title-winning campaign. Wrexham meanwhile require a positive result to have a chance of finishing above Mansfield and finish the season as runners-up.
The Welsh side sit seven points behind County on 85 points, having secured a second successive promotion two weeks ago with a 6-0 win over Forest Green Rovers. They come into Saturday having won seven of their last eight games, scoring 21 times in that run.
Streaming:
This final day fixture will be available for all supporters to watch over on Stockport County Live, featuring live match audio commentary from Jon Keighren and Liam Richardson. Click here to purchase your video match passes today.
Since we last met:
Just two years ago, this was a National League fixture between two clubs that had spent far too long in the wilderness of non-league. Next season, the two will be going head-to-head in League One after both continued their meteoric rises.
When the two met back in September, however, it was definitely County’s day, as Tanto Olaofe and Louie Barry ran amok at Edgeley Park in a stunning 5-0 win for the Hatters.
Looking back, that result and performance was a seminal moment in County’s season and the catalyst for the run that catapulted us to the top of League Two. It was a third straight win for Dave Challinor’s men that lifted us to ninth at the time, after a slow start to the campaign. The rest, as they say, is history.
For Wrexham it brought to an end a seven-game unbeaten run in League Two, dropping them down to seventh, nine games into their first EFL campaign since 2008.
The response to that setback from Phil Parkinson’s side was impressive, going unbeaten in their next eight games in League Two and losing only one in 13 to move up to second on Boxing Day – four points behind County at the top.
A difficult run away from home in the New Year, with defeats at Walsall, Newport, Salford and Gillingham, meant they weren’t able to take advantage of County’s own dip in form when it came, to get involved in the title race.
Their home form this season has been the best in the division though, picking up 51 points at STōK Cae Ras, which ultimately ensured they wrapped up promotion with games to spare this year.
Like County, they have sprinted towards the finishing line in recent weeks, with defeat at in-form Doncaster Rovers the only blot on their end-of-season run-in.
The return to form of talisman Paul Mullin has been central to that once again. The 29-year-old scored only two goals in his first 11 appearances of 2024, but has since hit 14 in 12 to fire the Red Dragons to League One for the first time since 2005.
Match Stats:
- Saturday will be the 127th meeting between these two clubs since first meeting in 1891. County hold the historical advantage between the two, winning 57 to Wrexham’s 48.
- There has been only one draw in the last 22 meetings between these two sides dating back to 2004 – a 2-2 at Edgeley Park in the FA Trophy back in 2015.
- County require two more goals to become the highest scoring League Two side this century. Only Luton Town (2001/02) and Notts County (2009/10) have scored more than County’s 95 since the year 2000. It’s the club’s best goalscoring season in the league since the 1933/34 season, when we scored an incredible 115 goals in just 42 games.
