Stockport County the Friendly Football Club. That’s the club motto that adorns the team’s previous badge. (PIC 1) Stockport does have a number of friendly club schemes on the go, but that does not extend to a simple reply to letters sent and ill-afforded so I have no one to thank except myself and the information I have gleaned from the public domain. They have even gone as far as dropping the friendly football club motto from their present badge, otherwise it is exactly the same. (PIC 2) Just as well they adhere to the town’s coat of arms, as I do not need the help of this once friendly club to explain that. A football has been added to the arms, and it looks like it has just been kicked and is going to miss the shield and hit the poor supporter. In heraldry, a supporter is the animal/figure that stands each side of the arms. Below is the year formed with the club’s name.
In 1883 the members of Wycliffe Congregational Chapel, gathered together into a congregation and formed a football club, and why not? As you will know just about every other church, chapel and Sunday go to meeting hall, were doing the same around this time. The arms from which the club have adopted their badge are made up of a blue shield, and in the gold border is the emblem of the Earl of Chester, the wheatsheaf, and the de Eaton family are represented by the double-headed eagles. (PIC 3) On the crest is a golden mural crown on a green mound surmounted by a castle. A mural crown denotes the city wall and there was a Norman castle in Stockport up until the late 18th Century. The present arms were granted in 1932 and the two lion supporters added in 1960. The lions are from the arms of the de Warren family, who were lords of the manor from 1370 until 1826. Each lion wears a collar, and from one hangs a silver disc with the rose of Lancaster, and from the other, a blue disc with the golden wheatsheaf of the Earldom of Chester. The motto on the arms is “ANIMO ET FIDE” and translates as, With Courage and Faith. The club’s first badge was a direct interpretation of these arms. (PIC 4)
The club’s nickname is “The Hatters” and having had no official reply from the club I have to assume that as in the case of Luton, they did or still do have milliners in the area, a milliner being the official name for a hat maker. I just checked the internet and I am glad to say I am not as mad as a hatter and Stockport were indeed hat makers from the 17th Century and Stockport even boasts a museum of hatting, somebody book the coaches. The name Stockport is derived from two Anglo-Saxon words, Stoc meaning a wooden castle or stockade, and port meaning a cleared wood, from where the wood for the stockade would have been sourced. So Stockport started its evolution as a wooden stockade at a clearing in the woods.
The home of Stockport, Edgely Park was built for rugby league in 1901. By 1902 the rugby club was playing second fiddle to the football club and Stockport County Football Club moved in, and it has been the home of Stockport County ever since. In 1950 they squeezed in 28,000 to watch Liverpool in a FA Cup round, now though just 10,841 is the capacity. Crewe Alexander are the rivals to Stockport County. To find out even more about Stockport County amiably make your way to www.stockportcounty.com
