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Stockport County were formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers by members of the Wycliffe Congressional Church, and played their first recorded game in October the next year. Shortly after they merged with a similarly named club, Heaton Norris, and on the 24th May 1890 changed their name to Stockport County to reflect Stockport becoming a County Borough.
The club adopted ‘The Hatters’ as their nickname, due to Stockport’s history as the centre of the hat-making industry. This nickname is shared with Luton Town. Stockport County are also generally referred to by their own supporters simply as ‘County’.
The club first played in the Lancashire Combination league until 1900 when Stockport gained admission to the Football League Second Division. The club finished in the bottom three for their first four seasons until they failed to rain re-election at the end of the 1903/04 season, going back to the Combination for one season. Stockport County won the league & were re-admitted to the Football League for the 1905/06 season. Since then they have stayed in the League, however they needed to be re-elected on four further occasions.
After spending much of their history in the lower reaches of the Football League, in the 1996/97 season Stockport County gained promotion to then Division One, the second tier of English football, by finishing second in Division Two. Other highlights of that season included reaching the semi-final of the League Cup, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Middlesbrough.
The stay in Division One lasted five years, eventually ending in the 2001/02 season. Currently the club plays in the Football League One, the third tier of English Football, and the manager is ex- Northern Ireland coach Sammy McIlroy . In 2003 then chairman Brendan Elwood sold the club to Cheshire Sport, who bought the club’s ground, Edgeley ParkEdgeley Park (Capacity 10,852 seats) is the home of Stockport County Football Club and Sale Sharks Rugby Union club. It is now over 100 years old and has seen on its hallowed turf many of football's greats, including George Best who played for Stockport C, which cleared the club’s debts. The takeover by Cheshire Sport also saw Rugby Union side Sale SharksSale Sharks are a professional Rugby Union team who play in England in the Zurich Premiership. Before professionalism attendances at Sale home matches were under a thousand. Nowadays The Sharks play in front of ten times that number at their new home Edge move to Edgeley ParkEdgeley Park (Capacity 10,852 seats) is the home of Stockport County Football Club and Sale Sharks Rugby Union club. It is now over 100 years old and has seen on its hallowed turf many of football's greats, including George Best who played for Stockport C.
Stockport County’s traditional home colours are considered to be blue & white, although very early in the club’s history they had played in red & white stripes or pink with light blue at the top. In the 1960s County played in white & black, and the nickname at the time was ‘The Lilywhites’. The current home strip is entirely blue with white piping, and the away strip is all yellow with a blue trim.