As they walked up Wembley Way yesterday, Stockport County’s supporters could be forgiven for viewing the stadium that lay ahead as a concrete bully; four times they had played there and four times they had been winded by defeat. But victory in north London is finally theirs.
The hordes dressed in blue reacted to the final whistle with a tangible sense of relief but the overriding emotion was joy and no one savoured victory more than Jim Gannon, the manager, who played in each of those previous defeats.
“Those defeats gave this club the finances to progress but barcelona drakter med trykk the Wembley experience is nothing without winning,” he said. “I feel so proud to have achieved this with Stockport. It is a club I fell in love with when I first came here and one I intend to make even more successful.”
Gannon, is taking an inexperienced squad into League One – the average age of his starting XI was 21 – but he ruled out bringing in older heads to ensure survival. “I don’t want Stockport to become full of journeymen,” he said. “We have created an environment where players can grow and I want that to continue. We have some very talented footballers here who are destined for great things.”
Youth is also a hallmark of Rochdale but for them, the tedium continues. The club have been promoted only once before, in 1969, and have spent the past 34 years in the League’s basement.
Keith Hill’s side should, however, take pride from participating in what was the most gripping of this season’s play-off finals. They took the lead through Rory McArdle’s 24th-minute header before finding themselves back on level terms 10 minutes later in bizarre circumstances when Nathan Stanton palmed the roma drakter med trykk ball into his own net as Tommy Rowe’s right-wing cross caused panic in the Rochdale area. Anthony Pilkington gave Stockport the lead on 49 minutes before Liam Dickinson made the result appear certain with a low strike 18 minutes later. The celebrations in Stockport’s end of the stadium soon stopped when Adam Rundle scored with an excellent volley but Rochdale could not find an equaliser.
“The majority of this squad will stay and be given the chance to show they are ambitious,” said Hill. “I don’t want today to remain the best moment of their careers.”
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