2000 County Exhibition .

By hedgegrower - February 19, 2020

We are pleased to say that the blog succeeded in persuading County Historian Ian Watts to pen something for us, and with a County Museum now firmly established inside Edgeley Park, and another batch of County exhibits being contemplated for inclusion in exhibitions at Stockport Art Gallery , Ian`s chosen subject could not have been more appropriate:

2000 County Exhibition

by Ian Watts
( all photos were taken by Ian Watts)

With a Stockport County exhibition due to return to the War Memorial and Art Gallery later this year I thought people might be interested in a brief look back at the exhibition put together twenty years ago to celebrate 100 years since County had first been elected to the Football League.

I was involved in setting up this exhibition, but only after most of the hard work had been done by Peter Freeman and his daughter Simone, who arrived at the Art Gallery with full plans for the display panels, and other items to go around the rooms.

As can hopefully be seen from the accompanying photos the display panels were supported by drawings of the first team colours over the years, and all the league tables from the club's first team history, along with a plan indicating the location of the clubs grounds.

With that all planned - but obviously having to be put together and affixed on the seemingly mass of blank wall - that left the father and daughter pairing along with myself, Allan Jones, Marcus Heap, and a representative of the Council's heritage staff, to knuckle down and decide what to put in the cases.

Not an easy task as many varied items had been loaned and we needed to try and reflect the full history of the club.


Division 4 Trophy.

Over several hours and two days decisions were made, with gaps left for the arrival and placing of the final prize items, the trophies won by County over the years, loaned from the National Football Museum, the Cheshire FA and the Lancashire FA.


The Magnificent Cheshire Senior Cup !

If I recall correctly these included all but one of the major trophies picked up by the Hatters, with one other item - the magnificent Cheshire Bowl - no longer existing having been melted down when the much less impressive Cheshire Premier Cup replaced it.

Finally we were happy we had done all we could, and were ready for the launch event on the following day.

Originally this was scheduled for exactly 100 years from the date of County's first Football League game, 1^st September 2000. Then the following days planned game was switched to Friday night at Prenton Park, Birkenhead.

Whilst the rest of the set up crew headed off to see the Division One (EFL Championship) tussle between Cheshire rivals Tranmere Rovers and County, I took the opportunity to spend an hour or two listening to Jon Keighren's commentary on whichever station was broadcasting it in those days, whilst getting some photos of the exhibition in all its glory without the crowds of visitors.

The man from the heritage department kept me company for some of the time, and told me he had had great reservations when the plan was first announced regarding whether there would be enough items to fill the space allowed. He then admitted that as he had seen us making the decisions on what had to be left out he was astonished at the quality of items that it was decided we could not make room for.

The launch night was a great success, with Granada TV there to film the event and the exhibition went on to be one of the most visited in the recent history of the Art Gallery.

It left a legacy in that many more items from the club's history became known as people who visited the exhibition were inspired to get in touch.

On a personal note, it is now amazing to think that thanks to the fantastic and committed work by Help the Hatters there is now a superb permanent museum at the ground, which is bulging at the seams with fantastic memorabilia, to help inspire local youngsters towards a lifetime of supporting County.

Ian Watts

Additional Gallery:-