Football League Stockport County was formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers at McLaughlin's Cafe in
Heaton Norris, by a group of pupils from
Stockport Sunday School. After playing home matches in different parks in the Stockport area for several years, Rovers moved to
Green Lane in 1889. This is recognised as their first official ground. The club changed its name to Stockport County in 1890, the year after
Stockport became a county borough. and surrounding area Stockport left Green Lane in 1902 and moved to
Edgeley Park, which was also home to
rugby league club
Stockport RFC. County finished in the bottom three for their first four seasons, and failed to gain
re-election at the end of the
1903–04 season. After spending one season in the
Lancashire Combination, the club was readmitted to the
Football League. In October 1908, it was confirmed that Stockport County would become a '
limited liability company'. The team remained in the Second Division for seven years until the
1912–13 season, when they again had to seek re-election. Stockport gained 22 votes and retained their Football League status.
David Ashworth was appointed as the team's first
manager in 1914. After the outbreak of the First World War, competitive football was suspended. Stockport did, however, compete in the Lancashire section of the Wartime Football League, which was played from
1915–16 to
1918–19. Ashworth managed County throughout the war until the end of 1919, when he joined
Liverpool. The
1920–21 campaign saw Stockport finish bottom of the Second Division; however, instead of facing re-election, they were placed in the new
Third Division North. The team won their first Football League title in
1921–22, when they defeated
Darlington in front of 18,500 fans at Edgeley Park. The manager Albert Williams was presented with the trophy seven days later, before the final home game against
Lincoln City. The club's goalkeeper
Harry Hardy was called up for the
England national team in 1924, and kept a
clean sheet in a 4–0 win against
Belgium. Stockport remained in the Third Division North during the 1920s, with two consecutive second-place finishes but failed to gain
promotion. In the early 1930s, Stockport County played in a black and white home
kit, and were briefly nicknamed the 'Lilywhites'. On 23 July 1935, Edgeley Park's wooden main stand burned down, which caused damage to neighbouring houses. The fire also destroyed the club's records until 1935. A new main stand was built in 1936 and officially opened by
Charles Sutcliffe, then president of the Football League. In
1936–37, the team won the Third Division North title and promotion to the Second Division following a last-day title decider against Lincoln City which was attended by more than 27,000 fans. They finished in bottom place the
following season and were relegated back to the Third Division North, remaining there until the divisions were reorganised in 1958. During the
1939–40 season, Stockport played only two matches before the Second World War started; the Football League was suspended and did not resume until 1946. Regional league competitions were set up; the
FA Cup was also suspended and was replaced with the
Football League War Cup. In March 1946, Stockport hosted
Doncaster Rovers in a League Three North Cup match which lasted 203 minutes, and is considered the longest professional football game. The regional Third Divisions were combined into the national
Third and
Fourth Divisions after the
1957–58 campaign. County were founder member of the new Third Division, but were relegated after
one season. During the
1964–65 season, Stockport chairman Vic Bernard re-introduced the royal blue strip, Bernard and Trautmann decided to move matches to Friday evenings in an attempt to increase revenue. Trautmann resigned from his position in 1966. County returned to the Third Division by winning the Fourth Division in
1966–67. The club was relegated back to the Fourth Division at the end of the
1969–70 campaign, and remained in the fourth tier until 1991. Following the introduction of automatic promotion and relegation between the Football League and the
Football Conference at the start of the
1986–87 season, Stockport faced the prospect of
non-League football, with just six points from 13 games. However,
Colin Murphy was brought in for his second spell as manager, and Stockport gained 45 points from their final 31 games to remain in the division, although Murphy left shortly after the season. In the
1992 Associate Members' Cup Final, Bergara became the first South American to lead an English team at
Wembley;
Stoke City defeated County 1–0. He led Stockport to Wembley on three further occasions, once more in the
1993 Football League Trophy Final and twice in the
play-offs, but lost all. In March 1995, Bergara was sacked after an altercation with then chairman Brendan Elwood, and was succeeded by
Dave Jones. That same year saw the opening of the new
all-seated Cheadle End stand, whose capacity was just over 5,000. Dave Jones left for
Southampton in 1997 and
Gary Megson took over as manager. County finished eighth in the
First Division in his
first season, only two places off the play-offs—the club's best ever league placing. With Stockport bottom of the First Division in October 2001, a home defeat against
Millwall saw manager
Andy Kilner sacked. Former England international
Carlton Palmer was appointed in November 2001, but he failed to save the club from relegation to the third tier
that season. Palmer was unable to build a team capable of returning to the First Division the
next season. The summer of 2003 saw an ownership change. Elwood sold the club to
Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy in a move that would see Sale play their home games at Edgeley Park. A new company, Cheshire Sport, was established, which combined ownership of Stockport County, Sale Sharks and the Edgeley Park stadium. from 1900 to the present|alt= A chart of Stockport County's previous final league positional which also shows the English Football League structure over the years. In 2005, after reportedly losing
£4 million in operating costs, Kennedy handed ownership of the club to the
Stockport County Supporters' Co-operative. Former County player
Jim Gannon was appointed manager, initially as caretaker manager. He led the club to safety in
2005–06, and sustained a promotion challenge the
next season but eventually missed out on the
League Two play-offs on
goal difference. The team continued their success during the
2007–08 season and reached the play-offs in which they faced
Rochdale in the
Final at
Wembley. Stockport came from behind to win the game and earn promotion to
League One. In April 2009, Stockport County was placed into
administration due to a loan to a creditor of around £300,000, and a tax debt of £250,000 to
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Two months later, County's administrator,
Leonard Curtis, announced terms had been agreed with the Melrose Consortium—headed by ex-Manchester City player
Jim Melrose—for the sale of the club. In July, administrators agreed to a
company voluntary arrangement with the previous shareholders and creditors. The Melrose Consortium bid was rejected by the Football League, however, in March 2010. A new consortium, the 2015 Group, was given exclusivity to work towards a takeover of the club. The purchase of Stockport County by the 2015 Group was approved by the Football League in May 2010, with the takeover announced in June. Before the start of the
2010–11 season, the new owners pledged to "rebuild the club from top to bottom", and appointed
Paul Simpson as manager. He was sacked after only six months in charge, and
Ray Mathias was brought in as interim manager. Despite an upturn in results, County were relegated to the
Football Conference for the first time in their history.
Non-league era (2011–2022) After relegation, a Liverpool-based businessman tried, and ultimately failed, to buy the club.
Dietmar Hamann, who had no prior managerial experience, was named manager in July 2011. He won only three of nineteen matches before resigning, after his position had been undermined by a fans' meeting in November. The fans called for Gannon to be re-appointed as manager. He was reinstated, steered Stockport away from the relegation zone and finished 16th. The club regained sole tenancy of their Edgeley Park stadium for the first time in nine years in 2012, after Sale Sharks relocated to
Salford City Reds' new ground. In January 2013, former
fcbusiness magazine editor, 30-year-old Ryan McKnight was named as the
chief executive officer at County. Gannon was subsequently dismissed for a second time. Stockport employed two further managers in three months, and were relegated to the
Conference North on the final day of the 2012–13 season. The club announced it was to lose its full-time status, and proceeded with a part-time model. McKnight announced his resignation in April 2014. Neil Young was named as Stockport's new manager in 2015, after he had previous successes in the division with
Chester, but departed in January 2016. County once again turned to Gannon, who returned for a third stint. He stabilised the club on the pitch and finished around the play-offs places for the next two seasons. In 2017, a local search was carried out to locate descendants of the club's founders. In
2018–19, Stockport reached the semi-finals of the
FA Trophy and won the Conference North, their first league title in 52 years. Local businessman Mark Stott purchased County for an undisclosed fee in January 2020, and cleared its debts; Stott pledged to return the club to full-time football, to reach the Football League and to find a new
training ground. Managed by
Dave Challinor (appointed in November 2021), County topped the National League in
2021–22, securing promotion back to the EFL after an 11-year absence.
Return to the Football League In their first season back in League Two, 2022–23, Stockport finished 4th and reached the
play-off final, losing to
Carlisle United 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw at Wembley. The following season, 2023–24, Stockport secured automatic promotion to
League One and were later crowned as champions with two games remaining. They reached the
League One play-offs in the following season but lost on penalties in the semi-final to
Leyton Orient. In January 2026, Stott Capital, the investment firm owned by County owner and chairman Mark Stott, acquired a controlling stake in the Hungarian side
Debreceni VSC. Stott said the two clubs will operate "entirely independently" and he remained "firmly committed" to County. ==Colours, crests and traditions==