Stockport fired by grand ambitions as they push to end painful exile

There is a photo on a boardroom wall at Edgeley Park depicting Stockport’s 1997 League Cup semi-final first leg against Middlesbrough. Almost 12,000 fans packed into the stadium that night to watch second-tier County and it is an image that is helping to inspire their hoped-for return to the Football League.

A lot has happened in 25 years but crucially Stockport are four points clear of second-placed Wrexham with a game in hand and could secure promotion over the bank holiday long weekend. But for the more high-profile investment from Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in north Wales, Stockport might already be popping the corks.

The local businessman Mark Stott bought the National League club in January 2020 with the aim of taking them back to the Championship. Covid curtailed his first season and the second ended with defeat in the playoffs but Stockport are close to playing again in League Two, from which they were relegated in 2011.

One of Stott’s first appointments was the director of football, Simon Wilson, to help implement an ambitious seven-year plan to reach the Championship. Wilson arrived after spells at Manchester City and Sunderland and a period as a consultant, including providing advice to Stott about purchasing Stockport.

“There were natural things you would find with a part-time, underfunded football club,” Wilson says at Stott’s offices in Cheshire. “They didn’t have enough people, they didn’t have the right facilities, couldn’t think further than a week or two in advance so proper planning couldn’t be done. A lot of that comes down to finance – it’s cold and matter of fact. I know Ralf Rangnick has come out with a lot of phrases but I do agree with the three Cs: concept, competence and capital. You need