By Supporters Coach – If it’s practicable for you this is probably the easiest way to get there.  Coaches leave at 14.00 from The New Lawn (14.15 Sainsburys, 14.30 Stonehouse).  The cost is £30 for adults (£25 for SC members – book by phone on 0333 123 1889 Monday to Friday, between 9am and 3pm to get the discount), £15 for u-18’s and £7 for u-11’s.

For full details of Away Travel click here FGR Away Travel – Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club (fgrsc.com).  Book your coach ticket with your match ticket from FGR and please try to book as early as you can.

By Train – Trains take about 3 hours from Stroud to Stockport and will cost about £140 for an adult return.  It’s a 10 minute walk to the ground from the station.  You will have to stay overnight or find another way back to Stroud after the game.

By Car – Driving distance from Nailsworth is just less than 150 miles and could take 2 hours 30 minutes.  But the M5/M6 route can be slow going up, so allow extra time.  The postcode is SK3 9DD for Sat Navs.  Stockport is south of Manchester just past Manchester Airport – it’s all motorway, pretty much – M5, M6, M56, M60.  Parking looks ok – there is street parking (though there are some resident permit areas) plus a number of car-parks within easy walking distance (costs from 80p to £4).

Edgeley Park is just south of Manchester, close to Manchester Airport (you’re likely to have planes going over the ground!).  Average attendances this season are approaching 9,000, so expect an atmosphere as the stadium will be pretty full.

We have an allocation of just under 500 in part of the Together Stand (Popular Side), alongside the pitch.  It’s seated and covered.  Ticket prices are; – Adult £22, 65+£16, Disabled £16 (carer free), Student £16, 14-17 £10, 6-13 £8, 0-5 £2.  Tickets can be purchased on the day for this one.  If you book tickets online but don’t collect them from TNL, you can collect them at Stockport before kick-off.

Around a five minute walk away from the ground is the Armoury pub (apparently friendly and excellent for away fans who don’t mind mixing with local fans).  It’s beside the roundabout at the top of Castle Street and serves beers from the local Robinson’s Brewery (the beer gets some good reviews!).  Alternatively, the Nelson on the A.6 has been reviewed as ‘best place for away supporters’.

If you are near the Edgeley Shopping Centre, The Friary has been reviewed as one of the best fish and chip shops in Stockport.  Pizzas or Kebabs at Mustaph’s, or the all-day breakfast at Sivori’s also worth a mention.

Stockport’s start was reasonably solid, without being spectacular.  But there are ominous signs that they are finding some form.  Since losing their opening 2 games to Gillingham & Walsall, they have beaten Wimbledon, MK Dons, Barrow, Wrexham & Accrington, drawn with Bradford & Crawley, and lost 3-2 at Mansfield.  They are in 8th place – 10 points ahead of Rovers.  Stockport are now one of this league’s top form teams.

Their standout result was the 5-0 thrashing of Wrexham on 23rd September, their last home game.

Their standout player so far this season is an Aston Villa loanee, Louie Barry.  Villa bought Barry from Barcelona in 2020 for £880,000.  He’s still only 20 but has had several loan spells as he tries to establish himself at the top level.  Jurgen Klopp once described him as a little Jamie Vardy.  He is a pacey left-sided attacking winger – his manager says “Louie is a dribbler, an exciting, pacey forward who has the ability to beat players and will certainly get people off their seats”.  With 7 goals this season, he is Stockport’s leading scorer.

Coming up fast behind him is striker Isaac Oloafe.  Oloafe was signed from Millwall at the start of 2023.  The 23 year-old was part of Millwalll’s academy and had spent 2 seasons on loan at Sutton.  He scored a hat-trick in the recent 5-0 demolition of Wrexham at Edgeley Park.

The 2 clubs have had 4 meetings in the National League (the last was in 2013) but have never met before in the EFL.

Stockport’s left sided attacker, Louie Barry, on loan from Aston Villa.

Striker Isaac Oloafe, signed from Millwall in the summer, scored a hat-trick against Wrexham.

Check out some of the latest thoughts of Hatters fans on one of their forums www.yellowboard.co.uk or Stockport County forum

They are known as The Hatters (a nickname they share with Luton).

Formed in 1883, the club have spent most of their time in the 4th tier since WW2.  They peaked between 1997 and 2003 when they spent 6 seasons in the 2nd tier.  However, by 2013 they had suffered 5 relegations (with 1 promotion in that time) and found themselves in the 6th tier (one below the National League).  In 2019 they moved up to the National League and in 2022 were promoted to League 2.  In the 2022/23 season they finished 4th but lost on penalties to Carlisle in the play-off final for promotion to League 1.

They were bought in 2020 (for an undisclosed fee) by Stockport born and bred businessman Mark Stott.  Stott cleared the club’s debts, and pledged to return the club to full-time football and to the EFL.

They have been managed since 2021 by Dave Challinor.

Mark Stott, seen as Stockport’s most successful current entrepreneur, has rejuvenated their fortunes.

The town became a centre for the hatting industry in the 19th century.  Water powered mills were fed through a series of underground tunnels from local rivers.  But the last factory closed in 1997 and the country’s only dedicated hat museum is the only reminder left.

The town is only 6 or 7 miles south-east of Manchester but has always maintained a distinct identity.  An application for ‘city’ status in 2012 was unsuccessful.

Stockport is a major link on the West Coast mainline up to Manchester Piccadilly and the grade 2 listed Victorian viaduct that carries the rail lines over the start of the River Mersey, dominates the views in the town.

Stockport’s most famous son is probably Fred Perry.  Perry is now better known as a clothing brand, but the man is considered one of the best to have ever played tennis.  He won 8 tennis ‘major’ singles tournament titles in the 1930’s.  We had to wait until Andy Murray for the next men’s Wimbledon champion!  You’ll find numerous memorials to Fred around Stockport – the house where he was born is at 33 Carrington Rd in Stockport.

Fred Perry in his heyday.

Hatters working in the early 20th century.

Stockport’s Hatworks is the only museum in the country dedicated to hatting!