Football
Stockport County Owner Mark Stott Eyes Championship Promotion in Ambitious Plans
The owner of Stockport County, Mark Stott, is confident that Championship promotion is on the horizon for the club. Stott shares his thoughts on the future of the football club.
Credit: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
AMBITIOUS Stockport County owner Mark Stott is confident the club will be promoted to the Championship within the next few seasons.
The Hatters stormed to the League Two title this season and have secured two memorable promotions in three seasons as their meteoric rise back up the football pyramid continues at pace, and Stott, who has sunk plenty of his own cash into resurrecting the Edgeley Park club from the doldrums, is ready to make “ruthless” decisions to guarantee even more success.
The Hatters Ahead of Schedule
“We’re definitely ahead of the curve,” revealed Stott, who took over the club in 2020 with a seven-year vision to get it into the second tier.
“We’re probably a year ahead of schedule, we’re left with three years now to get to the Championship.
COVID’s Silver Lining
“My timing for buying the club was absolutely horrific, but the one benefit Covid gave us was that we got into Edgeley Park and upgraded, which you never really get because you only have six to ten weeks in the closed season to get everything done. Otherwise, there’s loads of disruption.
“All those things together, well we’re probably a year ahead of where I thought we’d be. It’s going well.
“When I bought the club I think there were just six full-time members of staff and some part-timers, and now there’s 175 full-time members of staff and 250 part-time staff,” he exclusively told SportsBoom.com.
Manager’s Trust
Stott, a successful businessman, has kept faith with manager Dave Challinor throughout the Hatter’s meteoric rise, and the former County favourite has rewarded the owner with a squad which has been able to climb two divisions.
But Stott believes now is the time to make big changes as the club embark on the biggest challenge of their journey so far.
Top-scorer and skipper Paddy Madden, who has led the charge with goals galore during the past three seasons, has not had his contract renewed, with a string of first-team players have also been released.
Next Three-Year Plan
Credit: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
“We believe there’s a sweet spot in League One – and this is the time to make the transition,” stressed Stott.
“I think it would be a massive stretch to try and get into the Championship with the same group of players that have got us from the National League into League One.
“I think now is a great time for us to look at the next three years as a plan for the next part of the journey.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved this season.
“At the start of the season I was adamant, in my own head, that we were going to do it [get promotion].
“I wouldn’t have said I was disappointed if we hadn’t of won it [the league], but I was confident even after a slightly bumpy start.
“But we had to buy our way out of the National League, you have to do that in my opinion.
“We bought ourselves out of the National League and Wrexham have bought themselves out.
“This is the time where we have to go younger with our players. This is the tippling point I believe where we can create real value for the football club.”
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.