Football Season Guide

Stockport County manager Dave Challinor has shown he is not afraid of making big decisions this summer. The play-offs continue to be cruel on the Hatters, having been beaten in a penalty shoot-out by Carlisle United in 2023 League Two play-off final at Wembley. There was more penalty woe this time around as they were beaten by Leyton Orient in a two-legged semi-final that ended 3-3 on aggregate. They were the better side over the two legs but conceded to a clearly offside goal in the first leg and missed two gilt-edged chances to win it in the second leg at Edgeley Park. Despite losing out by the slimmest of margins, Challinor has allowed several influential players to leave the club this summer. The most notable is striker Isaac Olaofe, with a significant sum received from Charlton Athletic. The influential Will Collar has been surprisingly allowed to leave permanently as have centre-back Fraser Horsfall and full-backs Ibou Touray and Kyle Knoyle. Wing-back Ryan Rydel’s season-long loan switch to Exeter City is another surprise. It would be far less surprising should centre-back Ethan Pye become the next departure. The academy graduate followed up a breakthrough 2023/24 season with a series of exceptional performances and is expected to sign for a Championship club before the window closes. Challinor therefore needs to build a new spine of the team. It’ll begin with Lewis Bate, who is undoubtedly one of the best pivots in the division. There is plenty of strength in the middle of the park in the likes of Callum Camps, Nick Powell, Oliver Norwood and Owen Moxon. Corey Addai has begun to win over the fans after replacing the injured Ben Hinchcliffe and it’ll be an interesting battle between them for the No. 1 jersey this season. A large proportion of the money received for Olaofe has been spent on Peterborough United striker Malik Mothersille, smashing their record transfer fee paid.