Stockport County FC

Stockport County FC. The Hatters. Why? The town was once a global centre of hat-making – to the point it now proudly hosts Hat Works, the UK’s only museum dedicated to hats, housed in the old Wellington Mill. If you ask me, Stockport and Luton – both Hatters – need to make it official: an annual pre-season clash, with the winner taking home the hat, Ashes-style. But there's a lot more than millinery (hat making) going on here - so let’s #GetTheBadgeIn and see what we can find: But there's more than millinery in that badge.

Let’s go back. Right back. The very name “Stockport” tells us something. “Stock” – as in timber stockades. “Port” – not a sea port, but land cleared of forest, usually to build something important. And that’s exactly what happened here. After William the Conqueror beat Harold at Hastings (the arrow-in-the-eye bloke), he didn’t just sit back and put his feet up. Saxon resistance kept flaring up, so the Normans built motte and bailey castles across England to keep control. Quick-build timber forts, dug into hills and ringed with ditches – perfect little bases of occupation (We'd call them FOBs today if it was Afghanistan)

One such outpost? Stockport. A wooden fortress carved out of the trees, defended by a stockade. It’s quite literally in the name. And the badge? It’s rooted deep in the town’s medieval past.

That blue shield with three diamonds and those funny little crosses (called cross-crosslets, if you’re being proper) comes from the de Stokeport family – the original barons of the area. Appointed under Hugh Lupus (Lupus as in Wolf - hence why Chester have a wolf on their badge), William’s man in charge of the north, Stockport was one of eight baronies handed out to keep order. The lord of this one took his name from the town, and his shield eventually became the club’s. In the 1980s, Stockport’s badge briefly showed just one lonely cross-crosslet – looking oddly like Celta Vigo’s crest – but eventually the full coat of arms was brought back. You’ll also see two lion supporters, flanking the shield. They come from the arms of the de Warren family, Lords of the Manor from 1370 to 1826. Their Wikipedia entry may be more wedding drama than warfare, but their heraldry lives on, keeping watch over the County crest.

As for colours, Stockport County have generally played in blue and white, though they’ve had several different looks. In the 70s, they tried out an Argentina-style sky blue kit, only to drop it after the Falklands War made it… awkward. In 2008, to mark their 125th anniversary, they wore a bold gold and black third kit. It went unbeaten – 13 wins, 4 draws – before being retired in style. A club with medieval roots, a hat-making soul, and one of the most historically-loaded names in English football.

They’ve seen castles rise, hats stitched, and crests restored. Stockport make their own peaks - and they haven't stopped yet.