Why Stockport’s Dave Challinor stands out as the master of a promotion push

One of Challinor’s key messages this week has been to remind his players that form counts for little amid the chaos of the playoffs. Having finished third in League One, Stockport are in a similar scenario to the one they faced last year, when they dominated sixth-place finishers Leyton Orient for large parts of their two-legged semi-final before missing two “gilt-edged chances”, as Challinor puts it, in extra time and losing on penalties.

“You’re in a four-team tournament where any team can have an argument to say they deserve to get promoted,” Challinor says. “But it’s not about deserving – as we found out last year. We played really well but sometimes things can go against you. Hopefully this year will be our year. We’re doing everything to make sure that’s the case.”

Having lost twice to Stevenage in the league this season, and only securing a top-six spot with a final day 3-1 victory at Barnsley, Stockport are perhaps less fancied for this year’s playoffs than they were a year ago, not that Challinor cares too much. “This is very much a separate entity,” he says “We’ve played 46 league games and finished third in the table – fantastic. We now move to a four-team competition to become a Championship team. It’s almost like the 46 games don’t count for a great deal.

“We have an opportunity that everyone has worked their socks off for. I remember saying that in the National League – that everything for me [then] was about being a Football League manager. To say what I’m saying now is unthinkable from where I was five years ago. Is there pressure? Of course there’s pressure, but we’re in a really privileged position to be one of four teams who could join Cardiff and Lincoln in the Championship next season.”

It would be a new frontier for Challinor, who has never managed in the Championship, and also for Stockport, whose last spell in the second tier came 24 years ago when Challinor was a player. With the help of the former defender, who arrived in 2021, and some smart off-field planning led by owner, Mark Stott, and chief executive, Simon Wilson, the Hatters have plotted a course up the pyramid having been in the National League North seven years ago.

“Behave like a big team,” is one of the messages printed on the walls inside Stockport’s Carrington training ground. “This was a blank canvas and in terms of success it couldn’t have gone any better,” says Challinor. “It’s almost been followed to the dot, which is a massive credit to him [Wilson]. Everything that’s needed to be ticked off has been, really.”

Dave Challinor waves to the Stockport fans after their game against Peterborough in April. Photograph: MI News/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

The bigger picture is one thing, but you can tell Challinor’s focus is on Stevenage away on Saturday. His vast experience of the playoffs, he says, is what helps him remain calm before the coming storm. “The playoffs can bring all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff. When you’ve not been involved in them before that can be a shock. Everything is on the line here. There are so many things that go on, I think you have to expect the unexpected.”

Incidentally, Challinor’s Hartlepool team came through that tie when a goalkeeper scored against them, beating Torquay on penalties in the 2021 National League playoff final despite conceding a 95th-minute equaliser. He really has seen it all.