Edgeley Park - Back Where It Belongs

 

Billed by some fans as the best signing of the Mark Stott era, Stockport County have agreed terms with Stockport Council for a 250-year lease of Edgeley Park, allowing them further freedoms to renovate and expand the stadium. 

From what was a hideous start to the season under Simon Rusk, under the new leadership of Dave Challinor has turned into the most promising position Stockport County have held over the past few years. 

Despite some turbulent times on the pitch since Mark Stott took over the club, things off the pitch have been consistently improving, only solidified by this announcement. 

As fans in the Cheadle End will be well-acquainted with, huge investment has gone into taking the concourse from the tired shell that it was, into a pre-match experience that could rival that of many Premier League grounds. 

The Cheadle End improvements only form a percentage of the £3 million invested into the infrastructure of the club since the arrival of Stott. 

On the pitch, there has been improvements to the playing surface and new seating added, most notably to the Railway End. Away from the pitch, there have been vast renovations to the corporate facilities and a (temporary) state-of-the-art training facility rented at Carrington, a different class to the various venues that the team had to use previously. 

Following on from this already heavy investment, Stockport County Football Club have purchased a 250-year long lease of Edgeley Park for £2.08m, matching the sum that Stockport Council paid for it originally. 

A leaseholder owns rights over a property for a fixed period of time, but not the land it sits on. Under a leasehold, the property is not technically owned outright by the leaseholder. In this case Stockport County Football Club owns the lease to the stadium for a period of 250 years. 

Each lease can vary in the terms that it contains, regarding any permissions required to make certain changes to the site and who has responsibility for repairs and limiting nuisance to neighbours. Dependant on the terms of the lease, the vast majority of leaseholders enjoy far greater freedoms regarding what they can do with their property than short-term renters do.

Although the terms of this lease are unlikely to be made public, based Mark Stott's well-publicised ambition to extend Edgeley Park, it can be safely assumed that the lease contains significant freedoms regarding the alterations, improvements and extensions that the club can make to the stadium.

Stockport Council will retain the freehold of the site. 

A freeholder technically owns the property and also owns the land on which the property is built, and leases rights over the property to the leaseholder. It is the freeholder that agrees to and negotiates the terms of the lease. This allows Stockport Council to retain a certain level of control to ensure that the site continues to be used for its intended purpose and is not usurped for an entirely different purpose unrelated to the local community, as was seen when Stockport Council were powerless over the Sale Sharks saga. 

It is unlikely Stockport Council will be particularly restrictive freeholders, and will have only retained their interest in the site to protect this local community asset. 

As further protection against a repeat of that perilous period of Stockport County's history, Stockport Council have put a covenant on the land ensuring that it is used only for footballing purposes and not for any other sports.

A covenant is a rule affecting how property can be used and is contained within the deeds to the land. Further information about covenants on a specific piece of land can be found on the Land Registry's official website. 

The covenant was confirmed on Twitter by Councillor David Meller, Stockport Council's Cabinet Member for Economy & Regeneration, who has helped facilitate the sale of Edgeley Park.

Councillor Meller also stated in a later tweet that, "This is the start of a brand new relationship between the club and the council, one that I'm incredibly excited about." 

This ever closer relationship between the club and the council can only be a positive for Stockport County moving forward, especially where planning permissions and land acquisitions may be required for future expansions. 

Part of Mark Stott's vision for the future of Stockport County is to build the club a more local, bespoke training facility. It is thought that Stockport Council are also going to be on hand to assist in finding a suitable site for this project, although they will not be financially contributing to the project. 

The next major milestone (aside from the long awaited return to The Football League) will be progressed plans for the new training facility or the completed extension to Edgeley Park. 

When Mark Stott purchased the club in January 2020, he sat down for an interview with Jon Keighren to introduce himself and his vision for the club. Heavily featured in this vision was an expansion for Edgeley Park within the first 6 years.

Thankfully, to the relief of the fans, Stott confirmed that Stockport County will always remain at Edgeley Park, unlike many teams that have received investment and have then been swiftly removed from the community it has always been embedded in. 

In that interview, Stott confirmed that the main avenues for expansion would be the Railway End and The Together Stand. In a subsequent forum in August 2021, he stated an ambition for the increased capacity to reach 22,000.

Importantly, this proposed extension would mean the Main Stand being rebuilt but with the iconic "Stockport County AFC" sign remaining in place.

The uplift in status of Stockport County over the past 2 years under Mark Stott has been incredible to witness and that trajectory looks set to continue. 

Now consistently selling out Edgeley Park's current capacity of just over 10,000, once league football finally returns to SK3 the stadium extension will be vital to ensure the club maximises the opportunity for growth in the fanbase.