Boss Ablett fighting the fires as Stockport's crisis rolls on
With the Hatters still languishing in administration, the club only own around 30 first team shirts and couldn't afford to swap jerseys with the non-league side following their 5-0 win at Edgeley Park.
"That's the reality of the situation we find ourselves in," said Hatters boss Gary Ablett, whose side sit in Coca-Cola League One's relegation zone and host Exeter City this Saturday.
"We knew it was going to be tough when we came in but the people off the field are continuing to work hard to find a resolution."
Tough is perhaps something of an understatement as Stockport are a club in crisis and still face the possibility of being forced out of business.
The spiral of decline began in the 2004/05 season when County sold their 100-year-old Edgeley Park headquarters to rugby side Sale Sharks.
The deal might have provided a short-term cash boost but it stripped them of their major asset.
On the back of that Stockport invested heavily in a bid to clinch promotion from League Two in the 2007/08 season.
Former boss Jim Gannon was rumoured to be earning around £250,000-a-year, while several players were earning well in excess of the going rate for lower league football.
They achieved their dream of booking a place in League One following an epic 3-2 win over Rochdale in the play-off final at Wembley.
But that success only served to mask the growing problems behind the scenes.
With League One status just about secured last season, they announced they were going into administration in April and their 10-point deduction came into immediate force — the Hatters having enough points in the bank to stay in the division for another year.
With debts of around £7million, County's future looked bleak.
Gannon was made redundant to ease the financial burden and a number of their experienced players did not have their contracts renewed.
James Tunnicliffe and Gary Dicker went to Brighton, Tommy Rowe signed for Peterborough United and Dominic Blizzard was snapped up by Bristol Rovers.
And the mass exodus is expected to continue in January with Owain Fon Williams, Carl Baker and Peter Thompson all being linked with moves away from Edgeley Park.
Former Liverpool and Everton defender Ablett took the brave step to try and pick up the pieces by becoming the club's new manager over the summer.
But he is hampered by a transfer embargo and has been forced to turn to youth players in an attempt to stave off the threat of relegation.
The loss of key players means County's squad now has an average age of around 21.
On the pitch their results have steadily deteriorated as the season has progressed.
The Hatters have just three wins from 16 games and the joint-worst home record in the division with just five points from a possible 24 available at Edgeley Park.
And Ablett's men head into this weekend's meeting with the Grecians having lost four league games on the bounce, conceding 11 times and scoring just one goal.
The sorry saga on and off the pitch has alienated supporters and an average home gate of 4,000 this season is approximately 2,000 down on last season's average.
Rumours of a takeover have been circulating ever since the summer and it is estimated that it will cost around £1million just to keep the club afloat.
A consortium headed by former Manchester City player Jim Melrose is still the frontrunner to take over but prolonged talks have not yet resulted in a concrete deal.
County's future could still yet be decided on the pitch should they progress to the third round of the FA Cup and land a money-spinning tie against one of the Premier League's big guns.
But it is a big if and County fans are bracing themselves for more turmoil in the future.
A recent statement on the club's website said: "The administrators understand the frustration of the supporters at the apparent lack of progress currently being made on completing a sale of the club and exiting administration.
"However, we would like to reassure all fans that the sales process is still continuing to progress."
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