“If you’d have told me when I was player-manager at Colwyn Bay and managing in a regional division that I’d be in a play-off final and fifth visit to Wembley as a manager playing for a massive prize, absolutely never would I have thought that would be the case.”
Dave Challinor has had an impressive managerial career, but almost a quarter of a century on from Stockport County’s last spell in the second tier, he is one game away from leading them full circle back to the Championship.
In 16 seasons as a manager, Challinor has managed Colwyn Bay, AFC Fylde, Hartlepool United and Stockport and has only finished outside the play-off places once during that period – which was also the Covid-interrupted 2019-20 season.
He has wrapped up seven promotions as manager including one at Colwyn Bay in his first campaign in charge, two with Fylde, one with Hartlepool and two with Stockport.
Not only that, but he has won four league titles to boot.
Asked about his immense promotion record, Challinor was diplomatic in his assessment to BBC Radio Manchester: “A whole host of people work so hard and go through so much to give ourselves the opportunity and we’ve got that opportunity.
“So we have to do everything now to make sure we do what we can to grab it.”
Bolton’s most recent chance of promotion back to the second tier came just two years ago, when they missed out on automatic promotion and entered the play-offs as most people’s favourites for a return to Championship action for the first time since 2019.
That year had seen Bolton go to the wall and almost go out of business altogether and the rebuild was delayed further by the start of their 2019-20 campaign being affected by a protracted takeover process.
However they fought back to League One at the first time of asking in 2020-21 and with Ian Evatt in charge, the club looked alive once more as they reached the play-off semi-finals in 2022-23 and one stage further in 2023-24.
Yet their lacklustre 2-0 play-off final defeat by Oxford at Wembley was put down to “fear” by Evatt and, after his exit the following season, Steven Schumacher arrived to try to restore some glory to the club.
Asked whether things are different this time around, Bolton defender George Johnston told BBC Radio Manchester the mood in the camp is different ahead of this particular trip to Wembley.
“It almost felt like [before] ‘right, that job’s done, on to the next job’.
“But this time it’s definitely half-job done and we’re fully focused on the next game and to really celebrate once we do get the win.”
It is 24 years since Challinor last experienced second-tier football with Stockport, during his playing days at Edgeley Park.
Since their relegation from the old Division One in 2001-02, they have dropped out of the EFL to non-league and regional football before slowly clawing their way back up the pyramid in the 24 years since.
In large part, that revival has been kick-started by owner Mark Stott, who took over the club in 2020.
“I played in the last Championship game that Stockport County played in, and from that point on, the supporters have been through relegations, promotions, administration, all sorts, with the club going back out of the Football League into the National League North,” Challinor added.
“Since Mark came in six years ago, everything’s been on the up since then, and we’ve got ourselves to this point.
“It would mean everything for us to be able to take it and from my perspective, we almost go full circle and take the club back to the Championship.”
Bolton will be without captain Eoin Toal for the trip to Wembley after he tore his hamstring during their semi-final second leg win at Bradford.
Schumacher, who led Plymouth to the League One title in 2022-23, said the injury was a quite significant tear which will require rehabilitation.
“We knew at Bradford when he stepped forward and he had to come off. He said to me straight away it’s a bad one, which it is,” Schumacher said.
“It’s quite a high-grade hamstring tear so he’ll have to unfortunately miss the game, which is a big blow because he’s been a good player for us and it’s unfortunate for him to miss the last game of the season when he’s been available for pretty much every game so far this year.
“But he’s got a summer ahead of him trying to rehabilitate the hamstring.”
With a heatwave forecast to hit the country this weekend, Schumacher believes they are well prepared for the expected conditions.
“It’s going to be hot, which will probably lend itself to having water breaks or whatever it’s going to need to take, but the players understand what’s coming,” he added.
“The medical and performance team will make sure that they’re all hydrated and fuelled up as best as possible, but we won’t let that side affect our game-plan.”
- Louie Barry – Barcelona to Wembley via nine loans
- Amazing to be one game from Championship – Challinor
Stockport are preparing for their second trip to Wembley this season, having been beaten by Luton Town in the Vertu Trophy final last month.
“It’s definitely of benefit,” Challinor believes. “That doesn’t mean you just turn up and win the game because you’ve been there six weeks ago.
“But all of the routine of what you go through, whether it’s travelling on the bus, whether it’s seeing the stadium for the first time, whether it’s driving inside the underneath of the stadium to get to the changing rooms, we’ve experienced that.
“So if it is new, then it’s not something we have to go through again without knowing what it feels like.”
To continue the full circle theme, Challinor’s first game in charge of the club was against Bolton in the FA Cup, when they drew 2-2 and later won a replay at Edgeley Park – a feat made more impressive by the fact his side were in the National League at the time.
“To start my career here with the FA Cup tie back in November 2021, to now face Bolton in a play-off final at Wembley, there’s always things in football that link up, this being a sort of key one,” he added.
“We’ve had some brilliant battles and contests over the five years that I’ve been here, with obviously a local rivalry.
“We were a couple of steps behind them, we’ve caught up. But there’s two really, really good teams that deserve to be where they are, that have both got match-winners in them.”