Stockport set for Wrexham acid test as they plot seven-year Championship project

Back in the 2004-05 season both Stockport County and Wrexham were plying their trade in the third tier of English football.

Not long after both found themselves in non-league, as two uninterrupted stays in the EFL totalling 193 years came crashing to an end. Poor decisions on and off the field resulted in both sinking. The intervening years have not been kind to either.

Wrexham have pottered about in the fifth tier for more than a dozen years, whilst County did sink as low as the National League North before finally escaping in 2019. But both are firmly back on the way up now. They have grand ambitions not just to re-enter the Football League and survive, but thrive.

Stockport travel to the Racecourse on Sunday knowing that a 29th win of the campaign will clinch a return to League Two for the first time since 2011.

Even a draw would preserve a healthy three-point buffer over Wrexham with a game in hand on the Hollywood-owned Dragons. Whilst the Welsh side have won plenty of headlines after their takeover by A-list duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Stockport also have fresh ownership that has paved the way for brighter days.

Local businessman Mark Stott purchased the club in January 2020 with a detailed plan that targeted a Championship return - a division Stockport last played in 20 years ago - within seven years.

The whole behind-the-scenes operation at Edgeley Park was revamped as well a gradual upgrade of the playing squad. It has reaped the rewards so far, and the fact that they were able to entice Dave Challinor to take up the manager role despite bossing League Two side Hartlepool says plenty about the appeal of the project.

County's director of football Simon Wilson recently told the Guardian : "We have often talked about not waiting until the Championship to become a Championship club. We wanted to operate like a Championship club from day one and slowly improve the team, and it will also help improve the team by operating at a high level."

Whilst the level of spending on the squad is not as high as Wrexham's, Stockport have still invested plenty. A reported fee of £150,000 was shelled out on Paddy Madden, then of League One Fleetwood, just over a year ago.

He, along with another EFL stalwart in Antoni Sarcevic, have played their part in the fine form displayed this season. An incredible winning run that started last December and ran until late March saw County rise up to top spot. It looked at one stage as if they would breeze to automatic promotion but a recent stutter of three losses in their last five has combined with Wrexham's superb run of results to throw up a potentially explosive end to the season.

It adds an extra layer of intrigue to Sunday's clash in Wales, which is a sell-out that has been moved for live TV coverage on BT Sport. Victory in the lions' (or rather Dragons') den would not only end the Hatters' long exile from the EFL but would also allow them to tick off the first tangible checkpoint in that bold seven-year target.