Stockport County: Liverpool loanee only served to reinforce the quality of Hatters legend - View | OneFootball

Stockport County embarked on their first season back in the Football League for over a decade in 2022 and the rise brought about the potential for a change between the sticks.

Young goalkeeper Vit Jaros was signed on a season-long loan from Premier League outfit Liverpool, and it appeared to be the beginning of a changing of the guard in goal at Edgeley Park.

Moving away from Ben Hinchliffe, the man who had already seen the Hatters through two promotions in the National League North and the National League, would prove tougher than expected. He went on to reclaim his spot as no.1 and was later instrumental in yet another Stockport promotion.

Far from replacing him, the move served to prove the quality of Hinchliffe, solidifying his legendary status in SK3 even further.

Hinchliffe has adapted at every Stockport step

The 35-year-old was one of the stand-out glovemen in the sixth tier when he first signed for County back in 2016, but very few at that point would have recognised he could make it all the way to the Football League.

Despite consistent performances in both the sixth and fifth tier, there were persistent questions when County were competing in the National League about when a new goalkeeper might be needed, with much of the conversation focusing on his distribution and the fact he was reaching levels he had never played at late in his career.

Those debates only intensified when County rose to League Two, which likely fed into the decision to bring Jaros in.

Jaros did well, but Hinchliffe worked his way back in at Stockport

Ten games into County's fourth-tier reintroduction, Jaros had started in all but the first two games.

It appeared the transition had already been made and Hinchliffe's days as County's primary goalkeeper were over, but the former Fylde man was not done yet.

Jaros came off injured in the first half of the Hatters' 2-0 win againstSalford City, to be replaced by Hinchliffe off the bench, who duly saw out the game with the clean sheet intact.

Little did anyone know, those minutes at the Peninsula Stadium would be the last the Czech Republic international would play in a County shirt.

Hinchliffe grabbed his opportunity with both gloves, keeping clean sheets in eight of the next 11 League Two games, including against Northampton Town, who would achieve automatic promotion that season, and Carlisle United, the eventual play-off winners in the final against the Hatters.

The young Liverpool academy product did well in his short stint as first choice, keeping five clean sheets in 11 appearances, and the benefit he had gained through spending time in an elite academy system was clear through his abilities on the ball, but on his return it was clear Hinchliffe had also been working on this side of his game.

Despite playing fewer games, Hinchliffe still managed to finish fourth in the Golden Glove charts that season. He proved any doubters wrong when given a consistent stint in the fourth tier, and the club never looked back.

The progress of Jaros further backs up Hinchliffe's capability

Since his secondment to Edgeley Park, Jaros has signed a fresh deal with the Reds and gone on to another loan, this time to the Austrian top tier with Sturm Graz, where he has played against the likes of Rapid Vienna, RB Salzburg and LASK.

It is a credit to Hinchliffe that just a year ago he was able to keep Jaros, who is now regularly playing Champions League and Europa League teams, out of the team for a full season, with National League North football still a recent memory.

And County manager Dave Challinor was correct in his mid-season call to stick with Hinchliffe, as the 35-year-old would go on to lift the League Two title the following season, playing every single league fixture and picking up the League Two Golden Glove award in the process.

Promotion into the third tier brought around the inevitable same questions about Hinchliffe's suitability for the step-up, but if his track record is anything to go by, the smart money won't be against him.

Attempts to unseat him have come before, but Jaros' time in Stockport only served to reinforce the quality of Hinchliffe, who seems to grow every time County grows.