League 2? Our Paddy is Madd for it!

By Chris Dunlavy

STOCKPORT County hitman Paddy Madden has been backed to take League Two by storm after clinching the Our Game Player of the Year award.

Madden was a statement signing when he joined the big-spending Hatters from League One Fleetwood Town in March last year – and has certainly lived up to his billing.

The former Carlisle United, Yeovil Town and Scunthorpe United striker has scored 32 goals in 64 games, with 25 of those coming during this season’s titlewinning campaign.

“As a manager coming in, to find someone of Paddy’s quality at this level was obviously massively pleasing,” said Hatters boss Dave Challinor.

“We’re very fortunate that what we’re trying to do as a football club allows us to attract players from higher divisions.

“But the big thing with Paddy is that regardless of the level he’s playing at, he drops his ego off at the door.

He’s got no airs and graces at all.

“His game is based around honesty, graft, hard work, all those sorts of qualities. When the club talisman, the guy who has come in for a lot of money, does that day in and day out, it’s an inspiration to players of lesser ability.

“From a squad perspective, he is our talisman. He’s the one who sets the standard. He’s obviously been great in terms of the goals he’s scored, but he brings so much more than that to our group.

“There’s lots of expectation on a player like Paddy, and people handle it in different ways. What you always have to do as an absolute minimum is work hard.”

One thing’s for certain:

Madden will not be fazed by the step up to League Two.

Since dipping his toe in the English game having turned out for Irish side Bohemians, the 32-year-old Dubliner has earned a big reputation for himself at Leagues One and Two.

After a disappointing start at his first English club, Carlisle United, Madden began to find his feet at Yeovil Town, scoring nine goals in 15 games during a loan spell in 2012-13.

That earned him a permanent deal with the Glovers where 13 goals in 29 games helped the club win promotion to the Championship for the first time in their history.

Four years at Scunthorpe United yielded 52 goals in 176 appearances, resulting in a move to Fleetwood where Madden became a firm favourite at Highbury.

“He has dropped down to this level better than I’ve ever seen anyone do it,” Challinor added. “And that’s why he’ll continue to be a vitally important player for us, not just in League Two but hopefully in the division above.

“We know that if we supply him with the opportunities, he’ll score 20 goals in League Two. He’s only ten goals off being the all-time record scorer in League One, and if we could give him an opportunity to break that then it would be massive.”

SHARP SHOOTER: Paddy Madden netted 25 goals this season as Stockport County won promotion back to the Football League, inset

PICTURE: Mike Petch