Stockport County fans sent Wembley travel warning ahead of Bolton Wanderers play-off final | OneFootball

Stockport County supporters may have to make new arrangements for this Sunday's League One play-off final against Bolton Wanderers at Wembley

Stockport County supporters will be descending on Wembley en-masse this weekend when Dave Challinor's men travel to face Bolton Wanderers in this season's hotly-anticipated League One play-off final, with both sides dreaming of promotion to the Championship.

The Hatters have not played in the second-tier since the 2001/02 campaign, although they will head to the famous arch with every chance of ending that exile after advancing past Stevenage over two legs to make it to the final.

Stockport finished the regular League One campaign some way behind automatically-promoted pair Lincoln City and Cardiff in third position with 77 points, and have already gone one better in the play-offs following last term's semi-final defeat to Leyton Orient on penalties.

Challinor will be bidding to continue his side's meteoric rise through the divisions with a victory over Bolton at Wembley, with Stockport having played National League football as recently as 2022.

This coming Sunday will, of course, result in elation for one of either Stockport or Bolton, and heartbreak for the other, but it's poised to represent a monumental occasion either way and supporters will be marrying up nerves with excitement for what could be as we edge ever closer to the showdown.

For Stockport fans, however, a travel warning just days before the clash has been issued in a new development which is set to cause considerable disruption to those making the trip down to London on Sunday.

Stockport County receive travel warning ahead of Wembley play-off final against Bolton Wanderers

It was revealed by Stockport's official media channels on Tuesday morning that traveling supporters are facing the risk of disruption as they prepare to head to Wembley this weekend.

That's because Stockport, as explained on the club's website, have been contacted by train operating company Avanti West Coast that planned engineering work from Network Rail this Sunday will result in limited services down to the capital.

It's said that the work will take place between Wigan and Warrington, causing services coming from Scotland to divert at Manchester Piccadilly.

That development will, rather frustratingly, create a knock-on effect for the Edgeley Park faithful, as services from Stockport to London are set for a significant reduction.

Indeed, just two trains on Sunday morning will enable Stockport fans to get to London in time for the 1pm kick-off, with many supporters now likely to explore alternative travel arrangements such as coach travel or heading down on Saturday instead.

Due to this, Avanti West Coast have now decided to warn supporters against traveling on the Sunday, citing the high volume of fans expected to make the trip and overcrowding on reduced services.

There will be plenty of services running back to the North West after the game, although getting to Wembley in the first place presents the real issue to Hatters fans right now.

Stockport County will hope fans can replicate Bolton Wanderers travel feat

Bolton themselves could be impacted by the new disruptions too, although Stockport will seemingly be hit the hardest by engineering work this Sunday.

Stockport have, however, taken the opportunity to promote alternative means of reaching Wembley via the club's official travel partner, Beeline Coaches.

There, supporters are able to book travel for £55 per person, which may even be a cheaper price than many train tickets to London. It would seem likely that many fans will now be flocking to book their places on the coach as opposed to taking any risks on reaching Wembley via train, with the prospect of missing out on seeing promotion to the Championship sure to be avoided at all costs.

This comes while the Trotters have announced that official club coach travel to Wembley is sold out, and that's a feat which Stockport will hope to replicate.

The Hatters will naturally want as many supporters in attendance for a potentially historic affair as possible, and given how well we've seen County fans spur the team on all year long, they'll be hoping that many punters abandon plans to make their way via train in light of the disruption at play.