If there's one thing that is synonymous with Tranmere Rovers Football Club, then it is the allure of Friday night football, but it was not to be last week.
The Birkenhead club's regular pre-weekend evening fixtures at Prenton Park became a joyous ritual for supporters in the 1980s and 90s, even attracting the interest of Liverpool and Everton followers from across the river, who enjoyed starting their sporting weekend early.
Nowadays, the League Two side play the overwhelming majority of their fixtures on a Saturday afternoons, but Friday night football on Borough Road was set to return last week. That was of course, until the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, September 8, leading to the postponement of all football matches across the country.
This included Tranmere's hotly-anticipated Friday night fixture against an opponent worthy of such an occasion.
After an 11-year absence, Stockport County are back in the Football League and had been scheduled to take on old adversaries Rovers under the glare of Tranmere's four traditional floodlights. A crowd in excess of 8,000 had been anticipated in what was likely to be a match with plenty of punch and some hostility between the two sets of the supporters.
But whenever this particular match is rescheduled for - and the unfortunate likelihood is that it will no longer be on a Friday evening - one Stockport player is guaranteed the warmest of welcomes on his return to Prenton Park. Connor Jennings is deservedly regarded as a modern-day hero to Tranmere supporters, who bore witness to the club's revival in non-league football after the pain of relegation.
The 30-year-old forward spent four drama-filled years at Prenton Park before joining The Hatters' crusade to return to the Football League, which was finally achieved in May this year.
A former captain of Wrexham, Jennings is a quiet and modest character in interviews, but his story both during and after his spell with Rovers is nothing short of remarkable. Brought to Wirral by Gary Brabin in June 2016, he initially struggled to establish himself in the Tranmere starting XI and after making only 11 appearances by January 2017 with Brabin already relieved of his duties, Jennings was sent on a month-long loan spell by new manager Micky Mellon to fellow National League outfit Macclesfield Town.
Such a move suggested his time in a white shirt was going to be limited, but it can be viewed in a different light when Jennings explains that it was the player himself who forced through the loan move.
Speaking exclusively to the ECHO, he said: "We were unbeaten in the first month then drew one, then I did my MCL (medial collateral ligament) which side-lined me for four or five months. By the the time I got back, time on the pitch was limited because of the lads doing so well. I was pestering him (Micky Mellon) every day. Can I go on loan just for a month to get match fitness. After annoying him for about the 50th time he finally allowed me to go out for a month.
"I had it planned out in my head. Play five or six games then come back and give it a good go for the last three months of the season. Luckily it went to plan."
When he returned in March, his fortunes and those of Tranmere, took a significant upturn. Cementing his place in the side under Micky Mellon, he helped Rovers climb rapidly up the table ramping up the pressure on Danny Cowley's Lincoln City.
Jennings scored six goals in April, including a hat-trick in a 9-0 rout of Solihull Moors. Despite breathing down the neck of their promotion rivals, Tranmere were edged out by the Imps for the only automatic promotion spot and had to settle for an appearance in the play-off final at Wembley where they would face Forest Green Rovers.
Jennings announced his arrival at the home of football with a stunning 25-yard-strike in front of the Tranmere supporters that drew the two sides level at 1-1 in the first half, but with Rovers struggling to juggle end of season injury problems, two further Forest Green goals extinguished their promotion hopes, leaving Jennings and his teammates inconsolable.
"The goal was definitely one of the best moments that I had in a Tranmere shirt," said Jennings. "But we had a few injuries leading up to it. Ultimately we weren't good enough on the day. They (Forest Green) were our bogey side for a good season or two.
"It was 100% one the biggest disappointments in my career. I had never felt like that before. I was so invested in the club. I took it really hard and I think everyone did. I'll always remember the bus journey back. I don't think one word was spoken. I took it into the summer and had one of the worst summers ever."
As fate would determine, Tranmere's Wembley defeat, however gut-wrenching, was just the start of a golden period for a club that had for so many years been starved of success and the story of Connor Jennings would be at the very heart of it.
Having finished runners-up in the National League again, Rovers would return to Wembley 12 months later to face unfancied Boreham Wood in the play-off final. Tranmere had been considered favourites against Forest Green so there was no chance of any complacency here.
But the naming of Jennings in the matchday squad was the first significant moment of the day as he had not been expected to be involved at all. With little explanation offered by Mellon as to why he was missing from the team in the weeks leading up to the final, it later emerged that Jennings had been hospitalised with meningitis where he had been put into a coma.
"I just remember saying I wasn't well. Little things weren't adding up. I was smelling a bit more under my armpits and my carshare Rides (Liam Ridehalgh) was picking up on that. I was drinking a lot more water than I usually was. 'Bloody hell, what's wrong with you Connor?' Rides said. This was on a Friday. Then I don't remember much. I went into hospital that night and was in there for a week."
Having missed the final two league matches of the season and the semi-final triumph against Ebbsfleet, eyebrows were raised when he returned to be named amongst the substitutes for the final.
"I think I was back in hospital watching the Ebbsfleet match, I was absolutely terrified," Jennings said. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, he added: "I think I paid the physio off to say I was fine. I had about three days training and that was a trial to prove I was fine."
Mellon had reassured Jennings' family that he would only be involved in the game at all if absolutely necessary, but this was no ordinary football match. Not even a minute of the game had been played before Rovers were reduced to 10 men after full-back Ridehalgh was sent off for a wild lunge shortly after kick-off.
When Josh Ginnelly was forced off injured in the 34th minute, a second first half reorganisation saw Mellon turn to his trusted lieutenant Jennings. A week ago he had been in a coma, now here he was playing at Wembley.
"I got the look from the gaffer. I've seen the look many times. I knew it was my time to go on. It was tough game mentally and physically," said Jennings.
Digging in with 10 men, the match appeared to be heading for extra time until Jennings got in on the act with 10 minutes to go. It was his cross from the right that was met by the head of James Norwood, who diverted the ball home to win the match for Tranmere in front of their delirious supporters, ending a three-year stint in the wilderness of non-league football.
"I still say it now, that was the best day of my life. The relief, the joy and the happiness. It was something I'd wanted from when I first signed for the club. It was the best feeling I've ever had."
But that was not the end of the Wembley dream for Jennings and Tranmere. Fast forward 12 months and a late surge up the table saw Rovers make it all the way to the League Two play-off final and with it a third successive Wembley appearance. It is here that Jennings' finest moment for Tranmere would arrive.
Locked at 0-0 in extra time with a dogged Newport County, a cross from Jake Caprice in the 119th minute was headed home from close range, catapulting the Birkenhead team into League One amid scenes of euphoria. Jennings wheeled away in delight, chased by James Norwood and other teammates, in what has become an iconic photograph in Rovers' history.
Jennings left Prenton Park for a new challenge with Stockport County in the Covid-hit summer of 2020, dropping down two divisions. Here he would be reunited with his older brother James, whom he had played alongside at Wrexham.
But the task of trying to take County back into the Football League would be dwarfed by the life-changing battle he was unknowingly about to face. On the March 25, 2021 Stockport announced that Jennings had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
A statement on the club's website said: "Connor had been suffering from pain in his shoulder for several months after a fall in training and following physio treatment was referred for MRI scans to investigate, it was during these scans that a suspected tumour was located within his upper arm.
"Following subsequent biopsies, this has been confirmed as low-grade chondroid sarcoma which is a rare type of cancer."
Jennings explained to the ECHO how the agonising wait for his diagnosis had been prolonged. He said: "It was a really difficult time because they sort or knew but they couldn't confirm it. They'd seen a big tumour in my shoulder. Off the record they'd said 'I think' stuff like that.
"It was a really stressful time. I think I ended up having two or three biopsies because they couldn't get it right and that delayed the process even more. Then they dropped it on me. Because it was during Covid all the appointments, scans and biopsies had been done with me on my own. When the results finally came, they said my wife could come into the meeting. I thought 'Ahhh Jesus'. I hoped for the best but prepared for the worst. It was a real kick in the balls."
Doctors had privately warned Jennings that the likelihood was that he would never play competitive football again but there were much bigger issues at stake. Son Ted was only eight months old when his dad was given confirmation of the shocking diagnosis and fiancée Jenny took on a full time role caring for him in the wake of his operation.
"It was very difficult to process. All my family were like 'your health's more important' but I just wanted to play football. That's my job. I had the uncertainty of not knowing if I was going to be alright and whether I could ever play football again and earn a living."
With the full backing of Stockport owner Mark Stott, Jennings saw a leading cancer specialist, with the club covering all of his medical bills, not a given in the fifth tier of English football where money is often tight.
An initial plan by surgeons was to give him a replacement metal shoulder, which would have certainly ended his professional football career. But an alternative procedure plan would preserve more of his shoulder, avoiding the metal replacement.
Ultimately it would be down to what the surgeon could do on the day, but as Jennings was about to discover, his relationship with late drama was set to continue.
He said: "I didn't have a clue what was going to happen to me that day. I didn't know whether they were going to get the tumour out, whether I would wake up with a metal shoulder or half a metal shoulder.
"But half an hour before the operation, the surgeon tested positive for Covid. It was the most nerve-wrecking day I've ever had. A substitute surgeon came in and said 'I'm going to do your operation'. I thought to myself 'oh my god', my head was all over the place.
"I was putting it on his toes. So much was on the line for me. I pointed at him and said 'you mess this up and you'll be in trouble mate'. I was sort of having a joke, but he didn't find it funny at all. I thought 'oh god I might have annoyed him a bit here'!"
Thankfully, the operation was a success, with the surgeon performing a bone graft, using bone taken from another person who had passed away.
"It was like black market stuff," said Jennings. "It's unbelievable. They buy the bone from America. They had to source the shoulder from someone roughly the same age and size. They then get it shipped over. It was mind-blowing. Everything went well. It was just a case of praying that the bone grows into my bone. It was just a waiting game. A very stressful year and a half."
In our interview, Jennings offers up an interesting theory as to where his new shoulder may have come from. "I think it's from Tiger Woods, because I've become a really good golfer! It's amazing how it all happened and it all went to plan. I'm so thankful to all the staff and the surgeon."
After having his arm in a sling for a couple of months, he was eventually able to hold his son again and as he continued to make improvements County manager Dave Challinor encouraged Jennings to return to training. Here, a key moment that would make it clear whether Jennings had a future in football would occur.
"Thirty seconds into my warm-up, I slipped and landed on my shoulder. Everyone was like 'ahhhhh nooooo'. I just lay on the floor because I probably just expected it to hurt. Everyone was gobsmacked but luckily I just got up and got on with it. I'd got the bang out of the way and it got gradually better and better.
"I'm feeling the best I have now for a long time. And I'm very happy about that."
On November 23, 2021, he was named on the bench for the Hatter's home match against King's Lynn Town, receiving a standing ovation when coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute. The fairy tale was complete when Jennings - a modest man who had defeated the odds more than once - capped off his - at one point impossible - return with a goal in injury time to complete a 5-0 home win. This was the pure beauty of football laid bare in plain sight.
"It was a relief," said Jennings. "To get on the pitch and think that I'd overcome it all - it was more for my families' sake. I never questioned myself that I would make it back, but to achieve it and then score - it was just meant to be - much like my big moments at Tranmere.
"Getting cancer can happen to anyone, but you've just got to try and get over the hurdle it you're lucky enough to do so. It's made my partner stronger. You definitely never take life for granted."
Stockport went on to clinch the National League title, and with it a long-awaited return to the Football League. With Tranmere demoted back to League Two controversially during the Covid-hit 2019-20 season, a reunion for Connor Jennings with his former club is now in sight, albeit the Queen's passing has delayed it for now.
"I just think it's going to be really strange," said Jennings. "I'll be in the other dugout and changing room. It's going to be pretty bizarre for me. But since I've left I've always wanted to go back and play at Prenton Park again before my career ended. It will be great to see all the staff and the fans again.
"It's going to be a good game. A north-west derby!"
It had been somewhat ironic that Jennings was originally scheduled to make his return to Prenton Park in September, where the Super White Army would sing his song to the tune of the Earth Wind & Fire disco classic of the same name. It has not yet be determined when the rearranged fixture will be played, but if Tranmere's DJ is not blasting the old 70s favourite out of the club's crackling PA system before kick-off then something has gone very wrong.
Connor Jennings may no longer play for Tranmere Rovers but his achievements and grace in which he has handled the huge hurdles he has had to overcome during and after his time in Birkenhead ensures that he will be a hugely welcome visitor for many years to come.
