The A-Z of Notts County
By Nathan Jackson
August 12 2005
In our latest A-Z, we review Notts County and why there is a family conflict when it comes to the Imps playing them. Also we talk about their rivalry with Forest, Meadow Lane, their cup record and several other aspects to do with arguably, the biggest club in League Two this season.
A Andy White, a 24 year old striker signed from Crewe Alexandra during the summer. Despite of his age, he has already found regular football on loan to several clubs including Boston, Kidderminster and Burton Albion. He has previous league experience with Mansfield and the aforementioned Crewe.
B Brian O’Callaghan. An Irish defender who joined the club during the summer. He signed from Icelandic side, Keflavic FC after also having periods with Barnsley, Pike Rovers and Worksop Town
C Close. No other teams in the football league are as close to each other as County and Forest. The two teams are separated by about 500m, the smallest distance between two football league, not even the teams in London.
D Double. Notts County were one of only two teams to do the double on Lincoln last season, the other being Wycombe. After those 2 games, it seemed surprising that they finished as low as they did. They won 2-1 at Sincil Bank on the 3rd Saturday of the season, signalling their first win of the season and ironically, a win against the Imps on the 4th to last Saturday signalled their final win.
E Even a family matter. Not specifically anything to do with Notts County’s history but my sister is a Notts County fan so as you can guess, I got a bit of stick last season, come on lads, give me something to gloat about :P
F Forest, arguably the most hate filled rivalry outside the Premiership. As mentioned above, the clubs are very close together. Without trying to sound disrespectful, it is a bit like a pair of brothers, one has all the success and is relatively famous whereas the other albeit, fairly successful, just pale in comparison.
Although the sides haven’t met since 1994, the rivalry is still as big as ever. In 93 meetings, Forest have the slight edge with 39 wins compared to County’s 30 wins.
G Gavin Gordon. Gavin was a popular striker at Sincil Bank during a relatively (for a Lincoln striker) good 3 years at Sincil Bank. Gordon signed for County last summer and had a fairly quiet season. City sold him to Cardiff for a rumoured £550,000 in 2000 and he has yet to play against the Imps, despite 4 opportunities.
H How unlucky can you get? Notts County were members of the old First Division in 1991/2 however, the factor of luck was defiantly not there and they were relegated to the division below. If they’d have finished just 2 places higher, they would have become on of the founding 22 Premiership teams.
I Invincible, well almost. Notts County were relegated to his division in 1996/7 and the following season, they dominated the division, losing just 5 games all season. Lincoln, Colchester and Chester were the only sides to have beaten them by November and they only went on to lose 2 games throughout the rest of the season. They took over the top of the table from City when the Imps could only draw at home with Hartlepool and the Magpies stayed top from then on.
J Just unbelievable. In that 1997/8 season, Notts County came to Sincil Bank on a bitterly cold afternoon in January and put a major dent in the Imp’s promotion bid. Notts County raced into a 3-0 first half lead and it was obvious why they were heading for Division 2. However, 3 quickfire goals from Steve Holmes, Mark Hone and Paul Smith (ironically on loan from Forest at the time) brought the Imps level. However, a goal almost immediately after the equaliser and one in the dying minutes gave County the 5-3 win. This still remains as the highest scoring away victory at Sincil Bank since Barnet won 6-0 in 1991.
K Kevin Pilkington, the former Manchester United keeper was signed from local rivals, Mansfield Town during the summer and is rated as one of the best goalkeepers in League 2. A highly skilled and acrobatic keeper who apparently was all set to join City during the summer before Marriott signed his new contract.
L Live TV. Since the beginning of the 90’s, County have featured on TV 12 times, winning 5, losing 5 and drawing 2. Their highest win was a 2-0 win over Swindon Town in the FA Cup in December 2004. Their biggest defeat was a 7-1 thumping by Man City in the League Cup.
M Meadow Lane, arguably the best ground in League 2 at the minute and my personal favour. The ground holds just over 20,000 and the away end is a whopping 5,000, which, rather unsurprisingly, few teams have managed to fill. Unfortunatly, due to it’s size and the average crowds these days, makes the ground look near enough empty on most occasions.
N No goals, Notts County have yet to concede this season, drawing 0-0 at Torquay and winning 1-0 at home to Wrexham on Tuesday evening.
O Oldest club. Notts County are the old club in the World and this year, celebrate their 146th year as a club. For this reason, they will always be in the history books. European giants, Juventus even went as far as to honour the club by donning the famous black and white stripes.
P Promotions, Notts County secured 3 promotions within the 90’s and almost made it 4 when they entered the playoffs in 1996. However, they also suffered 4 relegations in that time with the most recent being in 2003.
Q Quiet, due to the emptiness of the stadium, Notts County fans (other than in one small corner) are very quiet.
R Ridiculous. It felt a bit ridiculous taking 2,552 fans to County last season and still not even half filling the away end, oh well, c’est la vie
S Scorelines. Notts County’s record victory was an 11-1 victory over Newport County in 1949. No-one will remember their record defeat, a 9-1 defeat by Blackburn Rovers in 1889.
T Terrible cup record. Notts County have an appalling record in cup competitions. 444 games in the 3 competitions (FA, League and Associate Members) have resulted in a measly 185 wins.
U Unusual allocation. This season’s draw of the LDV Vans Trophy competition continued the weird trend of the north/south divide. Basically, there are several teams in the south of the general middle of England who are in the northern section draw and vice versa. Notts County were placed in the Southern section, despite being 500 yards more Northern, than Forest who have been put in the Northern Section.
V Visually aesthetically pleasing. One term I’d use to describe Meadow Lane.
W Wheelbarrow. Apparently the Notts County fans had a wheelbarrow, but tragically, it’s wheel fell off.
X Xavier – No player with this first name has ever played for County.
Y Yellow, the odd choice of colour for the lettering in the away end at Meadow Lane, considering they don’t have any yellow on their kit.
Z Zinc, a bluish-white lustrous metallic element; brittle at ordinary temperatures but malleable when heated; used in a wide variety of alloys and in galvanizing iron; it occurs as zinc sulphide in zinc blende
