Notts to be deterred 4,942... biggest crowd of the day NEIL
Notts County 4 Eastleigh
Perhaps it was fitting that the world’s oldest professional club provided the venue for the largest audience to witness live football in England this weekend.
Back in the days when the likes of Tommy Lawton were charging around that may genuinely have been the case, regardless of alternative live competition on offer.
But this is the year 2020, not the immediate post war years. The barnstorming England international exists only in the minds of a selected ageing few these days – and, given the special circumstances they probably chose to stay at home yesterday.
Yes, this is an altogether different era and the world’s oldest professional club now plays in a semi-professional league after being relegated out of the top four for the first time in 157 years just a few months ago.
They went with a whimper, not a bang. The previous owner, Alan Hardy, dreamt and acted big until the money ran out. Then he posted a picture of a part of himself that he really shouldn’t for all the world to see on social media. For many Magpies supporters, it summed up what they felt about him all along.
But they survived that H-bomb. And even though the C-bomb had decimated the rest of football it didn’t have much effect by the River Trent where the green shoots of recovery are slowly showing themselves.
Anecdotally, yes, there were a few regulars who stayed away – the attendance of 4,942 was 150 supporters shy of the season’s average – and yet there were a few who decided not to do without their regular fare of football.
County’s ticket office received enquiries from Aston Villa, Derby County and Lincoln supporters, asking if it was possible to pay on the day.
A coachload of Imps supporters were welcomed. Until they realised it would cost £24 – and decided that the pub was a better bet than having the badge of honour of witnessing live sport on a day when it otherwise was in short supply. Which was a shame.
As neutrals – particularly those Lincoln supporters – they could have empathised with a club losing its way horribly. And then setting off on the road to redemption.
Former Wimbledon player and boss Neal Ardley knows all about