If something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Certainly, that was the case with Notts County’s dreams of making it to the Premier League in 2009.
Three years on from managing England at a second World Cup, Sven- Goran Eriksson had arrived at Meadow Lane as the club’s director of football, to embark on what he believed was a new project for him and County.
“I liked the idea, the challenge – it was like a dream to me,” the Swede would later reflect. “And if all of their promises had been true, we would have done it.”
The unlikely dream had seemingly become a reality when Middle Eastern investors Munto Finance completed a multi- million pound deal to buy English football’s ( then) oldest League club in mid- July 2009. Talk of Christian Vieri, David Beckham, Luis Figo and Patrick Vieira soon swept suspicious sports desks, but while such footballing royalty didn’t sign ( who saw that coming?), County manage to pull off a string of coups.
Kasper Schmeichel, Lee Hughes and Johnnie Jackson all signed up to join the fun, but the headline arrival was former England defender and two- time Premier League champion Sol Campbell. In signing a four- year contract, the ex- Spurs and Arsenal stopper would reportedly earn a cool £ 10m over the duration.
As it transpired, however, Big Sol made a big gaffe... and only one outing for the Magpies – a 2- 1 loss at Morecambe – before cancelling his contract. He got out at the right time: for all the promises, reality was different.
“Sven still hasn’t said sorry for getting me involved,” he sighed to in 2014.
As keeper Schmeichel remembered, “It was mad – we were flying private jets to matches. But it was all a farce. I had signed a five- year contract because the plans Sven showed me were amazing, but we got to September and I didn’t get paid.”
By December, the sham was up – the Munto Finance money had never been forthcoming, and they sold up to chairman Peter Trembling for a nominal fee. After trying ( and failing) to secure financial backing with Sven, Trembling flogged the club to former Lincoln City chief Ray Trew for £ 1. Eriksson departed.
On the pitch, County ploughed through three permanent bosses in 2009- 10 – Ian Mcparland, Hans Backe and Steve Cotterill – but won the League Two title as Hughes became the first County player in 60 years to score 30 goals in a single campaign.
“Sometimes things go wrong in football,” Eriksson reflected with the in 2010. “But you do it in the right spirit and honestly. That is not how it went at Notts County.”
“So your name is Totti, is it? Welcome to Notts County”