AT LAST, THIS FAMOUS OLD ENTITY CAN SMILE AGAIN
JOHN BRINDLEY looks back on Notts County’s turbulent four-year Non-League experience
MAY 4, 2019. Listening to Radio Nottingham’s commentary of Notts County’s trip to Swindon Town, I was left speechless as a 3-1 defeat confirmed the unthinkable – after 157 years the world’s oldest League club were officially Non-League.
This was a club I had been brought up with. Iconic managers such as the late Jimmy Sirrel and the very much still thriving Neil Warnock, and a stint in the top-flight as recent as 1991-92.
Surely, the biggest club ever to compete below the Football League, but it could have been a whole lot worse. As the clock ticked towards the start of the 2019/20 season, Notts were without functioning ownership and on the brink of extinction.
Finally, Danish businessmen Alexander and Christopher Reedtz took the helm and manager Neal Ardley, who had tried unsuccessfully to rescue the Magpies from relegation, was left with a ridiculously short time to assemble a competitive squad.
Supporters today should not forget the part played by Ardley. Momentum of their battle with Barrow for top honours was lost amidst Covid and the Magpies suffered the first of three seasons of play-off heartbreak at a deserted Wembley against Harrogate Town.
The shockwaves sent through Meadow Lane when Ardley was sacked in March 2021 were palpable. With the club on the verge of another trip to Wembley in the FA Trophy and in the play-offs, the timing seemed strange to say the least.
His replacement, Ian Burchnall, who had followed in Graham Potter’s managerial footsteps in Sweden, to introduce a different brand of football to Meadow Lane.
In contrast to Ardley’s, his departure 12 months ago seemed inevitable. It looked like he had taken Notts as far as he could and, in all honesty, they were no more potent a side than the one humiliated at Wembley.
Rumours of vultures circling to take Notts’ top players were rife when Luke Williams, who’d briefly been in the hot seat at Swindon and held secondary roles at Bristol City, MK Dons and Swansea, was appointed head coach.
Losing top scorer Kyle Wootton to newly promoted Stockport and fans’ favourite Callum Roberts to Aberdeen were seen by many as mortal blows but the dual capture of hitmen Macaulay Langstaff and Cedwyn Scott hinted that Notts meant business.
Langstaff ’s record breaking 42-goal season has been well documented but Williams had indeed excellled in getting the best out of a number of players with question marks over their heads.
Adam Chicksen has added goals to his defensive qualities, Sam Slocombe thrived between the sticks after being second choice for long periods the previous season and Aaron Nemane helped compensate for the loss of wing wizard Roberts.
Meanwhile the class of skipper Kyle Cameron and fellow defender Aden Baldwin, the tireless midfield industry of Matty Palmer and the flair and goalscoring of Ruben Rodrigues all caught the eye.
Yet still, Notts’ magnificent form – they totalled 107 points and scored 117 goals – was to be overshadowed by Wrexham’s Hollywood story.
The loss of extremely popular chief executive Jason Turner was a hammer blow and when that pulsating 3-2 Bank Holiday defeat at Wrexham hindered their hopes of claiming the one automatic promotion spot, it was understandable that many diehards feared the worst.
Overwhelming favourites for the play-offs, maybe, but that counts for nothing. In the event, they led for a combined total of just two minutes in their thrilling encounters with Boreham Wood and Chesterfield at Wembley and fell well below their normal level. But nobody denies justice has been done.
This old giant of a football club has graced Non League for four years but soon discovered how hard it is to escape. But used and abused so often in recent decades, it is now firmly pointed in the right direction.