How does it feel losing the World's Oldest Football League club tag?

How does it feel losing the World's Oldest Football League club tag?

I, like many other Notts County fans, were dreading the thought of losing the title of world’s oldest professional league football club during last season and at times I was more concerned about this than us actually playing in non-league, but what has it actually meant to us?

I always saw it as our biggest selling point and I suppose it had a major part to play in the Munto takeover, a takeover that did not make everyone happy, but I certainly thought it was great at the time as it was the stuff of dreams, which ultimately it turned out to be, just a dream.

Excluding Munto, I cannot really say that the title did much for us as a selling point, even though I still expected it to be, but when no real big money buyers took us over, it came as a bit of a surprise to me. I always expected major investment as I see us as a good acquisition, of course providing any investors had the means to plough a fair chunk of change at taking us back up the leagues.

I am certainly grateful to all the previous owners putting their money in, but I still feel we are a bigger club that the one languishing around the lower leagues and the facts of modern day football mean clubs almost certainly have to spend the money to gain success.

I wonder if the title provided us with more appeal to players and sponsors, again although someone inside the club may say different, from an outside perspective I did not really see it.

How does it feel losing the title now, especially seeing as it seems the title has gone to our neighbours over the water, is this all too much for us to take?

Well, I believe not, perhaps helped by the fact they won some cup or other some while back and that still seems to have some mileage left in the tank, or maybe it is the fact that when (not if) we do make a return to the Football League, people may still recognise that we were one of the founder members of the professional league and that will always be part of our history, whether we are in the football league or not.

I am certainly proud of our heritage and I do not think it is something that many football fans will forget, especially as it is such a popular question in television quiz shows, but perhaps this question will now be changed? If so I will be having words with Bradley Walsh!

I am certain my fears were worse than the reality of it, which can only be a good thing. Football seems to be in somewhat of a transition period with new rules and technology constantly being brought in; it certainly has changed a lot since my first Notts game in 1991 against Liverpool at home, certainly a life changing moment for me personally.

I will never forget our history and after doing a stadium tour with the great Les Bradd, I would recommend that all the new generations of Notts fans do the same, it is good to remind ourselves where we came from and of that I will always be proud.

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