Features
224 articles in this category
-
Despite having to reflect on the Forest Green Rovers game quite early, I wanted to take time to reflect on the game – which like most Notts fans I wasn’t very impressed with. There’s no denying that we have had a great start to the season, and along with Kevin Nolan picking up the League Two Manager of the Month award for September it really does highlight the amazing progress we have made so far. However, it's not been nice seeing us struggle to a side that is at the foot of the table
-
Why it helps Notts County to have former Newcastle United and Manchester United players in the ranks
A couple of years ago, Notts County boasted a number of former Manchester United players in Alan Smith, Roy Carroll and Kevin Pilkington. Of those, only Smith is still at Meadow Lane, which has morphed into a bit of a "Newcastle United Old Boys Club" now. Smith also played at St James' Park, while Kevin Nolan and Shola Ameobi also donned the "other" black and white stripes up on Tyneside. Having former Premier League players, individuals whose careers continue to be held in high esteem -
Like so many Notts County fans, I had big hopes for the 2015/16 season. I generally do get ‘excited’ at the start of any season, but this time round things felt different. Pre-season we seemed to be building a robust squad, unlike previous years – Ricardo Moniz took to assembling a squad, which at face value had a lot of character. The arrival of so many unknown players really gave the spark to light up my hopes because they looked technically very good, albeit against lower non-league oppo
-
Hello and welcome to episode 22 of the Pride of Nottingham PONCast, the number one Notts County podcast. In this episode we look at Jamie Fullarton’s departure as Magpies manager and the appointment of ex-Swindon boss Mark Cooper. We also discuss comments made by Liam Noble over the old manager, assess the impact of Mike Edwards, and much more. Remember you can subscribe to our PONcast. You can do so by using iTunes for IOS devices, downloading any of the main podcast apps fr
-
With the season heading into the business end, March had plenty of chicanes for Juventus to navigate, but I'm glad to say we have done so successfully. We are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after beating Porto 1-0 at the Juventus Stadium, which completed a 3-0 aggregate win, and we will be hosting Barcelona tonight! In Serie A, we are still top of the table with 77 points from 31 games, with Roma six points behind. We only played three league games, claiming two wins (ag
-
Although FC Barcelona have turned it into their motto, the truth is every single football club out there is "more than a club". It's a pillar of the community, it brings together people of all walks of life, it instils pride in an area's culture and heritage, and so much more. Notts County Football Club go a step further by giving back to the community, both local and global, with the help of Notts County FC Football in the Community. A lot of Notts fans may be vaguely aware of FITC bu
-
Notts County’s victory over Chesterfield at Wembley was a special moment for fans of the club. Although they began the game feeling very anxious and struggled to handle Chesterfield, who was a fast and aggressive opponent, the team managed to keep the score at 1-0 and gradually gained momentum. Luke Williams made the right call taking off Adam Chicksen, who didn’t have the best of games. Jodi Jones proved to be more effective and switching him from the left to the right gave the team more e
-
We're edging towards the end of February and Notts County's forward problems continue following the backfiring of our January gamble. Bringing Mason Bennett in on loan seemed a great idea at the time, given he's a highly rated and clearly talented footballer, very much admired by most fans of his parent club Derby. Unfortunately, Bennett is also injury prone, something which plenty of Rams fans I spoke to mentioned in sighing tones - were it not for his injury issues, he would probably
-
This story has really refused to go away ever since Notts County were first linked with Liam Noble back in the pre-season – yet the club has taken it a step further by officially signing him on a free transfer after he was released by Forest Green Rovers earlier in the week. Friends had been telling me how Noble’s re-signing could be a beneficial thing for us, usually followed by the ‘especially if Jorge Grant goes back to Nottingham Forest in January’. However, for me this is a mere a
-
Matt Palmer is an exceptional midfield player for Notts County. He's robust, thoughtful, and reads the game well. His ability to complete passes while driving the team forward is outstanding. He's a calming influence in the centre of midfield, a complete footballer in the mould of Neal Bishop's work rate mixed with the ability of Phil Turner. Since arriving at Notts County, Palmer has been paramount to the club's success. Simply put, if you remove him from the line-up, the formation and ins
-
What a transformation 2017 has been for Notts County. Ever since the arrival of Alan Hardy and Kevin Nolan, things have just been an amazing whirlwind. After last season’s terrible drama, both on and off the pitch, I would have been happy enough for just a mediocre campaign for once. However, this being Notts, things are never going to be dull are they? This said now that we have enjoyed what can only be described as a very successful 2017-18 League Two season so far, I really don
-
In January and February, Juventus consolidated second place in Serie A and reached the Italian Cup semi-finals. After beating Genoa 2-0 in the last 16, the Bianconeri went on to face city rivals Torino in the quarter-finals. On December 23rd, a big Serie A match took place between Juve and Roma, where we won 1-0 - winner scored by former Roma player Medhi Benatia - then we won 3-1 over Verona. In the quarterfinals Juve beat Torino 2-0 and progressed to the semi-final against Atalanta.
-
Haydn Hollis is a name that divides opinion amongst Notts fans. The centre-back is a 6ft3, athletically built product of our youth system, who oozes professionalism and is an all-round nice guy. Ever since breaking into the first team Hollis has shown signs of becoming a great strong solid lower-league centre back but the inconsistency and the bad spells he goes through have split the fan base's opinion of him. He played a great part in the great escape of 2013/14 and for the firs
-
There are some interesting statistics when looking at the previous teams who have won the National League playoffs since they were introduced for the 2002-03 season. Those 21 finals have seen 8 of them go to extra time (and beyond) while only one of them has been won by more than a 2 goal margin. Exeter, Grimsby, Forest Green and Tranmere all won after losing the previous year’s final while Luton followed consecutive losing finals by winning the league! Almost all losing finalists
-
Notts County have returned to the English Football League after a four-year absence, thanks to a thrilling penalty shoot-out victory over Chesterfield in the National League promotion final at Wembley. The Magpies came from behind twice in a 2-2 draw, with John Bostock and Ruben Rodrigues scoring late equalisers in normal time and extra time respectively. Substitute goalkeeper Archie Mair then proved to be the hero, saving two penalties in the shoot-out to seal Notts County's promotion. The
-
Notts County's 2-0 win over Stevenage was a very welcome three points to end a poor month on a bright note, and crucially for the Magpies it brought a second clean sheet in three games. Now, Adam Collin has been the subject of some flak, to put it mildly, in recent months, and his displacement of Ross Fitzsimons hasn't been exactly welcomed with open arms. There have been questions over Collin's distribution and his tendency to hang on to the ball for long periods of time - not to ment
-
I’m sure I wasn’t alone among the Magpie faithful in having somewhat mixed emotions when Notts announced the loan signing of Jodi Jones. On one hand, our track record of players dropping divisions to don the famous black and white stripes has seldom been successful. On the other hand, I recall a player who tore us apart on the opening day of the 2017 season and also played against us in the more recent play-off defeat. When Jodi joined on loan, I was also conscious that we had not long
-
We're 22 games into the League Two season and things are looking very rosy indeed for Notts, with 43 points gained so far in the campaign. On Facebook, Richard Thompson wrote a post on the Pride of Nottingham wall after the 21st game, comparing the tally of this season with that of the other two promotion campaigns in recent history, in 1997/98 and 2009/10. Having adjusted the statistics to include game number 22, Notts had 37 points in 09/10, and 41 in 97/98. And in both these seasons
-
Wow... the media has spring forth a rumour that Michael O'Connor won't be renewing his contract with Notts County, and all hell breaks loose on social media! There's a few 'camps' on this, from the "he's an ungrateful, disloyal, past-it, broken player, so let him go!" to the (I think, much more sensible), "he's a family man who is entitled to look after the best interests of his family!" I truly can't understand the former point of view; particularly since any player, under contract,
-
Our signings so far! Who are they? Where do they come from? Why are they the chosen ones? With Notts County being considerably active in the transfer window, I thought I would shine a light on the players we have signed so far and see what they have on their CV and what they can offer to our setup. Having signed 5 players so far it seems promising down at Meadow Lane and with a lack of squad depth at the moment it seems the transfers wont stop there. So first up… Tom Crawford – To
-
November did not start in the best way for Juventus, but manager Massimiliano Allegri went for something radical - he inserted players like Douglas Costa, Medhi Benatia and Blaise Matuidi in the starting XI, while pulling the likes of Paulo Dybala and Alex Sandro off the bench. This 'breakthrough' gave its positive signals, 3-0 against Crotone in the league, then a 1-0 victory in Naples in the big-match Napoli-Juve, decided by Gonzalo Higuain, who also had a broken hand. On December 5,
-
Notts County had a busy summer transfer window, bringing in several new players to further strengthen an already strong squad. As the season starts, it's clear that these acquisitions have been part of a well-thought-out strategy, not just to fill gaps but to build a team capable of meeting the demands of League Two. Integrating the new signings into the existing 3-4-2-1 formation has been a smooth process, with early performances on the pitch showing promise. Alex Bass, signed from Sunderl
