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New Notts County striker Kristian Dennis has expressed his desire to be at the right end of the League Two table this season after back-to-back relegations with Chesterfield. The 28-year-old joined the Magpies last week in a deal thought to have cost the club £150,000. Dennis scored 21 goals last season but could not prevent the Spireites from dropping out of the Football League and is eager to make up for it by winning promotion with Notts. “I came back into the league with Chest

Notts County have announced the signing of Manchester City academy midfielder Will Patching once his contract at the Etihad expires on July 1. The 19-year-old, who has been with the Premier League champions since the under-six age group, has agreed a two-year deal at Meadow Lane. “I’ve never had an experience like this before,” Patching told the official Notts site. “I’m looking forward to it. “I love having the ball at my feet and I can chip in with assists and like scoring goals

Notts County owner Alan Hardy has stressed how important it was to give "an early statement of intent" to the league by moving early to bring in big signings. The club chairman acknowledges that, two weeks ago, the Magpies were left reeling by their playoff defeat to Coventry City. Moving on from that, Hardy spoke of showing the world that Notts "would be far from a wounded animal next season", ergo the arrivals of the likes of Kristian Dennis, Kane Hemmings, Andy Kellett and Tom Crawf

Notts County have added a fourth player to their ranks this week in the shape of Kane Hemmings, who joins from Oxford United on a three-year deal for a reported fee of around £100,000. The Magpies have already snapped up Tom Crawford, Kristian Dennis and Andy Kellett, and now they have secured the signature of a player who enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at Mansfield Town last term. Hemmings will be familiar to Notts fans, having scored a 99th-minute penalty in a 1-1 draw at Meadow Lane

Notts County assistant manager Richard Thomas is confident that Kristian Dennis's arrival at Meadow Lane means "a lot more goals walking through the door". The Magpies had a bid rejected for the forward on Tuesday, but followed it up with an improved offer believed to be £150,000 which was enough to seal the deal. Dennis, who scored 21 goals for the relegated Spireites, has signed a three-year contract at Meadow Lane in the club's biggest spend since the arrival of Izale McLeod from Cr

Notts County have announced the double signing of Chesterfield striker Kristian Dennis and his former loan teammate, left-back Andy Kellett, who joins from Wigan Athletic. Dennis, 28, scored 21 goals for the Spireites last season, an impressive return which however could not keep the Derbyshire club in League Two, and joins for an undisclosed fee. Kellett, meanwhile, was on loan at the Proact Stadium last term but arrives at Meadow Lane after having been released by the Championship-bo

Notts County have announced the signing of teenage Chester FC midfielder Tom Crawford for an undisclosed fee. The 19-year-old, who celebrated his birthday today, made 17 appearances for the Blues and was deemed one of the bright lights in a poor season which saw the team relegated from the National League. Crawford, who made his England C debut against the Republic of Ireland amateur side on Sunday, was believed to be on the radar of several sides in the Championship and League One but

Notts County goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons and defender Pierce Bird have signed new deals at Meadow Lane. The pair have put pen to paper on extensions that will run until the end of the 2019-20 season. Fitzsimons played 20 games for the Magpies last season, getting an extended run after now-released Adam Collin suffered an injury. However, he lost his place in the team after being sent off in a 2-1 defeat to Crawley Town for lashing out at an opposition player. “At the time [of

Alan Hardy has given Notts County goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons a big vote of confidence, saying he will be "worth a large sum of money" in a few years' time. The 23-year-old has been offered a new contract by the Magpies and, should he sign it, is likely to become Adam Collin's successor after the former number one was released by the club. Fitzsimons did well in deputising for Collin last season but lost his place in January after lashing out at Crawley Town player Mark Connolly to earn

Alan Hardy has admitted that Notts County are hoping to re-sign Ben Hall on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion next season. The former Motherwell defender played 11 games for Kevin Nolan’s side in 2017-18, after joining on a deadline day loan in January. Brighton have high hopes for the Northern Ireland under-21 international and awarded him a new contract back in April, but he is expected to go back out on loan in 2018-19. “It would be great if we could bring Ben Hall back to t

Alan Hardy has paid tribute to the players released by Notts County this week and pledged to build for "another season to remember". The Magpies finished fifth in League Two last season and took on Coventry City in the playoff semi-finals. It didn't go to plan, however, as Notts lost 5-2 on aggregate, and although Hardy was left with resentment over the unjust refereeing decisions, he will look ahead to the 2018-19 campaign. "When you get that close to tasting success, it summons

Jorge Grant says he has "improved so much as a player and as a person" following his loan spell at Notts County. The Nottingham Forest attacker has enjoyed two bright loan spells at Meadow Lane, in the second half of the 2016-17 campaign and the entirery of last season. With County's 2017-18 campaign now over, Grant has returned over the Trent but posted some kind comments about the club and the fans. “Big thanks to everyone at Notts County for the last 18 months,” the 23-year-old

Matt Tootle has stressed that he "wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere else" after he committed his future to Notts County until 2020. The Magpies defender, who was voted the Fans' Player of the Year, was rewarded for his endeavours after the club unveiled their retained list on Tuesday. Writing on his Twitter account, Tootle said: “Absolutely delighted to have signed a new two-year deal at Notts. “I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else it’s been an amazing year which ended on

Shola Ameobi, Rob Milsom, Adam Collin, Carl Dickinson and Jonathan Forte are among the players who will not be at Notts County next season as the club published their end-of-season retained list. All the players met with manager Kevin Nolan on Tuesday and a total of 11 senior players have been axed ahead of the new campaign. Meanwhile, Fans' Player of the Season Matt Tootle has penned a new deal at the club which will take him to 2020, while another six who were due to be out of contra

Notts County are set to launch a new senior women's team, just over a year after the previous incarnation, Notts County Ladies, was folded. Magpies owner Alan Hardy "called time" on efforts to save the Women's Super League 1 side in April 2017 when faced by debts of around £500,000, and folded just before the season started. The Lady Pies had been moved from Lincoln to Nottingham and got to the FA Cup Women's Final in 2015, but Hardy stressed that "the numbers simply (did) not stack up

Michael O’Connor has called for more ex-players to go into refereeing after Notts County were knocked out of the League Two playoffs against Coventry City. In the first leg at the Ricoh Arena, Matt Tootle was wrongly penalised for a foul on Tom Bayliss which saw Marc McNulty score a late penalty to earn Coventry a 1-1 draw. And in the return leg at Meadow Lane, Jonathan Forte saw an equaliser wrongly chalked off for offside when the score was 2-1, while Maxime Biamou's third Sky Blues

Coventry City captain Michael Doyle has claimed that Notts County's attitude prior to the League Two playoff semi-final second leg effectively did the team talk for his side. The Sky Blues coasted to a 4-1 win on Friday night, putting them into the playoff final 5-2 on aggregate at the expense of the Magpies. Doyle felt County gave Coventry an extra incentive because of things like the specially printed Wembley T-shirts and comments made by Alan Hardy. “I just felt that they thoug

Alan Hardy has paid tribute to the Notts County fanbase in an end-of-season message following the playoff defeat to Coventry City. A total of 17,615 people were in attendance at Meadow Lane on Friday night to watch the Magpies fight for a place in the final at Wembley. It wasn't to be unfortunately, with the Sky Blues instead winning the chance to go up in the showpiece event on Bank Holiday Monday, with Exeter City in their way. Nonetheless, Hardy was delighted with the Black &am

Alan Hardy has urged the Notts County fanbase to play their part in what he hopes to be a night "that will go down in Meadow Lane folklore". Tonight, the second leg of County's League Two playoff semi-final against Coventry City takes place, with the tie evenly - and unfairly - poised at 1-1. Writing in the Nottingham Post, Hardy spoke at length about the nerves and anticipation involved prior to kickoff, the camaraderie in the Notts camp, and the role which the Black & White Army

Notts County boss Kevin Nolan has claimed that Sam Allardyce "was hard done by" at Everton. The 63-year-old, who managed the Magpies 20 years ago but left in unpopular circumstances, was sacked by the Merseyside outfit following a six-month spell in which he guided the club to an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League. Nolan played under Allardyce at West Ham, Newcastle and Bolton, with the former England manager appointing him as captain on each occasion, and thinks he should have

What's been happening in League Two over the last week? Here is Pride of Nottingham's round-up of the biggest League Two news from the last seven days. - Former Notts County boss Martin Allen has left his position as Barnet manager - in what was his fifth spell in charge at the club - following their relegation from League Two, and took charge of fellow relegated side Chesterfield. - The first legs of the League Two playoff semi-finals both finished evenly poised as Lincoln and Ex

Notts County full-back Matt Tootle has spoken out to raise awareness of Mental Health Awareness Week. Last year, the 27-year-old opened up on how his career was almost derailed due to mental health issues and had cognitive therapy to help assist him. Tootle has been widely praised by his Notts teammates, staff and fans, not to mention the wider football world for speaking out. The player has once again sought to raise awareness of mental health and wrote on Twitter: "I’d just like