By Joe Jones
Notts County and Cambridge United have met just 24 times in their history, with the first meeting coming on Boxing Day 1970. The result? A resounding 4-1 win to the Magpies at Meadow Lane.
Notts hold the advantage in the head to head, with 11 wins, 7 draws and just 6 defeats against the U’s. The last game, however, was a 3-1 win for Cambridge earlier in the season.
The club was founded in 1912 as Abbey United before taking the name Cambridge United in 1951.
It first competed in the Football League in 1970 and stayed there until relegation in 2005, nine seasons in the Conference following until climbing back out of non-league.
Cambridge have had two spells in the league's second tier, and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup twice and Football League Cup once during the early 1990s, the club's most successful era to date.
United's highest ever finishing place in the Football League is fifth in the Second Division during the 1991–92 season, competing in a season-ending four team playoff for the final promotion slot to the Premier League's inaugural season.
The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Newmarket Road, just under 2 miles east of Cambridge city centre. The stadium has a capacity of 8,127, made up of terracing and seated areas.
During their days in Division Two, with John Beck at the helm in the 1980's, the club earned a reputation for bizarre training methods and "dirty tricks" to make their opponents feel ill at ease.
These included freezing cold showers for his own players, dirty changing rooms and deflated kick-about balls for the opposition and long grass in the corners of the pitch to slow the long balls into those areas, allowing the U’s forwards to reach them.
Beck carried on his dirty tricks even after leaving to take charge of Preston North End – taking nine of the Cambridge United players with him.
He was not the only famous manager at the club, with Ron Atkinson taking the club from the Fourth to the Second Division and Ex-England and Derby County centre-half Roy McFarland also sitting in the hot seat.
Before their entry into the League, a local animal sanctuary had an escapee and it was found grazing on the pitch at the Abbey Stadium. This lead to the moose connection with the club, and in the club shop you can buy a range of moose souvenirs to show your allegiance to the U’s.
Famous alumni include Dion Dublin and Luke Chadwick, while famous fans include football commentator Gary Newbon and Tom Findlay of Groove Armada. And connecting the two clubs – none other than former Notts manager Shaun Derry, now a the helm of the U’s.
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Notts County manager Mark Cooper laid into his first-team players on Tuesday night following their meek 3-1 defeat at Barnet, a result which followed a 5-0 thrashing at Mansfield Town, and said he could potentially bring youth team players into the squad to see the season out.
Montel Gibson was recently handed his debut by Cooper and has featured in the last three matches so he could be in line for his full debut against the U's, while fellow teenagers Lartey Sarpong and Luther Wildin might also get a chance to impress.
Cambridge are expected to name an unchanged squad following Tuesday's 7-0 thrashing of Morecambe. They are aiming to sneak into the play-off places and were boosted by the return, to the bench, of midfielder Ryan Donaldson against the Prawns.
Ryan Haynes and Leon Legge are short-term absences, while forward Barry Corr, defender Greg Taylor and midfielder Conor Newton are all out for the rest of the campaign.
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