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Joe Jones
Alan Hardy has outlined his plans to set up a girls' academy at Notts County with a view to forming a sustainable Lady Pies outfit which will work its way up to the Women's Super League.
The Magpies owner and chairman took the decision to fold the original Notts County Ladies side last month due to it being unsustainable and "financial suicide" to keep afloat.
He was roundly criticised for the decision, but he insists that, as a business model, it simply did not work out, and this week he has pledged to bring women's football back to Meadow Lane the right way.
My ambition has always been to have a girls' academy sitting alongside the boys' academy," Hardy told the Nottingham Post.
"The boys' academy is super successful. We have a target and an ambition that 25 percent of the first-team will be made up of guys who have come through our academy in the next three years. That's the pathway we want, from academy through to first-team.
"Unfortunately, the ladies' team I inherited was an entity on its own. There was just the first-team; there was nothing that was attaching it to the club in any way – probably because it was brought over from Lincoln and it had no structure or foundations.
"As of next season, we will have an under-nines, under-10s and under-11s girls' academy, which will be playing in the boys' Young Elizabethan League (YEL).
"That will be starting in the next few weeks and we will be holding trials to pick out the best elite girls across the county, in order to take them on a wonderful coaching pathway from where they are now through to, ultimately, a ladies' first-team in six, eight years' time – and hopefully be the next England internationals.
"It's the start of something which has structure and foundations, and which is affordable and sustainable. It's always been my ambition.
"In the previous guise, Notts County Ladies was not a sustainable business model. And who knows where the Women's Super League will be in six years' time. It won't be in its current guise now, I'm sure of that. It will have morphed and developed.
"I would like Notts County to be a part of that. We'll have to work our way through the leagues and through the divisions, but that's how it should be.
"We will start at the bottom and we will work our way through. But the ultimate ambition is to have a ladies' team that is playing in the top-flight, whatever that is called and whatever it looks like.
"But what is absolutely critical is it is underpinned by an academy pathway, so girls who are joining that academy at age eight can see a very clear route through to the first-team."
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Chris
Elliott Hewitt has accepted Notts County's offer of a new contract, signing a two-year deal at Meadow Lane.
The 22-year-old joined the Magpies in 2015 from Ipswich Town and has made 74 appearances for the club, turning out at right back, central defence, on the wing and in central midfield.
This season, Hewitt made 29 appearances in League Two as Notts finished 16th in the table, and scored twice.
He told the official Notts website: "I would like to say a big thank you to the manager and chairman for the faith they’ve shown in me.
"This is where I want to be and I’m looking forward to what I hope will be a great 2017-18 season for the club.”
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Joe Jones
Former Millwall, Wimbledon and Republic of Ireland forward Jon Goodman has been appointed as Notts County's new academy manager.
The 45-year-old joins the Magpies from the Nike Academy, where he spent three years coaching and developing talented unsigned players.
Goodman previously worked as head of sports science at Leeds United and Reading, and also ran a consultancy business which included Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton among its clients.
He told the official Notts website: “I am really excited to begin working at Notts County as academy manager.
“While working with Nike I took a keen interest in the club as I have known a number of the staff over the years. It’s also been brilliant to see the impact made by one of our former players, Jorge Grant, this season.
“I have been impressed by the vision, ambition and passion of the chairman, both for the club and the academy, and I look forward to delivering a successful programme that represents our core values of integrity, hard work, competition, positivity and responsibility."
Simon Clark, who was previously reported as having joined Notts as academy manager from Charlton Athletic, is now also on the books at Meadow Lane, as lead professional development phase coach.
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Joe Jones
The EFL regular season is now over, so for the clubs that aren't contesting the playoffs, it's full swing ahead in planning for next season.
Notts County owner Alan Hardy has this week written two columns on the Nottingham Post about his experiences of the transfer window so far, and what the club hopes to achieve and obtain in the upcoming one.
On his baptism of fire in the transfer window
Within two weeks of me taking on this role at Meadow Lane we were straight into the January transfer window. That was a real baptism of fire.
I was unable to sleep at night following intense negotiations over as little as £10 or £20 a week, and you wouldn't believe all the incentives that get built in along the way – appearance money, goal bonuses, all sorts.
I had been thrown in right at the deep end but I think it set me up really well for this transfer window. I feel far more prepared after picking up that invaluable experience.
What team he and Kevin Nolan would like to build
After the season finished, myself and the manager, Kevin Nolan, spent quite a lot of time talking about the team we'd like to build and what success looks like for us. That's success not only in terms of league position, but also in terms of how we're going to play and which formations we're going to use.
We both share a passion for attacking football, a strong defence, wide players who create lots of chances and big strikers in the area. We are absolutely on the same page in terms of what we'd like from a football perspective.
And, unlike in January, we now have almost a blank canvas to work from when it comes to forming a squad. It's quite exciting to be able to say, 'okay, what does the future look like?'.
The pitfalls of lower-league transfer window life
I found it quite surreal in a way, that you can get to the end of a season and find you've got five players signed on for next year. With Michael O'Connor out injured we are down to four players under contract for next season, which includes a goalkeeper – so, in essence, we've got three.
It was also quite daunting to think we've got the best part of 18 new contracts to negotiate, to agree and sign – quite a few of those will be for existing players, but you've still got to get everything agreed.
While there is some uncertainty over which players are yet to come and go, we do have a robust, carefully thought-out budget in place. Kevin and our chief executive, Jason Turner, will be working very closely together this summer, the former identifying his targets and the latter negotiating deals with agents and clubs.
In total I hope we'll be able to bring in around eight new players in a range of positions. Some we'll have to pay for, others will be out of contract and a few will come in on loan.
Kevin Nolan's reputation
What will be a huge help to us in the transfer market is Kevin's reputation. He's very, very well respected in the game and we're starting to receive calls from agents whose players are saying, 'I've heard such great things about Notts County and I want to play for Kevin Nolan'.
There are two players in particular who have been offered deals with League One clubs, but they would prefer to come to us. They are at the beginning of their footballing journey and feel they would learn so much more from Kevin because of his experience and knowledge, which is really refreshing to hear.
Having to let players down
This is a hugely exciting time of year in the world of football but it's incredibly ruthless at times, particularly when it comes to making decisions that affect the business. You only have to ask Kevin how he felt after having to tell a number of players recently that their time at Meadow Lane was up.
I share his compassion and find it tough talking about players as if they are just numbers, taking away the human side and doing your best not to be influenced by the fact they've got families to feed and mortgages to pay. Unfortunately, there's no room for sentiment in this industry.
What I found particularly difficult was saying goodbye to the academy players who we didn't offer professional contracts to. Letting them go was probably more heartbreaking than the professionals because those boys haven't yet had their chance.
It took me back to my early football days when I was released by Doncaster Rovers. It brought all those emotions back, from when I was 18 or 19 and thrown on the scrapheap.
It's a ruthless sport and I really feel for those academy players. They have given their all for the last couple of years to try to make it in the game and hopefully they will find other clubs and come back stronger.
To read Alan Hardy's Nottingham Post columns from this week, follow this link and this link.
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Joe Jones
Notts County have made their first signing of the 2016-17 post-season by recruiting Lincoln City winger Terry Hawkridge on a two-year deal.
The Nottingham-born 27-year-old was part of the Imps side which cruised to National League glory this year, helping Danny Cowley's boys into League Two as well as the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Speaking to the official Notts website, Hawkridge - who played for Carlton Town and Hucknall Town early on in his career - said: “It was a tough decision to leave Lincoln.
"However, I feel I have unfinished business here having been released as a kid. It’s my home city – I’m originally from Top Valley – so I am buzzing to be here.
“I’m looking forward to getting started and learning a lot from the experienced players in the squad, as well as the manager.
“I didn’t know what was happening after the National League season finished but now I have signed here I can go away, enjoy a short break and come back ready for the first day of pre-season training.
“I’m a winger who can play on either side but I like to cut in from the left. I’ve got a bit of pace, I can cross with either foot and I have some tricks up my sleeve. I know I can bring goals and hopefully create some special memories here.”
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Joe Jones
Alan Hardy has admitted that Nottingham Forest are likely to extend Jorge Grant's current deal at the City Ground.
The midfielder enjoyed a brilliant loan spell at Notts County this season and the club owner is eager to sign him up permanently.
However, Hardy is also aware that his progress at Meadow Lane will not have gone unnoticed by both his parent club - who have an option to extend his deal by another year, and any other suitors, with Bristol City and Wigan Athletic rumoured to be after him.
"Jorge enjoyed his time here. He did fantastically well," Hardy told the Nottingham Post. "I think Jorge is the first to admit that he's grown as a player since being here.
"That's no detriment to Forest, it's purely because he's been given the opportunity to play first-team football.
"The ball is in Forest's court. They have got an option on him and it looks like they are likely to exercise that option.
"Whether we then buy him from Forest or we have him on loan, or Forest may well decide to keep him, we'll have to see. Unfortunately, we aren't holding any of the cards.
"Discussion at the moment is between Forest and Jorge. We've registered our interest, Jorge knows how we feel, Jorge knows how much we would pay him, the ball is very much in Forest's court."
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PON_News
What a month April has been - and May is going quite well too!
On 5 April, Juventus qualified for the Coppa Italia final, despite losing 3-2 against Napoli in the second leg - a Gonzalo Higuain double on the night meant an aggregate win of 5-4.
The Argentine then scored two goals in the next game, against Chievo Verona in Serie A, for a 2-0 win.
And then came the best result of the month - a brace from Paulo Dybala and a goal from Giorgio Chiellini gave us a 3-0 win over Barcelona in the first leg of our Champions League quarter-final.
Back to league action and once again the Pipita Higuain strikes two goals for a 2-0 victory over Pescara and another step closer to the Scudetto.
Then the Champions' return - would Barca do what they did against Paris Saint-Germain? No is the answer, a goalless draw at the Camp Nou putting the Bianconeri through 3-0 on aggregate.
After the cup match, Juve beat Genoa 4-0 and drew with Atalanta to remain right on track for the title.
Editor's note: The game against Genoa also saw Tom Gordon Savage - the man who, back in 1903, was responsible for Juve adopting the black and white shirts from Notts - honoured at the Juventus Stadium. To read the account of Andy Black, the man who made it possible, here are part 1 and part 2 of the article.
In May, the impressive AS Monaco were put to the sword in both legs, Juve winning 2-0 and then 2-1 to reach the final in Cardiff, where Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid lie in wait on 3 June.
At present, Juve are four points clear of Roma at the top of Serie A with two games to go, but attention turns to the Coppa Italia final tonight at 8pm against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico - and we want to win our third in a row (and 12th overall)!
Our Juve is also proposing a new contract to Mario Mandzukic until 2020, because Super Mario is playing really well, even though he has had physical problems lately.
After the Roma game on Sunday 14 May, Daniele De Rossi said: "We (Roma) would win something, but, maybe in just a few years, we will understand that we are playing against a team (Juventus) who is writing the history of football."
This month MVP was again Paulo Dybala. This month, Juve must be careful to not lose points in the championship and play well in the Coppa Italia final! We are still in competition on all three fronts! FORZA JUVE!
Thank you to Leo from Daje Juve for this article. Follow them on Instagram by clicking here.
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Joe Jones
The Football Association has agreed to a rebalancing of the number of teams in FA WSL 1 and FA WSL 2 for the 2017-18 season in the wake of Notts County Ladies folding.
The decision has been made to continue with 10 FA WSL 1 teams for the forthcoming 2017-18 season, which begins in September, ensuring there is even numbers in both divisions.
FA WSL 2 clubs are now able to apply for the remaining place in FA WSL 1.
The application process will require clubs to demonstrate how they will meet the additional licence criteria, financial and staffing requirements of FA WSL 1.
The decision, which will be made in June, will be based on the applicant clubs' skills in business management, youth development and marketing, as well as the quality of their facilities and their performances on the pitch in the past 12 months.
Before the Lady Pies' liquidation, there would have been 10 teams in WSL 1 for 2017-18, and 11 in WSL 2.
Everton can win the WSL 2 Spring Series title on Saturday, but there is no promotion and relegation between the top two tiers at the end of the one-off competition.
One of either Blackburn Rovers or Tottenham Hotspur, who face each other in a promotion play-off at the end of May, will join WSL 2 for the 2017-18 campaign.
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Joe Jones
As the oldest Football League club in existence, Notts County have not only created history of their own, but they've also played a part in the history of other clubs.
By now all Notts fans will be well aware of the connection between the Magpies and Juventus, thanks to Nottingham man Tom Gordon Savage's procurement of shirts with black and white vertical stripes when he lived in Turin back in 1903.
But with Tottenham Hotspur saying goodbye to White Hart Lane this season as they prepare to move - via Wembley - to a brand new stadium, the focus has very much been on the now-dismantled ground's history.
And sure enough, Notts crop up there too, as they were the very first team to play against Spurs at White Hart Lane in the final year of the 19th century.
Logan Holmes of Spurs fansite Hotspur HQ writes: "On 4 September 1899, Tottenham played a friendly game against Notts County to mark the opening of their new ground. They have continued to play there ever since.
"The First Division club were the first visitors and 5,000 spectators were present. Notts took the lead through an own goal. Spurs inside right, Tom Pratt, brought them level by half-time and after the interval centre forward David Copeland completed a hat-trick, although for the last two goals County had been reduced to ten men as their goalkeeper was injured. County’s centre half, Walter Bull, who went in to goal, was to join Tottenham five years later.
"At that time the ground wasn’t known as White Hart Lane. It was only after the 1st World War that it took on that name. Before then it had been called ‘The High Road Ground’, although the club had favoured ‘Percy Park’ after Sir Henry Percy – Harry Hotspur.
"Prior to 1899 Tottenham had played at their Northumberland Park ground, having moved there in 1888 after originally playing their matches on Tottenham Marshes."
118 years later, White Hart Lane would host its final game as Spurs clinched a 2-1 win over the mighty Manchester United on 14 May 2017, dominating from start to finish.
And with the history of the ground the main focus of the day, Spurs had created special corner flags which boasted information of the first and last game at the Lane - one saying "14th May 2017" and featuring the Spurs and Man United badges, and the other saying "4th September 1899" and featuring the Spurs and Notts badges, with "To Dare Is To Do" written at the bottom of both.
Another historic White Hart Lane clash between the two teams took place on 10 March 1991, when Spurs hosted Notts in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
The Magpies put their opponents to the sword, Don O'Riordan putting the visitors ahead with a sensational rocket from outside the box and Mark Draper bossing the midfield to the point that he was upstaging a certain England international by the name of Paul Gascoigne - you may have heard of him.
However, Spurs came out invigorated in the second half as Craig Short deflected Nayim's effort into his own net, before Gascoigne - who should have been sent off after elbowing Paul Harding in the face, leaving him with a black eye - struck a clinical shot into the far corner with just seven minutes left in the game.
O'Riordan, scorer of County's superb first goal in that tie, paid a visit to White Hart Lane on the Monday to reminisce about his memories of the stadium.
He wrote: "Wonderful memories visiting White Hart Lane. Sadly couldn't get on the pitch to take a photo of the goal I scored in during the quarter final in 1991.
"Met two Spurs fans who supported the club for 35+ years and they remembered the goal which was amazing and agreed Gazza should have been red carded lol.
"Has to be one of the biggest highlights of my career. Funny the lads even knew the first Tottenham game in their history (at White Hart Lane) was against Notts."
He then talked about what happened the day after the match: "After we lost at Spurs, Neil (Warnock) had us in next day that was normally a rest day but he told the YTS lads to tell us to make sure we had our kit and trainers on.
"This normally would mean a running session but we ended up in the sponsors lounge and Neil and Mick Jones brought 2 cases of beer for us to consume and he said we can make Wembley again win promotion and sample the Spurs atmosphere every week in the 1st Division.
"We looked at each other and had another drink and wondered what he was on about but how could we doubt this guy. Sure enough we beat Brighton (in the playoffs) and the rest as we all know is history."

As Spurs wave goodbye to their home for 118 years and prepare to create new history, it's nice to know that Notts have played a part in some of it - and that clubs continue to pay tribute to us.
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Joe Jones
New Worcester City joint-manager Lee Hughes has claimed that Notts County owner Alan Hardy has agreed to a pre-season friendly encounter between the two clubs.
Hughes remains a fan favourite at Meadow Lane, having netted 65 goals in 144 games in three-and-a-half seasons between 2009 and 2013.
The 40-year-old was appointed at the Victoria Ground earlier this month to work alongside John Snape at the seventh-tier club.
He told Worcester News: “I was on a question and answer at Notts County with supporters.
“The new owner was there and I asked him for a friendly game. He said yes, so he is going to bring a team down to play us in pre-season.”
The former West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City striker insists he is keen to boost cash-strapped Worcester financially.
“If the clubs want me to do questions and answers and forums I will do that,” Hughes added.
“I will try to generate a bit of money as I just want to help the club get into a better situation.”
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Joe Jones
Tommy Johnson, born in Gateshead on 15 January 1971, knew he wanted to play for Notts County from his first trial at the club as a teenager.
In a 2013 interview at the annual Notts County Former Players' Association dinner, where he was presented with an Achievement award, he spoke of how he fell in love with the Magpies.
“I was 13 and I came down for trials and the first training session was with Jimmy Sirrel and that was the sort of club it was,” he said.
“All the players made you feel so welcome and, although my family wanted me to stay at home and play for Newcastle, I knew I wanted to play here and I’ve been here ever since.
“My time here was great and I couldn’t have had a better start to my career.”
Johnson joined Notts in 1987 as an apprentice after leaving school and such was his talent that he was a first-team regular by the end of the decade.
His prolific goalscoring helped Notts climb from the third tier to the First Division between 1989 and 1991, and in total he scored 57 goals in 149 appearances.
In 1992, Johnson left Meadow Lane and moved down a division to Derby County in a £1.3m deal.
His time at the Rams was fruitful as he claimed 30 goals in 58 appearances, but two playoff defeats in three seasons later, he decided to up sticks again, joining Aston Villa in 1995 and making his debut in the Premier League.
Johnson's future at the highest level looked promising as he scored four goals in 14 league games to help Villa stay in the Premier League.
However, he found his first-team opportunities limited as manager Brian Little signed Serbian striker Savo Milosevic, and Dwight Yorke was converted from a winger to a striker.
In 1996–97, Johnson was still unable to displace Yorke or Milosevic, managing just 20 league games and four goals, before he joined Scottish giants Celtic for £2.4mi on 27 March 1997 – transfer deadline day.
Despite seeing his career at Parkhead plagued by injury, he enjoyed some success at the club, including scoring the goal that won the 2000–01 Scottish Premier League title, and scoring in the 2000 Scottish League Cup final win over Aberdeen. He had also collected a title medal in 1997–98.
At Celtic, he played under managers Wim Jansen, Jozef Venglos, John Barnes, Kenny Dalglish and finally Martin O'Neill, but managed just 35 league games and scored 18 goals.
During his time at Celtic, Johnson was briefly loaned out to Everton in the autumn of 1999, where he played three times in the Premier League but failed to score.
A brief spell at Sheffield Wednesday followed before Johnson joined Kilmarnock and then Gillingham in December 2001. After two seasons at Gillingham, Johnson joined Sheffield United but only made one appearance there before moving on to Scunthorpe United.
During his time at the Iron he was loaned out to Tamworth, finally joining them on a permanent contract and staying there until the summer of 2006, when he joined Midland Football Alliance club Rocester.
After hanging up his boots, Johnson went into coaching and ended up rejoining Notts as part of the coaching staff under the management of Ian McParland on 1 November 2007, where he stayed until 2011.
Following on from his coaching spell at Meadow Lane, he worked at the Irish Football Association as a scout between January 2012 and August 2013, before a spell as Senior Overseas Scout at Cardiff City.
Johnson then became a coach educator for UEFA A and B licences at the IFA before taking a job as the head of player recruitment at Blackburn Rovers, where he continues to work today.
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Joe Jones
Matt Tootle has claimed that Notts County are more than capable of challenging for promotion from League Two next season.
The former Crewe Alexandra man had suggested last summer that the Magpies could have been up in the playoffs, but the season ended up being a slog for safety in the end.
Tootle told the Nottingham Post: "When I signed here last summer I probably looked a bit of an idiot to some people because I said we would get promoted.
"We were third at the start of the season even though we weren't playing very well.
"But the class we had in the team, and the players we had, we knew we weren't playing to our ability.
"But we were winning games because we had that experience and that bit of quality was coming out now and then.
"Then something went wrong over Christmas and I don't know what it was.
"I believe if we still had something to play for then we wouldn't have lost two out of the last three.
"The Pompey game would have been different too if we had been closer to the play-offs.
"So looking at next season with the right additions I think we will be up there.
"I won't look stupid this time by saying it. Every team we played, the opposition would say that our team on paper was ridiculously good.
"If we can continue what we were doing and keep sticking to how the gaffer wants us to play, we will challenge I am sure of it."
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Chris
Notts County have released their end-of-season retained list, with nine players being released and another nine offered new contracts.
The out-of-contract players who have been offered new deals are Jon Stead, Shola Ameobi, Richard Duffy, Curtis Thompson, Elliott Hewitt, Haydn Hollis, Rob Milsom, Alan Smith, and Mike Edwards.
Meanwhile, the players who have been told they can leave Meadow Lane are Thierry Audel, Adam Campbell, Mark Yeates, Scott Loach, Jack McMillan, Luther Wildin, Wes Atkinson, Montel Gibson and Jordan Richards.
The last three in the above list have however been given the chance to impress Kevin Nolan during pre-season training.
Nolan told the official Notts site: "This is the toughest time of the season for a manager and I haven't enjoyed it one bit. I am, however, confident we have made the right decisions and put fair offers on the table.
"It's never nice to see lads go but it's my responsibility to put what I think are the correct foundations in place for next season.
"I can't fault the efforts of any of the players since I walked through the door and we wish those who are moving on all the best."
Notts chairman and owner Alan Hardy added: "I can't thank this group of players enough for keeping us in the league.
"They all contributed to what was a remarkable turnaround and those who are moving on to pastures new leave with our best wishes and immense gratitude."
Michael O’Connor, Adam Collin, Carl Dickinson, Matt Tootle and Jonathan Forte have contracts beyond the end of the season.
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Joe Jones
Notts County defender Matt Tootle has opened up on his battles with anxiety and depression, saying nobody is immune from mental health struggles and urging people to seek help.
The 26-year-old revealed how he had enjoyed a superb season at Crewe Alexandra going into the summer of 2014, but "something then just triggered" in his mind while he was on holiday in the off-season.
Speaking during Mental Awareness Week, Tootle told Leigh Curtis of the Nottingham Post: "I was on top of the world. There was talk of a move to Blackburn, Burnley and Nottingham Forest and as any player who has been at Crewe will tell you, and given the club's history, it's all about 'that' move.
"I went on holiday and something then just triggered in my mind. I was reading the newspapers and there was so much bad news happening to good people. Then I just started thinking deeply about life and how you can be happy at one moment but knowing it can all change in an instant.
"It hit me a bit and I just started panicking, thinking I hope that doesn't happen to me. Those thoughts then become obsessive and they snowball. Anxiety took hold and in the end you keep on recycling those thoughts over and over and over again. It was the worst week of my life.
"After that I returned back to Crewe for the following season and I played 16 or 17 games and just wasn't at it. What was going on in my mind was just too important. I was sweating, hiding in my own house and it just got ridiculous. It got to the stage where it was affecting my reputation. Crewe fans were probably thinking 'why is he rubbish all of a sudden?'.
"I eventually told my mum and she said I just needed to give myself a break. I told Steve Davis, who was the manager, and the physio about what I was going through.
"The fans had no idea what was going on and they probably thought I was trying to force a move because it was the end of November and I just stopped playing.
"But I went to the Priory Clinic and they then sent me for cognitive therapy. If you have any kind of anxiety or anything like that, if you can begin to understand it then you can deal with it."
"We should be talking about this every day let alone one week of year. The problems with mental health is that you can't see it.
"If you see some guy with a broken leg in casualty and there's another just sat there with his head in his hands, you think the guy with the leg is worse because you can see he's in pain. But people suffer in silence and this is what we've got to address."
Read the entire Matt Tootle interview on the Nottingham Post by clicking here.
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Joe Jones
Scott Loach has confirmed that he is leaving Notts County.
The 28-year-old goalkeeper will see his deal at Meadow Lane expire in the summer, and he will not be offered a new contract by the club.
Loach spent the latter part of the season on loan at York City in the National League, with the Minstermen suffering relegation on the final day of the season.
He is quoted by the Nottingham Post as saying: "I have loved every minute of my time at the club and it's been a pleasure to play for them.
"The fans have been different class with me and I wish the gaffer and the lads all the best for next season.
"Given the way they ended the season, I expect them to really kick on. It's a great club.
"But it's going to be a new challenge for me somewhere else. I am 28 and I do need to be playing."
 
 
 
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Pride of Nottingham is an independent fansite devoted to Notts County, the world’s oldest professional football club. Created in 2013, it has served as a source of Magpie news, features, match previews, reports, analysis and interviews for more than three years.

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