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Joe Jones
Colin Slater has announced that he will be stepping down from Notts County commentary duties with BBC Radio Nottingham.
The 83-year-old, who began reporting on the Magpies in 1959 at the Nottingham Evening News and Football News before making his BBC Radio Nottingham bow in 1968, will continue as the club's correspondant on the station.
In an announcement on the BBC website, Slater said: "I have some personal news for you.
"I've been commentating on Notts County matches for nearly 50 years and I have made the decision that the time has come to step back from those duties.
"But next season I will still be around and I will still be heard on BBC Radio Nottingham - not as frequently but definitely from time to time, and in fact quite regularly, and I hope that you'll join us then. Thank you."
His last commentary for BBC Radio Nottingham will be the Magpies' trip to Newport County on May 6, almost 50 years after he was first heard on the airwaves.
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has expressed his sympathy for Michael O'Connor as the Notts County skipper faces nine months out through injury.
The Magpies midfielder suffered cruciate ligament damage in the 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth on Easter Monday and was carried off on a stretcher before half-time.
According to the Nottingham Post, O'Connor was sent to Derby for scans last week and they revealed a ruptured ligament that will require surgery once the swelling has subsided.
"I am devastated for Michael," Nolan told the newspaper. "He was an integral part of our team and he is our skipper.
"He still will be going forward and we will work our socks off to make sure he gets the best attention so we get him back as quickly as possible.
"We are not going to rush him. We will give him all the time so he can come back the same Michael O'Connor as before he got injured.
"I was little disappointed in the challenge which led to it. I know the lad isn't malicious but as a footballer you know it's not a good tackle.
"He's been brilliant since I came in and hopefully now he can just concentrate on getting himself back to full fitness and return to the top-notch player he is."
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Joe Jones
Notts County boss Kevin Nolan has reiterated the need to have momentum going into next season's League Two campaign and urges his out-of-contract players to "make me want to keep them".
With the exception of Adam Collin, Mark Yeates, Carl Dickinson, Michael O'Connor and Matt Tootle, every other player on the Magpie payroll will see their current deals expire this summer.
The club secured safety last Monday despite falling to a 3-1 defeat against Portsmouth, before the weekend brought a 2-1 loss at Luton Town, which left Nolan unimpressed.
"I just thought we came away from the things we have done which have brought us so much success," Nolan told the Nottingham Post.
"I said to the players that the next week will be all about getting back to those basics. Once we do that, then you see the better football.
"I gave them a bit of a rollicking at half-time, because in the first half certainly, we looked a team that had guaranteed safety and were going through the motions.
"That's now how I want to end the season. I want momentum going into next season's campaign. With a lot of the players out of contract they have got to make me want to keep them."
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Joe Jones
Notts County fell to a 2-1 defeat at Luton Town in Saturday's League Two clash at Kenilworth Road.
The Magpies began well as Elliott Hewitt opened the scoring, but goals from Ollie Palmer and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu put the Hatters in the lead by the end of the first half and they hung onto it until the final whistle.
The official Notts site has put up the match highlights, so you can have a look for yourself how the Magpies did against the Hatters as well as the game's goals.
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has praised his Notts County players for all they have achieved in the last four months as they went from relegation certainties to mathematically assured of League Two football next season.
The Magpies were in dire straits coming into 2017, with a ten-match losing run symptomatic of the malaise at the club, and it looked like they were heading out of the Football League.
However Alan Hardy's takeover of the club, combined with Nolan's appointment as manager, saw a slow but steady revival that culminated in Notts securing safety against Portsmouth on Easter Monday.
And despite Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Luton Town, which left the manager bemoaning his team's performance, he nonetheless had good words to say about the players in terms of the long-term displays which have saved the club from the drop.
Nolan told the official Notts website:  “I don’t want to come away from what we have achieved in such a short space of time.
“When I came in, everyone thought we would be coming to this stage of the season still in the relegation battle so it is a fantastic achievement [to already be safe].
“The teams who perform great escapes often do it on the final day but we haven’t. This has been a great escape. Hats off to Alan Hardy and the players for buying into me.
“The lads have been through a hell of a lot and I am sure we will get a reaction from them at home to Blackpool next Saturday. I’m looking forward to it.”
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has given a scathing assessment of his Notts County team after they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Luton Town in Saturday's League Two match at Kenilworth Road.
The Magpies began well as Elliott Hewitt opened the scoring, but goals from Ollie Palmer and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu put the Hatters in the lead by the end of the first half and they hung onto it until the final whistle.
“In the last two games I feel we have not been the same team we were in the five games previously,” the manager told the official Notts site. “It has been disappointing.
“We could have come away with a point despite not playing well which pleases me a little more than if we had lay down and let Luton run all over us.
“We had a go in the second half but we were very poor in the first half. That is what happens when the lads feel the relief of getting to safety after what they have been through this season.
"You have a big sigh of relief and everything drops so it is up to us as a staff to pick them up again.”
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Joe Jones
Notts County have fallen to a second defeat in a row as Luton Town came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.
The Magpies took the lead after just six minutes when poor Hatters defending allowed the ball to land in the path of Elliott Hewitt, whose half-volley from the edge of the area flew into the bottom corner of the net.
However, the hosts were level just ten minutes later as Danny Hylton sent a ferocious 25-yard drive crashing into the bar and the ball fell to Ollie Palmer, whose header towards goal saw Adam Collin grasp for the ball but was unable to keep it out.
Luton then completed the turnaround in first-half injury time when Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu picked up the ball on the edge of the area and scuffed a shot towards goal, which was enough to beat Collin once again.
After the break, Danny Hylton put a great chance wide, while Luton goalkeeper Stuart Moore made a fine stop to turn over Adam Campbell's effort in the 64th minute.
Both sides continued trading blows as Hylton was denied by Collin, with Moore turning Mark Yeates' effort away, before Hylton saw red in stoppage time for his second booking.
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Joe Jones
Notts County have confirmed that captain Michael O'Connor has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The midfielder, who has made 34 appearances for Notts this season, was stretchered off the pitch after suffering the injury to his right knee in Monday's 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth at Meadow Lane.
Initial scans suggested a ruptured ACL, and further assessment by a surgeon confirmed the news on Friday.
"We are all devastated for Michael, who is a huge influence for us on and off the field," Magpies boss Kevin Nolan told the Nottingham Post.
"Everyone at the club will do everything they can to ensure he comes back stronger from this.
"While he may be facing a while on the sidelines, he has a huge role to play as captain of this football club and he will be heavily involved in everything we do going forward."
O'Connor tweeted: "Absolutely gutted with rupturing my ACL in the game on Monday. Going to be a long and hard road to getting back on the pitch.
"With good people around me I am confident I will come back stronger and help Notts County to promotion next year."
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Joe Jones
Notts County and Luton Town have faced off 69 times in their history. The first meeting came in January 1912 when the Magpies secured a 4-2 away win in the FA Cup.
Luton dominate the head-to-head with 34 wins over Notts, 20 draws and 15 defeats.
However, out of the 11 matches between the two that have taken place since the turn of the century, Notts have won four, drawn four and lost three.
Luton Town Football Club was formed on 11 April 1885, the product of a merger of the two leading local teams, Luton Town Wanderers and Excelsior.
The club was the first in southern England to turn professional, making payments to players as early as 1890 and turning fully professional a year later.
It joined the Football League before the 1897–98 season, left in 1900 because of financial problems, and rejoined in 1920.
Luton reached the First Division in 1955–56 and contested a major final for the first time when playing Nottingham Forest in the 1959 FA Cup Final.
The team was then relegated from the top division in 1959–60, and demoted twice more in the following five years, playing in the Fourth Division from the 1965–66 season. However, it was promoted back to the top level by 1974–75.
Luton Town's most recent successful period began in 1981–82, when the club won the Second Division and gained promotion to the First.
Luton defeated Arsenal 3–2 in the 1988 Football League Cup Final and remained in the First Division until relegation at the end of the 1991–92 season.
Between 2007 and 2009, financial difficulties caused the club to fall from the second tier of English football to the fifth in successive seasons.
The last of these relegations came during the 2008–09 season, when 30 points were docked from Luton's tally for various financial irregularities.
Luton then spent five seasons in non-League football before winning the Conference Premier in 2013–14, securing promotion back into the Football League.
The club's nickname, "the Hatters", reflects Luton's historical connection with the hat making trade, which has been prominent there since the 1600s.
The nickname was originally a variant on the now rarely seen straw-plaiters. Supporters of the club are also called Hatters.
Luton is associated with two very different colour schemes - white and black (first permanently adopted in 1920), and orange, navy and white (first used in 1973, and worn by the team as of the 2015–16 season).
Team news
Luton are likely to be without Johnny Mullins and Jordan Cook - Mullins is back in training after recovering from a hamstring strain but this weekend is still likely to come too soon for the defender.
Cook, meanwhile, is still out after coming off early in Luton's draw with Leyton Orient last Friday with a knee problem.
Midfielders Danny Green and Cameron McGeehan are both long-term absentees with broken legs.
Notts midfielder Michael O'Connor will be unavailable for the trip to Kenilworth Road after he was carried off on a stretcher during Monday's 3-1 home defeat by Portsmouth.
The club are still assessing the full extent of O'Connor's knee injury and his place is likely to be taken by Elliott Hewitt.
Kevin Nolan is hoping veteran striker and former Newcastle teammate Shola Ameobi will be able to resume after he failed to make the bench for the Pompey game.
Ameobi sat out with a shoulder problem and is hoping to be able to return having been given time to recover.
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has reiterated the importance of having the right characters at a football club as he plans his transfer target list for Notts County's 2017-18 season.
With most of the Magpies squad out of contract in the summer, the manager has plenty to mull over in terms of who to keep, who might leave of their own accord, who will be let go and who should be brought in as a replacement.
"It's about getting the right characters because I think sometimes people get carried away by thinking 'right, we have to get this quality in'," Nolan told the Nottingham Post.
"But it's what players do off the field which is just as important and how they are around the training ground.
"Ability only goes so far because when the chips are down you need character. You need that balance in football.
"When you have a team of prima donnas they can be great for 60 minutes, but collapse in 30.
"I've seen it with a lot of teams. When you look at great sides in the Premier League, they had the ability but characters within it.
"Then outside of the 11 you had the other seven or eight driving them on. That's what I want.
"So if you do get a squad player then you need him to be a positive influence on the rest of the boys if he is not in the team as much as he would be if he was in it.
"When I've had that atmosphere and camaraderie previously, then I've only ever been in successful sides.
"Unity is something I am aiming for because I firmly believe when you have that you get better results on the pitch."
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Joe Jones
Notts County Ladies have folded just two days before their first match of the WSL Spring Series.
Due to face Arsenal Ladies away on Sunday, the Lady Pies were told the club cannot stay afloat 15 minutes before Friday's announcement.
In March, a winding-up petition against the club was adjourned for a second time, giving Notts until 3 July to pay debts owed to HM Revenue and Customs.
However, Alan Hardy said he "reluctantly admitted defeat" in his bid to save the Women's Super League 1 outfit.
A statement on the Notts website said: "I am devastated that we cannot continue the Ladies project but the numbers simply do not stack up. Continuing would have been little short of financial suicide.
"I wish to be totally transparent with supporters about the sums of money involved here. When I took over the club, HMRC and other creditors had in excess of £350,000 of unpaid liabilities.
"Additionally, I was extremely concerned that to operate Notts County Ladies for the current season was going to cost us approximately £500,000 – a figure principally made up of player and coaching salaries. Our total projected incoming revenue from attendances and sponsorship was £28,000.
"I have been tremendously impressed by the passion and enthusiasm shown by everyone connected with the Ladies set-up – manager, players and backroom team.
"They have represented Notts County with dignity, success and the utmost professionalism over the past three seasons. But the fact remains we simply cannot fund such a huge operating loss.
"I was also concerned that we had no real pathway for young players in Nottingham to graduate through the ranks into a WSL team.
"The existing structure is such that we have a strong elite-level team, but no academy pathway of progression through age-group teams.
"I met many times with the FA with a view to being granted Regional Talent Centre status but realistically it would have taken more than two years to become accredited.
"It's a very sad day for me personally and supporters should rest assured I have left no stone unturned in my quest to save the club.
"However, having taken all factors into consideration, the only possible outcome is to discontinue our Ladies club.
"I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to the staff and players and we all wish them every success in finding new clubs."
Players and fans were quick to voice their sadness at the news.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Joe Jones
Jon Stead has revealed that an offer for him to play in the United States is still on the table, but says he is "50/50" over whether he will stay with Notts County or not.
The veteran striker, whose contract runs out in the summer, has made no secret of the fact he was close to leaving Meadow Lane in the winter, but decided to stay put when Alan Hardy took over the previously beleaguered club.
Talking about his future, Stead told the Nottingham Post: "I think discussions will be starting in two to three weeks.
"I will look at all my options. The offer from America is still on the table and I think there are a few more clubs that are now aware of the situation.
"But I've kind of dismissed anything else in England apart from what will come here at Notts.
"Once I've had discussions then I can sit down and look at making what I know will be difficult decisions.
"I still have an open mind and I've no need to rush. I've loved being here the last three to four months under the gaffer, and his staff.
"That's made the decision a lot more difficult. I've had a couple of chats with the gaffer and we have a really good relationship.
"But my life is a bit on hold at the moment. I've got to make sure the next move is right for me and my family."
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has warned his Notts County players to forget about days off if they let standards drop in the final three games of the season.
The Magpies were mathematically assured of League Two safety on Easter Monday, despite losing 3-1 to Portsmouth at Meadow Lane.
However, the defeat also meant that the playoffs - very unlikely in the first place - were now out of reach, which effectively turns the rest of the season into a dead rubber.
However, Nolan will not accept this train of thought from his players, telling the Nottingham Post ahead of the trip to Luton Town: "We have a lot to play for.
"I want to go into next season with momentum and I don't want the season to tail off. We want to finish on a high and I feel we can beat anybody in this league on our day.
"I want us to give a really good account of ourselves and I will be disappointed if the attitude, application and professionalism drops. The lads will know about it and their days off won't be days off any more."
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Joe Jones
Alan Hardy has taken inspiration from Portsmouth's promotion celebrations at Meadow Lane on Easter Monday, and is hoping for Notts County to be doing the same in 12 months' time.
The Magpies fell to a 3-1 defeat against Pompey, which combined with Luton Town's failure to defeat Mansfield Town, saw the South Coast giants secure League One football for the 2017-18 campaign.
Hardy wrote in the Nottingham Post: "Watching the Portsmouth celebrations at full time, I suspect that all Notts fans had the same thoughts as me in that these are the kind of scenes we would love to be a part of in a year's time.
"Our form under Kevin Nolan and the players since January has been that of a promotion-winning team and it is the form we are so desperately keen to take into next season.
"The foundations we have laid are solid ahead of what will be a big summer at the club when we have to finalise the retained list, discuss new signings and so on.
"I have been asked on several occasions whether there will be a lot of upheaval in the summer, but this will be an evolution rather than a revolution.
"So moving forward there is much to discuss, because like all of the Notts fans, I hope that come this time next year, it will be us celebrating promotion to League One."
To read the rest of Alan Hardy's column, click here to go to his Nottingham Post page.
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Joe Jones
Jorge Grant has claimed that Notts County are not "that far away" from enjoying a promotion feast like Portsmouth did when they came to Meadow Lane on Monday.
The Magpies slipped to a 3-1 defeat against the South Coast side, whose ascent out of League Two was confirmed thanks to their win combined with Luton Town's failure to beat Mansfield Town.
Grant, who is on loan from Nottingham Forest, believes that Notts can take this season's form into the following campaign, with Kevin Nolan at the helm.
"I don't think we are that far away (from doing what Portsmouth did)," Grant told the Nottingham Post.
"The gaffer has obviously got everybody going this season and it's been a great run since he has come in.
"I can't see it not happening again next year. You've got to be positive going into next season like we have been since January.
"I loved being a part of it all too. Everybody has been really nice to me, and I've been able to play my football the way I like to play."
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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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