Chris

Nottingham City council eventually leased a plot of land to Notts and a new home stadium was quickly erected. The stadium, 'Meadow Lane', would become the centre of football within Nottingham, as the ground en-counted historic moments, such as the World War II bombing, many matches and legends of the game. Moving onto the early 1990's then Chairman, Derek Pavis, set about plans to modernise the stadium. Over the years, the ground had witnessed a few characteristic additions but largely remained unchanged. After the Bradford City Stadium fire, when sadly 56 deaths occurred, plus over 250 injuries and the Hillsborough disaster, the Taylor report required football clubs to abide by health and safety regulations. This brought about a swift move towards many English football teams being required to modernise their ground. Meadow Lane was subsequently redeveloped in the early 90's.This saw the Meadow Lane End, County Road Stand and Spion Kop demolished and new modern stands replacing the former one's, as the Family Stand (Hayden Green Family Stand), Jimmy Sirrel Stand and the Spion Kop stand were rebuilt in a matter of months. Revamp cost the club an excess of around £5million pounds and a combination of selling strike partners Paul Rideout and Tommy Johnson contributed to the costs. During the close season of 1994, the Main Stand was replaced with the existing Derek Pavis Stand. The stadium is somewhere to be truly proud., it's many fans second 'home' and over the years we've seen other parts receive it's own revamps, such as the Meadow Lane Sports Bar. The whole ground has a 'special' family feel. It's only when you think back into the past, recall the nostalgic memories and look about the redevelopment that you truly the appreciation the feeling. Meadow Lane is also the only ground in Europe, possibly the world where the Chairman has his own personal view. The balcony is a wonderful feature of the stadium, as are many other aspects. My personal favourite being the tree locations, which I believe one will become the home of the Jimmy & Jack statue. I've taken some pictures of the Stadium using my mobile phone, I will share some below and hope to share the album with fans who might be interesting in browsing. -Edit: 28/05/2017 Due to the date in length of time between now and the original date of this publication, the link to the gallery has since experienced but if there's any interest (please do let us know) - I will consider releasing a new gallery of images that I have taken over the years. http://prideofnottingham.co.uk/community/gallery/album/15-/ Pride of Nottingham would like to Thank 'Notts County Football Club' for allowing me to take the pictures.

Harry was born 11th of February 2010, and was joined up to the junior magpies two weeks later. He was a proud owner of the football shirt at the same time. We took him to his first match when he was only a few weeks old. The match was against Macclesfield Town, and we won 1-0 (goal by Clapham in 18th minute). Harry was taken to every home game of the season, and a running joke that he was our lucky charm was soon banded about within the family and friends at the club. We also got married at the club in May 2010, which Harry proudly wore his Notts County Football kit and England football boots. As well as this, Mr Trew kindly arranged it so that we could bring Harry to the club, following training to meet players and the manager at the time, Steve Cotterill. He met many players who made a real fuss of him including; Neil Bishop, Ben Davies (shortly before his Derby departure), Lee Hughes, Kasper Schmeichel….But Harry was laughing and giggling away when he met Mike Edwards. Mike kindly spent around 15 minutes talking to us about his family and playing with Harry, so much that he had to be called back to perform his duties. This day is one we will never forget as a family, and Harry still treasures these photographs to this day. While going to the matches, it was wonderful to see Harry grow, and take more of an interest in the matches. It even became apparent he had favourite players. We always sat in the Pavis Stand, and so he would watch the players on the bench warming up, and Craig Westcarr in particular would always getting Harrys attention. Mike Edwards would always wave and usually come over to say ‘Hello’ to Harry during the pre-match warm up. And luckily Harry got to see Notts County get promoted, which he enjoyed at the final home game of the season. We still try to get to matches but unfortunately have not been able to afford it for a season or so. Hopefully we will be able to go to a few more of the games in the 2013-2014 season, and Harry can add many more signatures to his NCFC autograph book. Current Favourite Player; Alan Judge (but he also loved Hughesy) Favourite Chant; Wheelbarrow Song Best highlight of Meadow Lane; Promotion from League Two Pride of Nottingham would like to Thank Vicky and William, Also a big hello to young 'Harry' who we are delighted to feature as a Junior Magpie! If you would like us to feature your little one or child, please get in touch by E-Mail. webmaster(at)prideofnottingham.co.uk - Replace (at) with @

Pride of Nottingham recently asked Lynn Lawson some questions in hope to further raise awareness to such a worthy scheme - Lifeline. This as been a privilege for us, as ideally we would like to help the club. Yesterday we featured an article based on the membership side, this gave a brief insight to how Lifeline started. We hope the questions are interesting and of use to promotional members. Hopefully this will be a gentle push in the right direction, as it would be nice to fill the allocated spaces and reach a PROUD 2,500. Q; How important is it too for the club and fans to have the Lifeline scheme? A: September 15th 1986 the Club held a crisis meeting that drew 1500 supporters to the Astoria night club, funds needed to be found and Lifeline was formed. Now nearly 27 years on, Lifeline continues to plough money into the Club’s coffers and helps the Clubs finances. In 2009 we donated £80,000 to the Club In 2010 we donated £93,000 to the Club In 2011 we donated £110,000 to the Club In 2012 we donated £120,000 to the Club So you can see, the donations are increasing each year, so Lifeline is very important to us. We also pay out weekly to members £1520 in prize money and annually £10,000, a Car and Holiday vouchers. You Have to be ‘in it to Win it’ . Q; Can you tell us how the money raised is spent? A: Generally it helps the Club with running costs, bills, improvements, wages, and equipment. We also make regular donations to local charities, most recently The British Heart Foundation in memory of Joy Sharpe of Hillside Medical. Q; How long have you been handling Lifeline? A: I have been administering Lifeline since 2001, so 12 years now. Q; How is Lifeline comparing member wise in recent years to when it was most popular? A: We currently have 2025 members, the only other time the membership has been higher and to nearly full capacity was in 1986 when it was set up and then it reached nearly 2200. As a members scheme, our maximum membership allows us for 2500. In 2001 when I took over, we had just short of 1200 members. Q; What would be the ultimate achievement for Lifeline? A: To one day reach the maximum membership allowed at 2500 and to one day reach it's 50th Anniversary which of course will be in September 2026!! Fans have a better chance of winning than with the National Lottery and are supporting The World's Oldest Football League Club at the same time, so don't delay join today! It couldn't be easier! This is a follow up to "You Have to be 'in it to Win it" Pride of Nottingham would like to Thank Mrs Lawson for taking the time out to answer our questions. Please be sure to visit the official site to find out more about Lifeline and also to enter your chance of winning Kiwomya’s Lifeline Tickets.

On Monday the 15th September 1986, 1,500 supporters packed into the Astoria Ballroom while more fans were locked outside gathered to hear about the financial difficulties the club had found themselves in. The clubs future was threatened with the financial crisis, as then Chairman Jack Dunnett was the only financial support and the club desperately needed to clear debts of over £1.8 Million. It was a direct result of the fans, players and board members support that the Lifeline scheme came into existence with John Mounteney quickly reaching 2,500 members. Lifeline could only be possible with the dedication of any steward, with the fans making sure just how important it is to have something to aid the clubs coffers especially times become hard financially. Notts County has long been established as a family club. The presence of staff members, even to this modern day, and the board make our club feel much different to any other. Lynn Lawson has been administrating Lifeline since 2001, which in 2003 would have played a vital part in saving our club as we once again found ourselves on the brink of administration quite similar to when the scheme was originally started. At the fans forum on Wednesday 3rd April, the entry and all proceedings went to Lifeline. £250 was also donated to the British Heart Foundation in memory of Joy Sharpe who had sadly passed away.On Friday the 12th, I met up with Jurgen who kindly offered me to attend the fans sponsor dinner. Inside the club shop 'Lifeline' was being discussed, I am not a member but I have always been interested. Lynn and Jurgen spoke about it and you could see how much it meant to Lynn and with the right person behind such worthy scheme it can only go forward. I'm going to join, I hope those who aren't members that read this consider it also. Inside our community 'TonyHateley' started a discussion about Lifeline, he had asked if anyone was also a member. He kindly allowed time to answer some questions, along with Kirk Ward (a budding photographer). Q; When did you join Lifeline? Kirk: Joined about 2 years ago TonyHateley: You are testing my memory a bit here and as I have said before it is not good. I've just had a look at my bank statements back to 2007 and I was paying it then but I can't go back any further, so I've certainly been in it since then but I was in it a lot earlier than that but was made redundant in the early 90s and stopped it for a while and then started again when I got my finances back on track so I reckon on the present numbers I have been in probably since 2000 or some thing like that, sorry I can't be more specific. Q; Why did you join Lifeline? Kirk: Because it gives something to the club and also gives me the chance to win prizes at the same time. TonyHateley: The reason I joined is simple I love the club and wanted to help them out whilst at the same time hopefully win a little something myself. Q; Could you tell me some of your highlights during the time you've been a member? Kirk: Highlights has to be winning £100 a few weeks ago. TonyHateley: I have had one win and that was the jackpot £1,000, I remember I was working at the Derbyshire Times Newspaper in Chesterfield at the time and my wife phoned me, I was worried that something was wrong because she didn't ring me normally, when she said the postman had just brought a cheque from Notts County for £1,000 I nearly fell through the floor, I never checked my numbers so it was a great surprise. We used the money to have a great holiday that year. Over the years we have been to some great events organised for Lifeline members, every year they have the Lifeline Gala Night, where there is normally some entertainment and a chance to win £10,000 and a car if your numbers are drawn out. At one such event we bought some raffle tickets and were amazed when we won an Executive Box for a match of our choice for 8 people. We had a great time, I can't remember that match but as soon as people knew I had won I suddenly had lots of friends who wanted to join me. In the end members of my family and two close friends including a Chesterfield fan joined me in the box, I think we won but again memory fails me. Continuing the good luck theme but not related to Lifeline, I always buy a 50-50 ticket at the match and have twice won, once when my son was with me at the time he was a struggling student so I shared it with him, I think it was about £400 he was well pleased but probably spent it all on drink as students do. The second time I was on my own and it was a night match so the win was a lot less about £200 I think but still a lovely surprise and I remember going to claim my prize and they gave me an envelope with cash but I had to wait a while and when I walked back to the car which was parked on Trent Embankment, the crowds had dispersed and it was dark, I was really worried about having this cash and if anyone had followed me I could be mugged. Paranoid or what. To join lifeline please visit the official club website. Lynn Lawson's kindly answered some questions for us, please do keep an eye out for this feature as we are very honoured to have had our questions answered. This will follow shortly but for now please do visit the official website to find more information.

The past couple of days for myself haven't been like any others, it's actually been awhile since I felt this type of excitement. I had been asking the Italian Magpies quite a few times when or if they planned to come over, very much wanted to meet them, and I can now say I have had that pleasure. What an absolute honour for us, to be included and able to share the day is just beyond anything I can write or say. Very surreal! It felt like the whole two days were more than just a gathering, almost family being reunited – Two Hearts and One Soul. I'm not sure I can give this occasion the credit it deserves, yet I am inspired with ideas and so I will be turning this into a couple of blogs also. I think Nottingham/Italy will be hitting the Facebook severs with how many statuses/image uploads have been made (or should I say will be). The day for me and Jake started off by catching the bus into town. We had arranged to meet up with Andy Black at the train station as a couple of the Italian Magpies were travelling down. I felt pretty nervous. I can usually overcome this if I push myself but I think the excitement didn't allow me to do so. I pretty much stayed in the background but was concerned about seeming rude or uninterested, just very overwhelming. We got to near the Broadmarsh bus station and I noticed Andy, Paul, Lindy and Josh walking. I mentioned to Jake they were who we were meeting up with and he kindly reminded me of a time. I shouted 'You Pies' to Lindy in the Broadmarsh shopping centre as they walked out of Wilkos. Paul quickly noticed us, and he said hello and I introduced Jake to the group. I'm sure he must have felt a lot like me, if not worse, though both Paul and Lindy were amazing with him. After meeting up with two travelling Italian Magpies, Max and Phil (His real name isn't Phil), we all walked down to the Jury's Inn where the rest of the group had been staying. Jake by this point was a little more nervous and he was getting a little impatient, as children do. When everyone was together, it was amazing. The bond was interesting, as an outsider to watch, as you could tell instantly it was a special group of friends who all enjoyed the excitement of such an amazing event. A quick tram journey to the City Centre, another short walk to Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, several photos taken at this point and a nice look around the pub. The group sat down, we all enjoyed our drinks and the laughter/banter started to come a little more. Jake by this point was playing games with me, at one point he pretended to be Spiderman and insisted I was the bad guy who he was going to beat up. He can get quite hyper if allowed, though he's a credit to me and my wife (very lucky with all 3 of our children). He wanted to put his “Pride of Nottingham” T-Shirt on and was asking if I would be handing out flyers. Jake wanted to hand some to the Italian Magpies, though I didn't really like the idea and I was sure, thanks to the kind work of Giorgio Zunino, that each would know about the site. He quickly came out of his shell, laughing and asking me questions. Andy returned from meeting up with Paolo and his son. Jake by this point was very, very excited about the day ahead and repeatedly mentioned 'Can I say hello to them'. I was already on the verge of doing so myself, however Jakes enthusiastic largely helped and we went across to introduce ourselves. We finished our drinks and then we had another short walk to the Robin Hood statue where we had many photos taken, Jake being a little poser was disappointed as I wouldn't allow him to go into the photos and I asked him to wait so they had one with all the Italian Magpies without myself or him photo bombing. Amazing, I might type this quite a few times but all the group were very kind to Jake (I know he'll be proud of this for years to come). Phil kindly gave Jake his “Juve Scarf” and things like this always makes him very happy, He was very grateful. The journey continued with something Nottingham residents would have wondered what was going on. A large group of Notts County supporters walking to the ground, all very proud and acting as any football fans should – respectful to all. Once at Meadow Lane the event stepped up to a much higher level, 'special' just doesn't give it credit and I'm afraid I can't explain it. Walking onto the pitch with the Italian Magpies – One of our proudest memories. Included as friends and a affiliates. Do they ever stop giving? Such loyal, passionate and amazing people who I wished I had gotten to know much better. I have to say I wished I could have come out my shell a lot more, however I enjoyed it and you can tell that they did. Credit needs to go to Lisa and Andy Black, great hosts and they've introduced the Italian Magpies to the best of Notts County. Lindy, Paul and Josh all credit to the group as-well. The club did fantastic to make this day special, I hope it brings us all closer together. Juventus doesn't owe a single thing, the Italian Magpies travel for the passion and much to their dedication. I hope the day is documented by the club because each visit does deserve to be remembered in a nice way. After all the amazing efforts from many, this was exactly the type of “positive” day the club as been in need of for a very long time. We need things to lift the spirit, fans majority amazing, also very warm and welcoming. People clapping such deserved support! I felt like an imposter and rather feeling I didn't deserve the memory, I still don't but I am thankful. Thank you to everyone who made Jake feel on top of the world, all the warmth and love. I sincerely hope the Italian Magpies had a great time, feel the warmth and love we all gave. If I am not too selfish, I would also like to mention that I dearly hold on to the future and hope to get to know them all much better. Italian Magpies – Dear friends of Notts County Football Club.