Robbie

GB under 14 Boys advance to the Winter Cup final with a 3-0 win over Romania. They play France tomorrow in final

It's matchday. Can we tame the red dragons today?

A Notts County Historical Great. William Eric Houghton, (Eric) Born 29/06/10 was an English footballer, Manager, & Cricketer. Football Career. Houghton signed for Aston Villa in 1927 as a seventeen-year-old & played in the Villa side until 1946, scoring 170 goals in 392 games (The total including wartime matches was over 200 goals.) He also won 7 caps for England. Houghton scored 30 goals in the 1930-31 season for Villa, in which Villa scored 128 league goals, a First Division record. Houghton transferred to Notts County in 1946 & over a three year period, he scored 10 goals in 55 games for Notts. Managerial Career In 1949, Houghton became Manager of Notts County & Eric is regarded as being the Manager of Notts who guided them through their first golden age, with players in the side including Tommy Lawton, & Jackie Sewell, who helped their side win the Third Division South Title in Eric's first season as Manager, in front of record attendances. Eric remained Notts County Manager until 1953. In 1953 Eric Moved to Aston Villa as their Manager, guiding Villa to a FA Cup triumph in 1957. He left Villa in 2958. He later returned to Villa as a director. Cricket Career. Houghton played seven first-class matches as a right-handed batsman and a right-arm bowler for Warwickshire County Cricket Club (1946–1947) and also minor counties cricket for Lincolnshire County Cricket Club. He also played club cricket for Sleaford, Aston Unity and Olton Cricket Clubs. Houghton died in Sutton Coldfield on 1 May 1996, aged 85. (Source Google) Legacy. William Eric Haughton will be remembered at Notts County as Managing & guiding a great side that won the Third Division South Title. Eric is a Notts Managerial great and legend.

Game day. A trip to the league leaders tonight. Sheffield Steelers v Nottingham Panthers, face-off 7pm.

Your Saturday Morning Weather Make the most of any drier and brighter conditions on Saturday morning as western areas will turn increasingly wet later in the day A bit chilly first thing in northern Scotland but another mild morning for most of us

Great analysis by Tom Williams. Analysing the 4-2-3-1 against Newport. CLick in the Link. Great analysis by Tom Williams. Analysing the 4-2-3-1 against Newport. CLick in the Link.

Just imagine Notts County going out to Spain to play Barcelona for 3 games in 1914, pre War.and coming back with three wins.

This was a really great match. It was end to end stuff from beginning to the end. Manchester City had a good side and Clive Allen led their line. Manchester City hit the woodwork 3 times and I call this match a Steve Cherry masterclass, he was absolutely brilliant that day, saving several shots at point blank range and winning one on one battles too Notts had their chances too, Kevin Bartlett missing two excellent opportunities in the first half & Phil Turner too . Phil Turner & Kevin Bartlett found themselves clean through in the 2nd half but couldn't put it away. And we come to the drama two minutes from time when Gary Lund stroked the winner What drama, and the scenes at the end. Unforgettable

What a win this was against Manchester City. What a match this was. Steve Cherry the hero. I was privileged to be there.

Weather for Friday Afternoon. Another mild afternoon to come and feeling spring-like in any sunshine and light winds Large amounts of cloud for some areas though and even the chance of an isolated shower, especially in some northwestern regions

Weather for the next seven days The weather stays mild for the next several days, but it turns colder towards the end of next week with a return of some hill snow.

Your Weather for Friday morning. Rain will clear the far southeast during Friday morning Some early fog patches in Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland and northern England too Otherwise a cloudy start, scattered showers in the west alongside some bright spells and mild temperatures

Brilliant podcast by Tom Williams reflecting on the win at Newport.

Highlights from Panthers Superb win against Dundee Stars.

Weather for Thursday evening. Rain will continue to sweep eastwards, with some heavy outbreaks at times Cloudy elsewhere, with some mist and fog, and also some showers in the west Staying very mild, especially in the south

Silver medal for GB's 4x200m Freestyle Relay quartet of Freya Colbert, Abbie Wood, Lucy Hope and Medi Harris

Laura Stephens takes the 200m butterfly Gold at the World Aquatic Championships.

Gold for Aidan Heslop in High Diving at the World Aquatic Championships.

Plenty of rain around this afternoon with some heavy outbreaks in the west The driest and brightest of the weather in the southeast with some sunny spells Feeling very mild away from the north and beginning to feel like spring in the sunshine.

The Newport win on Tuesday was down to the hard work carried out by Stuart and his team with the players over the last few weeks. The changes that we witnessed at Newport, clearly improved our defensive play not just at the back but all over the pitch. Our attacking threat wasn't compromised either. We look as much as a threat than we have been all season. Stuart got the balance between attack & defence almost to perfection on Tuesday. Reverting to a back 4 with traditional full backs was a good move. The emphasis on a defensive midfield with Robertson holding, giving Jodi a freer role, putting Macaulay wide and Didzy up front worked very well. There is more work to do, every game is different, each opponent will have different threats that we have to counter, but it does appear that Notts are looking a much solid all round side under Maynard.