"Don't stop, never give up, hold your head high and reach the top, let the world see what you have got, bring it all back to you."

The cheesy the better! Haha

From BBC Sport (link to full story):

The German Bundesliga, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and France Ligue 1 are some of the leagues in Europe to have a winter break in their schedules, and the Premier League is also considering introducing one when the next television rights deal is agreed.

In a statement, the Premier League said it had been "in discussions" with the EFL and the FA, but, due to the intense calendar of the EFL, Shaun Harvey says it is not feasible for a winter break to be rolled out below the top flight.

"We have been involved in the discussions to start with. The EFL won't observe a winter break," said Harvey. "We have a 46-game season. We need as many Saturday 3pm kick-offs as possible.

"The reality is if it is about giving the England internationals a break at the Premier League clubs, we can carry on without negatively impacting on that objective."

Is Harvey right to pour cold water on the prospect of a winter break for the EFL, or is it a shame?

Its not getting beat thats embarrasing its the way we have just been statues with no pace and made them look like fooking Barcelona.

We have been a joke tonight, I don't care for the whole their Premier league etc etc, we have been an absolute joke.

My little lad has just gone to bed heart broken by our farcical performance

I'm expecting this to be fairly straight forward, yet I know there's a lot of split opinions about if we have 'strengthened' or not in terms of the players brought into the club during the January transfer window. It's my hope that an early assessment will enable us to see what might have changed and, what the current thoughts are since the excellent performance over Crewe.

Personally, the deadline day signings made me happy - people have naturally questioned Bennett but he looks comfortable in this league and I always felt his pace would be an asset.

Hall will probably be a backup player, so until we see him play - we'll not really know if he adds much weight to the back but on paper it's a decent addition.

Noble, Virtue and Husin fills the void and improves the squad a fair bit.

That said, I'm personally not sure where Virtue would fit into the squad considering the current form and I think he could become a impact player from the bench - as I can't see him starting really.

We do look much more stronger in my opinion. What about you?

Saturday's Fixtures:
Bolton Wanderers v Fulham
Derby County v Norwich City
AFC Wimbledon v Northampton Town
Shrewsbury Town v Plymouth Argyle
Coventry City v Accrington Stanley
Stevenage v Luton Town

based on a mean of 5...though it can be difficult to give ratings only seeing the match from behind the goal

Collin 3.5 Questionable of being exposed as not match fit? Some really excellent shots by Swansea but sometimes you expect your keeper to pull off some spectacular saves. I would have Fitzsimons back in immediately

Hunt 4 One stray pass early on, the Swans counter attacked and scored. Needed a cool head but many times in the second half, he kicked it anywhere when he should have demonstrated his experience and looked to hold on to possession

Duffy 4 Needed the captain to stand up and help organise. However the real blame was in midfield

Brisley 5 Thought he did well, a learning experience against a real mobile front line of Swansea

Dicko 3 Swansea targeted him for his lack of pace. Cruelly exposed on National TV

Virtue 2 A good examination of him without the ball. It was like playing with 10 men, no challenges, no man marking in midfield, just drifted aimlessly around as Swansea dicted and ran through us

Husin 6 Another moment of class with a slick finish. looks comfortable but missed Hewitt today.

Grant 4 One good shot bringing a good save. Scouts will note he doesnt work hard enough without the ball, goes AWOL for long periods

Hawkridge 4 Did show up his lack of pace with the ball but did try to protect Hunt. Tried to at least put in challenges

Alessandra 3.5 Needed to show some pace and ability to keep possession.

Stead 5 barely had a touch as Notts wasted what little possession we had.

Subs

Milsom 5 good to see him back but proved a training match towards fitness rather than any contribution to note

Forte 5 at least showed some willingness to chase

Smith 5 Left a mark on some Swansea players to remind them what a challenge is

Should we scrap using the loan system next season or do you think its worth exploring?

I feel loans should only be used to top up the squad rather than rely on them as we have during this campaign.

On my normal mean of 5

Collin 5.5.. Wonders will never cease, just seen him release the ball quickly twice in one game. #Astonishing  In terms of his normal job, too static, and poor communication with Duffy and Brisley, for balls Collin should have dealt with.

Hunt 6 Disciplined performance

Duffy and Brisley  7 each. Solid and dependable

Jones 6.5 Got into good positions

Hewitt 7.5 A very dodgy opening 20 minutes with a book full of misplaced passes. After that excelled in a box to box running game, a la Andy Hughes

Husin 8 Stupendous strike, when we needed it.Some studious passing , making the midfield tick

Grant 6 Was well marked by Crewe which in turn gave Elliot the space

Alessandra 6 Cant fathom out if he deliberately chooses not to cross in an effort to find a better ball. Offers movement but lacks the clinical edge when we looking to score 5 or 6

Stead 6 Goal scoring run, temporarily put on ice

Shola 6 Missed a great chance to score

Who was your man of the match for Notts County against Crewe Alexandra?

I think yeah he is this is just temporary glitz which all teams go through. I think he will pick up the team and drive us forward to promotion 

he seems to be thriving in midfield, i thought he would struggle with noble coming in and all the other players who play there but i quickly think its becoming his natural position. its hard to see him losing his place in the team after performances like yesterday.

what do you think?

Saturday's Fixtures:
Leeds United v Cardiff City
Preston North End v Hull City
Northampton Town v Rochdale
Plymouth Argyle v Blackburn Rovers
Colchester United v Newport County
Luton Town v Exeter City

Name: Meet the Fans 17-18 - Crewe Alexandra (03/02/2018)
Category: Meet the Fans
Date Added: 2018-02-04
Submitter: Chris

Pride of Nottingham was at Meadow Lane for Notts County's 4-1 win over Crewe Alexandra and interviewed several Magpies fans ahead of kickoff. 

Questions asked include how they rated County's January, which deadline day signing will prove the most crucial, and whether Notts can beat Swansea City and then get the better of Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup.

If you would like to feature in future Meet the Fans videos, get in touch! Feel free to submit potential questions below and we will look into asking them. 

Be sure to subscribe, share, like and comment - your support is greatly appreciated. 

Visit us on: 

Website: https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/

Community: https://prideofnottingham.co.uk/community/

Don't forget to register on our site, look out for us on social media and at live games. COYP!

Meet the Fans 17-18 - Crewe Alexandra (03/02/2018)

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Game 31 - The Alex (H)

Team: Crewe Alexandra

Date: 03/02/18

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Kevin Nolan opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

I think it's a fantastic offer, which has created another buzz around Meadow Lane and in turn it looks likely that it will help to break our highest attendance.

I say 'likely' because at this stage nothing is guaranteed, I mean there's controversy over the business that purchased tickets - only to use them as a way to encourage people to spend £50 in their stores (crazy and insulting if you asked me). I mean, just because x amount of people have purchased the tickets, it doesn't mean they will show up.

This is my concern, as I hope we do break the highest attendance and I think we will.

I'm just suspecting that it won't be a true sell-out, or full attendance.

At £2, the weather conditions could play a massive part - people might just not bother. In fact I know season ticket holders who have told me they won't be attending due to them expecting various forms of hassle on the day - which I can understand but I do think we should try to be there if it's possible.

What do you think?

As the title suggests, i took a panoramic picture when the ground was empty and one just before kick off.

Lovely for those that couldn't be there to see what a full Meadow Lane looks like

So, what do you think?

We've got the positions we required but are you happy with the players who have been added? Without seeing either play, I feel it would be harsh to criticise. I know nothing about Ben Hall, Mason Bennett is a little different. He was once considered to have HUGE potential and I know Derby fought off teams like United to hold onto him.

He might not have done much recently, however he's got pace and should fit in well within League Two.

What do you make of the two deadline day signings? Are you happy, content? Let PON know...

A massive congratulations to @ARLukomski for appearing in a BBC Sport feature video about Notts County's FA Cup run! Was pleasantly surprised to see this!

Here is the link to watch the video and see Declan representing the mighty Magpies in the nationals!

Once again, well done m'lad!

An entertaining and informative interview from Sky Sports with Notts County veterans Jon Stead and Shola Ameobi, alas not-very-affectionately named "The Old Guys"...

The Old Guys: Jon Stead and Shola Ameobi Q&A

Jon Stead and Shola Ameobi may be well into the twilight of their careers, but both are still going strong for Notts County as they push for promotion in League Two.

Ahead of their FA Cup clash with Swansea on Saturday, Stead, 34, and Ameobi, 36, sat down with Soccer Saturday to discuss their motivations to keep playing, their proudest moments and more...

What motivates you both to keep playing?

Stead: "When you've played for as long as we have you've got to have that hunger and appetite to keep playing every day and still improve. When you get that and also have good results then it makes you want it even more."

Ameobi: "For me it's the challenge of putting your body through what you have to do to compete with these younger guys at the weekend.

"But it's a challenge we both relish and I think it's important to still have the hunger to want to keep improving and to try and help the team. It's a great challenge we both enjoy and we're still excited to be out on the pitch every week."

How do you keep improving at this stage of your career?

Stead: "I'm probably not going to get any quicker, that's for sure! But I think we can get better learning from the younger lads. The game is always evolving and there are always new aspects to it. It could also be changing your own game slightly and using your experience to help some of the lads.

"There's also stuff we can pick up from the manager as well. He is just about older than me, but that's not the case for Shola! But the manager [Kevin Nolan], [his assistant] Alan Smith and Shola are people I can learn off because they've all been there and played at the top level for a lot longer than I have."

Ameobi: "Obviously as you get older you can't quite get to the balls you could before, so I think it's a case of being smart as well.

"You're always learning and obviously as Jon said you're giving back as well. The younger players enjoy playing with us because of the experience we've gained over the years and it's important to set an example for them."

What are the proudest moments of your career?

Stead: "From being a Huddersfield fan as a kid to making your debut in the first team, that was obviously a massive thing for me.

"Also scoring the winner for Blackburn against Manchester United at Ewood Park, although you may have to dig deep to find that one! That was obviously a highlight for me coming straight from the old Division Three to the Premier League. It was all a bit of a whirlwind and a pinch yourself moment."

Ameobi: "For me playing at the club I've supported since I was a boy in Newcastle was something I never took for granted, and to play for that long was a joy and something I really cherished. Playing for your boyhood team is always special and to do it for that long was really exciting for me."

How much longer do you see yourselves playing?

Stead: "As long as the hunger is there and I'm enjoying it, that's the main thing for me and Shola. We'll keep playing if our legs keep going! But I think both of us have a good couple of years left in us yet.

Ameobi: "At the end of the day you have to put your body through a lot, and it's important that if you're going to succeed at anything that there has to be that excitement and enjoyment, and I think we've both definitely got that. Long may it continue!"

Notts County have played at Meadow Lane for over 100 years, but the more history-keen among you will know the Magpies used to have a bit more of a nomadic existence in its early, early days.

One of its more stable homes prior to the Lane was Trent Bridge, best known for being the home of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and also hosting plenty of England games.

The Trent Bridge website has posted an incredibly informative and engaging article about the early Notts days at the Bridge, so I encourage all of you to read this (here is the original link).

WHEN TRENT BRIDGE HOSTED NOTTS COUNTY'S FIRST EVER FOOTBALL LEAGUE GAME AND DERBY MATCHES AGAINST FOREST

Trent Bridge is world-renowned as a cricket venue, but what far less people realise is that is has hosted a whole host of Football League matches too.

Indeed, it was at the iconic venue more readily associated with bat on ball than boot on ball that Notts County played their first ever Football League match.

Some 50 years after William Clarke opened the ground for cricket use, the Magpies took on Blackburn Rovers in their first home game of the 1888-89 season on 6 October 1888 and drew 3-3. It followed their first-ever match against Everton at Anfield, where they lost 2-1 on 15 September that same year.

Among the scorers for the hosts that day was Radcliffe-on-Trent-born Harry Daft, who not only went on to win the FA Cup with County in 1894, but he also played for the England national side, as well as some 200 first-class matches for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club between 1885 and 1889, taking 86 wickets and scoring 4,370 runs.

During that period, it was not uncommon for players to appear for Trent Bridge’s resident cricket and football teams. For instance, County’s first season as permanent tenants in 1883-84 – they occasionally played there before then – saw plenty of multi-talented sportsman, as depicted in a photograph of the football team’s FA Cup semi-final against Blackburn (pictured above).

Among those wearing the black and white on that day in a 1-0 defeat were former Nottinghamshire captain John Dixon – of Dixon Gates fame, the entrance to the ground next to the club’s main reception – Herbert Emmitt, who made two first-class cricket appearances in 1884 and William Gunn, who was an international in both sports and the founder of cricket equipment manufacturer Gunn and Moore.

Also in that side were Mordecai Sherwin, who doubled as Notts’ wicket-keeper between 1878 and 1896, Arthur Cursham, who played between 1876 and 1879 and brother Henry Cursham who played twice for the county at cricket, but incredibly, with 24 years between his first and second appearances!

Notts County’s first ever match at Trent Bridge had come back in 1866-67, when a crowd on 2,000 saw a 1-0 win over Sheffield on 14 March secured by a JC Hodges goal. The record books show that the first Nottingham derby match against Forest at the ground was a bit of a disappointment as the game ended 0-0.

The second round FA Cup tie of 1883, however, was much more of a spectacle, certainly those of a Magpies persuasion, as they breezed past their rivals in front of a crowd of 10,000 with a 3-0 victory.

Five years previously, the Club had played their first game under floodlights at the ground, before the Football League days, in November 1878 against Derbyshire.

It followed swiftly after Sheffield United’s became the first team to host a match under artificial light a month-and-a-half earlier and, while the Magpies’ match was deemed a success with a 4,000 crowd in attendance, regular floodlit matches did not become commonplace until the 1950s and 60s because of FA rules.

The first non-playing secretary of Notts County was Edwin Browne, who was also Assistant Secretary of the County Cricket Club, living in accommodation at Trent Bridge where the toilets are now located to the back of the current pavilion.

It was this cross-game link between the two clubs that paved the way for the football club to become tenants and they were still in situ when they received a letter from Nottingham Forest in May 1892 (pictured above) asking for their support to join the Football League, by attending a meeting and voting for their admittance.

Forest’s HS Radford, Honorary Secretary, explained that he was writing to ‘solicit you vote and assistance when the clubs are selected’. As Reds fans will know, the club were successful in that application and started their Football League history in the 1892-93.

The two Nottingham clubs met in Division Two in that inaugural Forest season at that level, with County 3-0 victors at Trent Bridge in front of 15,000, while the newcomers won the return 3-1 – and finished five places above their neighbours in the league.

The Magpies continued to play at Trent Bridge throughout the 1890s and early 1900s, with one of the highlights being promotion from Division Two to Division One as champions at the end of the 1896-97 campaign, beating off the challenge of Newton Heath, now better known, of course, as Manchester United.

Another moment to remember came in 1900-01, when the club attained its highest ever league position of third behind only champions Liverpool – who County beat 2-0 in the FA Cup that year – and second-placed Sunderland.

Notts continued to use Trent Bridge – except for the early and late season match at the City Ground – until the end of the 1910 season, when it was decided by the trustees of Trent Bridge that they would not be renewing the lease of their footballing tenants.

It forced County to move to the Meadow for the start of 1910-11, where they re-erected a stand that was dismantled and then transported over the river from Trent Bridge.

Football is not the only other sport to have been played at Trent Bridge. Others such as hockey, tennis and archery have also been played on the ground – but they are other stories for another day!

Collin 6 First game back and looking a bit rusty in movement, understandably. Probably says a lot about Nolan's view on Pindroch

Hunt 5 We miss Toots in an offensive play sense but Hunt was more disciplined than usual in his defensive duties

Duffy & Brisley , both 7...good positioning and blocking against a Swansea forward line with great movement

Dicko 5.5 Defensively sound though hasn't got the attacking prowess of Jones

Hawkridge 6.5 His effort and defensive covering can get overlooked. he put some good balls in

Noor 6 Glimpses of a player who is comfortable on the ball.

Hewitt 6 Covers the miles. He was lucky with the cross prior to the goal, as the ball was out.

Grant 6.5 Got into good positions and should have converted some of those chances. Unlucky with the free kick

Ameobi 6 Always awkward, set up the goal well for Grant's cross

Stead 7 In a rich vein of form 

As a team, 7.5..... Only around 30 per cent possession but well structured when without the ball. Made it hard for a Swansea team, who individually looked comfortable creating time and space. Particularly, liked Swansea's #6, Mawson

Saturday's Fixtures:
Barnsley v Fulham
Ipswich Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Portsmouth v Shrewsbury Town
Southend United v Scunthorpe United
Carlisle United v Forest Green Rovers
Morecambe v Mansfield Town

Who was your man of the match for Notts County against Swansea City in the FA Cup?

FA Cup - The Swans (H)

Team: Swansea City

Date: 27/01/18

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Kevin Nolan opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

So Chris did this for League Two so I thought I'd do it for the other leagues

Who's going up and down in League One.

1. Wigan Athletic

2. Blackburn Rovers

Play offs: Bradford City

21. Blackpool

22. Oldham Athletic

23. Rochdale

24. Bury