COUNTY COUNTING COSTS

Clint is a local golf course man....maintaining it with dutiful care, so of course, he is more important than the posh blokes who run it! He is also a walking footballer and we meet on a Thursday for an hour. Clint wears his Notts County shirt with pride for County is the oldest football league club IN THE WORLD.

The club also sent in 1903, some black and white striped football shirts to a fledgling Italian club in Turin called Juventus, just to help them out.

I watched Notts County in 2013, in my pursuit of the Football League's 12 original clubs during the league's 125th anniversary season. The FL was founded in 1888 and at the end of the first season, Notts County came 11 out of 12. Stoke were root and Preston top, way ahead of Aston Villa. The Invincibles at Preston had played 22, won 18, drawn 4, scored 74 and conceded 15. County had won 5 and drawn 2 scoring 39 (13 more than Stoke) and let in more than any other club, 73. (22 more than Stoke).

In 2013 County beat Crewe Alexander 4-0 on the 5th October.

Today, in 2019, County are presently "root" by 6 points in Division Two, which means if they stay there, their Football League status will end with relegation to the National League. Today they play Lincoln City who are top of the division by 4 points. It looks grim!

The club's strange chant is "I had a wheelbarrow, the wheel fell off", which seems suitable considering the state of the club.
https://www.fanchants.com/football-songs/notts-county-chants/i-had-a-wheelbarrow/
In recent years County has declined drastically. The comparative success of neighbouring Forest (from Clough era) did not help, bad investments, a squad too numerous, manhy sacked managers, inner city redevelopment near by meaning the loss of local housing and therefore support and in 1992, the club's relegation from the old Division One to Two, just before the financial incentive of the Premier League became available. Not much has gone in the club's favour.

For a club that pre-dates the Football Association, The Magpies (see below) have a long history, including winning the FA Cup once in 1894, beating Bolton 4-1 at Goodison Park and thus were the first team to win the Cup from outside the top flight. Jimmy Logan scored a hat trick, the second person to do that. They had also been runners up in 1891 losing to Blackburn Rovers at the Oval. Some club alumni include Albert Iremonger (look him up), Tommy Lawton (famous), Jimmy Sirrel (legendary manager), John Stead (prolific goalscorer) and Neil Warnock (you know)! Below are the cup winners.

Previously playing at Trent Bridge, they moved to Meadow Lane in 1910.
Let's hope that the Magpies make a remarkable recovery in the League this season!!

An infamous Magpie supporter was Harold Shipman.
AS I WRITE NEARLY AT HALF TIME COUNTY ARE ONE UP!