We’re all going on a League One tour, but what have Notts County made of 23-24…

Our great big review of the season comes to an end, fittingly, with a trip to Meadow Lane – the ground where County clinched the League Two title in style with a 5-2 win in April

Jun 10, 2024

Monday 10 June 2024

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⚽️ EURO 2024 SWEEPSTAKE ⚽️

£5 to enter. £50 to the winner, £20 to the runner-up, and £50 to Mentell. 24 teams drawn at random before the tournament starts. If you’d like a team, simply reply to this email (or drop Des Junior a message).

Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Notts County supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Monday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

It’s taken me a few weeks to put together, but I’ve finally spoken to supporters from every single team County faced in League Two last season.*

I didn’t plan the order in which these season reviews were published, but I like the fact we’ve ended up with Notts County to round it all off. Meadow Lane was the scene of one of the all-time great County nights in April, and it feels like the perfect way to close the chapter on our League Two coverage. K-Ci Rennicks from Notts To Talk About has the honour of wrapping up the series for us, looking back at the Magpies’ campaign.

Today’s edition is sponsored by R ‘N’ B Window Cleaning and CFN School of Motoring. A big thank you to Pete and Tom, and also to Craig.

Also, a big thank you to Crafty Crow, who sponsor our Notts County content on the website. I’ve actually been in there before. It’s a cracking city centre bar right opposite Nottingham Castle. If any of our readers are in Nottingham over the next few weeks, pop in for a couple of pints while the Euros are on.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 148.94 miles

Total steps so far: 237,462

Total raised so far: £1,831

Total completed streets so far: 304 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

*Eagle eyed readers will notice we haven’t featured Harrogate Town. I did try, but I couldn’t find anyone. Are we really that arsed, though? They finished 13th, the manager’s the chairman’s son, and they all like a cup of tea in that part of Yorkshire. That’s about it.

Champions! (Photo courtesy of Mike Petch)

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we’re all going on a League One tour! Are you going to give us a friendly wave off at the airport, or are you glad to see the back of us?

Very glad to see the back of you guys for a little while hopefully. It’s been enjoyable viewing seeing you fly up the pyramid with a constant increase of quality on and off the pitch. We’ve had some good games over the years but considering you’ve always been the favourites for the title, we’ll give you a nice wave off, whilst being grateful to see the back of you!

Gareth Southgate needs a last minute replacement for his Euro 2024 squad. Which Notts County player deserves the nod based on their performances this season?

Has to be Macaulay Langstaff, doesn’t it? I mean he already dropped his England C opportunity in the National League for Notts, so I feel like this can only be deemed as his reward. As proven by the recent friendly with Iceland too, sometimes goals dry up but one thing with Macca is that they never do. Two seasons, 70 goals. He’d be on the plane this summer if he was in the Premier League and that’s a fact!

With World War 3 getting closer with each passing day, the government have asked me to pass on the following questions:

A) Who’s been your toughest player in 2023-24, most suitable to stick on the frontline?

B) What’s the best food you’ve had at a ground in 2023-24, that we can use for the troops in the trenches to keep morale up?

C) If World War 3 does kick off, how will Notts County fans react in a crisis?

A) Scott Robertson. Easy. That man is as tough as they come in this squad. First time in a long while we’ve had that snappy midfielder who isn’t afraid of a yellow card. Stick him on the frontline and I reckon he does some damage for sure.

B) Excellent question as I love the typical away day scran and to be fair, this one is easy. The pie I had at Bradford was the most enjoyable pre-match five minutes I’ve had for some time now. Give the troops some of those and I guarantee they don’t lose the battle.

C) To be fair, we haven’t been used to a good defence for a long time now, so I don’t think we’ll be worried about being attacked as it’s something we’re used to. But I think we’d hold our own, especially if you take all of the 10,000 we get for home games. That would be some force.

Best moment of 2023-24?

For me it has to be Macaulay Langstaff securing the golden boot. I just know how much it means for him as he’s someone I’ve connected with on a number of occasions and the improvements he’s made to his game since joining in 2022 have warranted him that success. I don’t think it’ll be his final golden boot in the EFL too, as he just has that goalscoring ability that you can’t coach. He just has it, and he’d score goals in any team.

Worst moment of 2023-24?

Has to be losing Super Luke Williams to Swansea in January. We can never begrudge the move as it all made perfect sense for him, but it derailed us massively and it felt like a perfect story came to its conclusion prematurely.

Funniest moment of 2023-24?

Funniest moment is a good one. Although I was raging at the time, I’d probably say the catastrophic defensive calamity against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup that quickly went viral. That was the most embarrassing yet funniest thing I’ve witnessed on a football pitch for a long time. I’ll never forget it.

Four Four Two said you’d finish 3rd. When Saturday Comes said you’d finish 3rd. You finished 14th. Discuss.

Recruitment was very costly. We had January to right wrongs, but just made more wrongs. Losing Williams was always going to hurt, but Maynard was not well supported in January. We got some right, but still an awful lot wrong, and we need to show that we’ve learned from this season to prevent history repeating itself.

Father Christmas was at the home game with Notts County in December!

County 2 Notts County 1 in December. Notts County 2 County 5 in April. Thoughts?

I didn’t manage to get to Edgeley Park, which was the only game I missed last season. Apparently it was close, certainly a lot closer than the second game…

We were destroyed at Meadow Lane, brutally too. Can’t have any complaints when the statistically proven best team in the league come and perform like that against you. Just have to admire it really.

An emotional night at Meadow Lane in April

Best and worst away days of 2023-24?

Best was Bradford. Hadn’t won for an absolute age but ran riot and left with a 3-0 win. The away end that night was special.

Worst – Mansfield. Horrible stadium, hatred between both clubs, and we got beat by them which is something I never hope happens again.

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R ‘N’ B Window Cleaning have a brand new van on the road!

It’s lovely hearing positive news from our advertisers, so we’re delighted to say a big congratulations to Pete and Tom after recently launching their fifth van on the road.

The business is continuing to grow, and obviously a fifth van means they can take on lots of new customers. If you’d like to book a slot to have your windows cleaned every four or eight weeks, give the chaps a call on 07970 024993.

Visit rnbwindowcleaning.co.uk for further details.

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Get yourself on the road with CFN School of Motoring

If you’re looking for driving lessons, give Craig a call, who’s been a driving instructor for over 20 years. He offers a full and thorough driver education experience. Driving is a skill for life and must not be under-estimated. Craig provides a training environment to facilitate client centred learning, which will ensure that your driving lessons are tailored to suit your development requirements, helping you to develop at a pace that suits your ability and learning capacity. All of Craig’s customers leave his care as safe, competent and confident drivers!

Visit craignicksonadi.co.uk for further details.

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Photo of the day

Stockport Sports Village, Woodley

Last weekend, a group of County fans who play for Get Onside took on a team of celebrities (who also had Liam Dickinson in their line-up) at Stockport Sports Village. They lost 7-4 but still enjoyed a number of special moments during the match, including James Pratt – the matchday announcer for Stockport Town and County Ladies – coming off the bench and scoring. As you can see from the celebration, James rather enjoyed his goal!

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Today in SK

🎬 Cinema

One film at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (15) at 7pm. Click here for tickets.

🍺 Food and drink

Treat yourself to lunch at The Dog & Partridge (SK2). One course for £7, two courses for £11. 12pm - 2pm.

🎶 Free jukebox

The Nelson Tavern (SK1). From 6.30pm.

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100 random grounds that County have played at

#36 – Bootham Crescent, York

Last visit: County had a fantastic record at Bootham Crescent in the 90s, winning six and drawing two of their eight games. More recently, however, we lost at York on all four occasions as a non-league club. Our final game at Bootham Crescent was back in October 2019, with Jim Gannon’s men losing 2-0 in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup. We’ve not yet been to York’s new place.

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