Notts Thoughts

Remembering Jimmy Sirrel's nose . . . Chiedozie scoring with a looping shot whilst running at speed from the right flank against Luton at Kenilworth Road . . . "that story" concerning the old ladies of Turin . . . perplexed that for the life of me I couldn't remember (or know of) Rachid Harkouk. He's the sort of footballing character* that When Saturday Comes would have devoted a special pull-out section to in its glory days . . . County fans insistance that there is only one team from the city of Nottingham . . . Everton's Andy Gray at Meadow Lane not trusting either of his feet in the penalty box and opting instead for what can best be described as a sliding header . . . surprised to think that both Deans and Lawton played at Meadow Lane in the black and white . . . less surprised to know that Draper and Johnson played for them many decades later . . . buying 'The Pie' in Sportspages on Charing Cross Road . . . thinking that if Charlie Resnick wasn't from the black and white side of the Trent, he should have been . . . wondering what sort of surname McSwegan is, and where it came from . . . certain that the only reason Fat Sam decamped to St James Park was because he misses the glory days of managing a team playing in black and white vertical stripes, and because Michael Owen reminds him of Sean Farrell . . . setting your heart on really, REALLY liking Shane Meadows' Twenty-Four Seven but feeling let down by it all - yeah, the soundtrack's overrated as well - when you saw it in the theatre on its release, and it's one saving grace being that laugh out loud joke at the end of the film by one of the minor characters about replica Notts County shirts being sold at Tescos . . . wondering why you have a soft spot for the Magpies despite the fact that their best known managers since the Sirrel era have included such kick and punt merchants as Fat Sam, Neil Warnock and Howard Wilkinson . . . designated driver - and former Notts County player - Jermaine Pennant only scoring one more goal for Liverpool than he did during his time at Notts County . . . and that final thought; yeah, I know, the same question that's been pondered a million times before but if Notts County are considered to be the first football club to be founded in the modern era, who the hell did the play against? Did they play five a side practice games amongst themselves for 12 months until Stoke City foundered were founded in 1863?

*Despite the fact that he's best known as a Notts County, I could only find colourful quotes from his time at Crystal Palace.