FAN’S VIEW  2026/27  – NOTTS COUNTY AWAY

Pre-match musings

What a strange season this one has been so far. Our league campaign kicked off on 15 August and nearly two months later we’d ended up playing fewer games than any other team in L1. Table toppers Plymouth have played 50% more than our six, nine teams two more than us and the rest one. How the **** did it come to that?

We’ve already had three away games in a row and are now scheduled for a similar run at the Kassam later this month. That’s not normal.

Normal, what’s that when it comes to football? Dropping back down to L1, I thought we would be experiencing a bit more normality in the form of traditional Saturday 3 o’clock kick-offs.

No, we’re not getting that. Start time at Meadow Lane is 12:30. That’s something we have to put up with as clubs at this level get about £1.2m each from Sky. Championship clubs get 80% of the pool, L1 get 12% and L2 get 8%.

Early starts bugger up pre-match enjoyment of local hostelries. Pints, if available, are rushed.

Nottingham is a fine city but we won’t have much of a chance for a poke about on the day before we get down to the reason we’re there.

And if this isn’t enough, we have no game next Saturday at any hour. That’s because our trip to Mansfield has been brought forward to Thursday. Yes, THURSDAY. Bloody ridiculous.

Complaints may start flying about as we play catch up if our squad can’t cope with what will likely be the most demanding of any tier 3 team, but for now on the field I’ve got nothing to complain about.

When it all started against MK and with the news of the transfer embargo still ringing in our ears who would have thought we’d be where we are? I’ll use the points per game methodology to iron out the disparity caused by games played. We’re 4^th with only Bradford, Wednesday and Huddersfield above us.

Notts County 1 Oxford United 2

Turns out starting two and a half hours before most teams isn’t too bad after all. Already heading home with three points in the bag as most fellow L1ers were only just starting to go about their business was rather satisfying to say the least.

And, even though it’s not my favoured time for beer, the Trent Navigation, in the circumstances, very much ticked the pre-match pints box. It’s Good Beer Guide listed, is about two minutes’ walk from the ground, is home and away fan friendly  and has a large outdoor, although covered, fanzone called the Big Shed attached to it.

I do have a slight quibble though, first round of two and a half pints, cost £15.10. How often does anyone check in a place like that? Just tap your card on the machine without looking. When the next round was purchased, I was told “you’ve been done”. When I then bought two pints, I was only charged £9.60.

The screen in the Big Shed is apparently the largest in the Midlands and I have to say you certainly couldn’t miss it.  There was a slick presentation covering Oxford United by a man in a Notts County shirt. Pictures were shown on the screen and I particularly liked the solution to sorting out a pixel malfunction when there was a black rectangle. The MC said technical support would sort it out. They did by hitting the offending area quite hard with a long stick and by magic all pixels were instantly back in the game.

Although quite different, the only pre-match events I’ve ever attended that come anywhere near this have been the Green Taverners Fan Fests at Plymouth Argyle.

Having been quite close to the stage after it had finished, I went up to have a quick complimentary word with the man with the mic. He told me that he was surprised how many Oxford fans were on the premises. He also volunteered that he “wasn’t going to the game” and that he is a Forest season ticket holder. The Big Shed is also used when Forest are at home but then because of the size of the home support, away supporters are not allowed in.

The guy’s name is Simon Fotheringham  “a Nottingham-based host, quizmaster and sports media contributor” with “a strong background in commercial and sales leadership, and a natural feel for a room”.

Really good turnout from the Yellow Army again with over 2k in attendance giving impressive support from start to finish. I didn’t hear a single word of criticism and can detect a real feeling of optimism in the air at present. We know that there will be, as the saying goes, bumps in the road and that you never really know what’s around the corner but for now let’s enjoy the ride we never thought we’d be on just a few months ago.

We were excellent in the first half and looked way superior to the hosts. It appeared that we were playing Championship standard football in a L1 setting. Silly thing to say perhaps because it is a L1 fixture but County were playing L1 stuff. There’s a noticeable gap between the divisions. It’s abundantly clear to us that the standard this year is lower than last. Of course it is. We’re finding it easier. Players that struggled in the Championship now look much more comfortable. As their hearts are still genuinely in it the experience gained over the last two campaigns is standing us in very good stead for what’s ahead.

Aaron Ramsey has got us moving the ball around much quicker than has been the case for many a year and with that I feel much better entertained.

Whether he would have been able to get us doing what we’re doing now if we’d somehow survived in the Championship is open to debate. Tier 3 football is played in calmer waters. It’s not as quick and a rebuild of style can be achieved more easily at this level. But don’t get me wrong I think the quality of the product even in L1 is still of a high standard and the £19 + £2 booking fee was well worth the money.

Home supporters with a social media presence have also picked up on the gap between divisions. Having been promoted last season they are looking at it from a different perspective than we are. Lots of moans that they’re not good enough and if they don’t invest, they’ll go straight back down. Much too negative in my view but that’s football fans for you.

I don’t know what they expect. To be immediately challenging at the top end of the table?  This is after all their first season back at this level for 12 years and they spent four years in the National League only returning to the EFL in 2023.

After this result they may be in the bottom three but it’s tight margins. They’ve drawn four and although they’ve lost three on the spin that’s been to us, Bradford (2^nd) and Reading (6^th).

They were much improved in the second half here and were only more than one goal behind for just three minutes in the entire game. The three subs they brought on at the break made a difference and no.25 Nick Tsaroulla caught the eye. He wanted the ball and was keen to get things moving when those around him appeared to be a bit in dilly dally mode.

Enough of them though. Back to us.

Even though Notts were better it couldn’t be said that we were unduly troubled as we defended the end furthest away from our fans. Our back line is solid and we no longer get outnumbered and overrun in the centre of the park.

It wasn’t until added time that we conceded. We gave Rory Finneran a bit too much room on the edge of the box. Not every L1 player would have produced the finish he did. Finneran, another half time sub, is on loan from Newcastle.

When I started writing about the match it was my intention not to be critical of any of our players. However, having seen replays of this I think Mark Harris is guilty of ball watching and had no awareness of the scorer. If he’d been alert and moved to his right Finneran’s path to goal would have been blocked. I don’t mean to have a downer on Sparky but that’s what it looked like to me.

Thankfully we saw out the last few of the added minutes with ease.

Harris did of course give us the lead in the 18^th minute. A gift but they still need putting away and he read it well to turn  it into a gift. Gifts that we never got in the Championship. He’s got four already which is more than he got in the whole of 2025/26 so he’s doing that well and congratulations on his 150^th appearance, in all competitions, for us.

Aaron Ramsey likes him. Instead of taking him off when Gaitlin O’Donkor comes on he drops him deeper into midfield instead.

Our second goal with just two minutes of the 90 remaining was a classic breakaway effort. This isn’t something we’ve been known for over the years but to now have that in our locker is a real asset and proof of fitness and pace in the squad.

Defending a high ball into the box we had everyone back in our final third. An outstretched leg from Kai Andrews got the ball to Luka Lynch just outside our D. he turned and was off with a player going with him to his left and one to his right. The one to his right was Cameron Brannagan. In the blink of an eye it was 3 v 3 midway in Notts half. The pass to Cam was perfection and so was his first time finish, low and accurate, past the despairing dive of keeper James Belshaw from the edge of the area.

Truthfully, we shouldn’t have had to wait this long before we’d doubled our lead. In the first half Tyler Goodrham shot tamely after a good passing move and Siriki Dembele blasted over after we’d received another gift.

But I should really be focussing on the positives.

TG looks like he’s getting back to his best. There’s a spring in his step again.

A few eyebrows were raised when Louie Sibley started and Andrews didn’t. Sibley played well.

Peter Kioso had a strong case for man of the match and Ciaron Brown just did what Ciaron Brown does with no evidence of knackeredness after all those international minutes. He must still be on a high after his two goals against Ukraine.

In conclusion this was a real team effort where everyone played their part. On this occasion we didn’t have our tricky players, such as Dembele and Mo Missanga beating one player after another. That’s for another day.

I’m finding it quite difficult not to get carried away, which at my age is ludicrous. I should know better.

Points won thus far in the league table show that we’re in 8^th position. When commentators and pundits sum up on TV they fail to mention the number of games we’ve played. I’m quite happy to be under the radar. A points per game table now puts us top. We average two, next best are Plymouth on 1.9.

Now time to focus on Thursday night when we’ve got to be bang on it again. The Stags might only be 14^th in the proper league table but are only three points behind us having played one game more. Their home form is impressive – unbeaten having won 3 and drawn one. That draw was against Huddersfield and they put five past Luton.

I’m feeling the tension already.