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Cheers stu,supported Notts since I was 7, and did every 1st,2nd 3rd and 4th ground in my years..Kettering and the likes included!!

Maggie's always had a good smattering of Scottish and Irish players. We graded the pies at half- time and on long hauls stayed over. Best Chinese ever,Notts v West Brom, was The Happy Gathering in Birmingham.. just behind the bull ring. Meadow Lane had a great feel about it then..even Alvin the groundsman was a star!

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Yeh, lots of happy memories too, mate. I'm a Hibs fan and always will be but I suppose I began getting taken to Notts and Forest matches soon after our family came to live in Nottingham. First season would have been 1966/67 and if I recall correctly, there were about 90 league places between Notts and Forest at that time (!) but I used to enjoy both teams equally.

One of my great heroes, Joe Baker, was in his pomp playing for Forest (wow!) at the time but not long after, when a certain little Scottish guy came to manage the Meadow Lane boys, things began looking up for the Magpies.

I've posted it here before ages ago but just for your interest, an account of an absolutely magic afternoon I spent with Jimmy Sirrel. What a man!

An Afternoon with Jimmy Sirrel

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Oh yes! Nice one, Ian - Turnbull's Tornadoes! What a team they were:

Jim Herriot

John Brownlie

Eric Schaedler

Pat Stanton

Jim Black

John Blackley

Alex Edwards

Jimmy O'Rourke

Alan Gordon

Alex Cropley

Arthur Duncan

The best in my lifetime, they absolutely destroyed Hearts on New Year's Day 1973, 7-0 at their place.

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I certainly remember Bestie washing up at Dunstable but Wiki says he was there on loan in 1974 and never played a game?

The same source states the Jeff was there in 1974-5 scored 25 goals but doesn't give appearances.

According to the information supplied by Dunstable Town for the match programme when they visited Merthyr Town earlier this season:

'1973 saw Dunstable end the season bottom of Division 1 North. The young Barry Fry became manager, but the club finished bottom again. The club then had a new owner Keith Cheeseman, who had a lot of money, or so it seemed, and former West Brom and England striker Jeff Astle was bought in, along with George Best who played 3 games for the club. 1974/75 saw Dunstable promoted back to the Southern Premier, having scored 105 goals - 34 of them by Astle. However, after getting into serious debt with Cheeseman’s mis-dealings, the club was shut down in the 1975/76 season.'

The club history on Dunstable's website has an extra bit of information:

'George Best even gave the club £25 out of his own pocket to buy a new set of nets.

It was shortly after that Best agreed to sign for Dunstable in the pre-season of 1974-75.'

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Stu,no relation to Jim but Eric black for Aberdeen wasn't a bad player..think he went to France or Italy?

Think Eric went to Metz in France, Ian. Was quite successful if I remember. He was a 'modern' kind of forward and a technically good player who got a couple of caps.

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Other way round mate? Kevin Thomson has had two spells at Hibs and was let go (mistakenly in my view) the close season before last after Terry f***wit Butcher had all but ruined the club. He's had a good season and a bit at Dundee though his legs are on the wane a bit now. He'll be returning as a player coach, mainly the latter I would think, and was at the game today. Probably announced with Celtic and ROI striker Anthony Stokes (on loan) tomorrow.

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Man u thugs..never saw a pair of Skinners at the lane,pies fans attired themselves in suitable garb..do recall that donkey jackets was also a choice of apparel for terrace hooligans.

Only had one bit of trouble in all my time following County.. at Stoke.

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That was the game where the Man Utd fans were threatening to break into the changing room after the game.

Apparently, Sir Jimmy had 'Jackson's' scalpel ready in hand in there to set about 'em. He'd be remembering the Glasgow razor gangs of his youth.

They were lucky not to get 'chibbed' by Jimmy!

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Too right Stu,Jimmy when he had his blood up,could make the Boyle one look like a wee one!!

A thumb razor,the chef who taught me how to cook Jim Mc Auslan told me some great dance hall stories.. Antique sword fights on the dancefloor whilst The Poets were playing!!

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I reckon he could look after himself! He told me a few stories about gangs and blades in the Glasgow dancehalls of his youth.

Saw some 'impressive' weapons in and out of the football in Glasgow when I used to spend my summers there in the seventies. Peak period for young guys carrying full length swords down their trouser leg. Best one though was a bike chain with old style razor blades attached to it.

*Ahem* Back to the football!

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Well it all came crashing down again after Jamie Fullarton's unbeaten run of...er one game.

Notable how he's picking nearly all British players although his squad has many foreign players.

Some comments below I noted on a Notts forum. Bl**dy hell - cheer up boys and girls. :)

'Past caring'

'Deserved to lose 0-6'

'Hear the Conference calling'

'The sooner the clown is sacked the sooner it feels like my club again'

'Angrier and angrier with the garbage being churned out'

'Feeling of complete apathy every week'

'Constant depression and low expectation at Notts County'

'State of terminal decline through this century'

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As a club they're in a world of trouble, Lizzy and I agree it is very sad. I'm really not sure what the way forward for that club is...

They have a new manager that nobody wanted nor has any faith in. They are a hapless and directionless football club these days that makes very few sound decisions. The crowds are dwindling and who can blame them if more of the diehards simply give up on them and walk away.

Their supporters now appear to be in a situation they feel of having to watch another unsuccessful managerial appointment be played out in front of them - for however long (short) that takes.

Ian - like that - a bit of humour in the face of adversity - as per the 'Wheelbarrow song'!

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Stu, as long as I can remember, there's always been turmoil at Meadow Lane in one shape or another. I'm not a Notts fan by any means but probably went to a good percentage of home games during the 80's as did many Forest supporters. They're survivors, they just need a decent guiding light. Surely there's a multi billionaire Nott's fan somewhere?

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You're right - it's been so long now since there were better, more stable days for the club. I think it was different for them years ago under the very different stewardships of Jack Dunnet who ran a tight ship and the more expansive Derek Pavis and that's the big difference now. There are less wealthy benefactors these days prepared to throw their money at the Notts County's of this world.

Ray Trew appears to totally divide the Notts support. Apart from his continual poor choice of managers it's maybe hard to knock him in other ways, having bailed them out. I just get the whiff of him getting involved directly in football matters but I could be wrong. The problem is, who else is there? There's the rub and why I am not optimistic about their prospects.

They may continue to to survive and of course I hope they do but unless those fortunes pick up, dropping to the Conference has to be considered a possibility- next season if not this.

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