2018 articles in this category
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Notts County goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons and defender Pierce Bird have signed new deals at Meadow Lane. The pair have put pen to paper on extensions that will run until the end of the 2019-20 season. Fitzsimons played 20 games for the Magpies last season, getting an extended run after now-released Adam Collin suffered an injury. However, he lost his place in the team after being sent off in a 2-1 defeat to Crawley Town for lashing out at an opposition player. “At the time [of
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Alan Hardy has given Notts County goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons a big vote of confidence, saying he will be "worth a large sum of money" in a few years' time. The 23-year-old has been offered a new contract by the Magpies and, should he sign it, is likely to become Adam Collin's successor after the former number one was released by the club. Fitzsimons did well in deputising for Collin last season but lost his place in January after lashing out at Crawley Town player Mark Connolly to earn
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Alan Hardy has admitted that Notts County are hoping to re-sign Ben Hall on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion next season. The former Motherwell defender played 11 games for Kevin Nolan’s side in 2017-18, after joining on a deadline day loan in January. Brighton have high hopes for the Northern Ireland under-21 international and awarded him a new contract back in April, but he is expected to go back out on loan in 2018-19. “It would be great if we could bring Ben Hall back to t
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Alan Hardy has paid tribute to the players released by Notts County this week and pledged to build for "another season to remember". The Magpies finished fifth in League Two last season and took on Coventry City in the playoff semi-finals. It didn't go to plan, however, as Notts lost 5-2 on aggregate, and although Hardy was left with resentment over the unjust refereeing decisions, he will look ahead to the 2018-19 campaign. "When you get that close to tasting success, it summons
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Jorge Grant says he has "improved so much as a player and as a person" following his loan spell at Notts County. The Nottingham Forest attacker has enjoyed two bright loan spells at Meadow Lane, in the second half of the 2016-17 campaign and the entirery of last season. With County's 2017-18 campaign now over, Grant has returned over the Trent but posted some kind comments about the club and the fans. “Big thanks to everyone at Notts County for the last 18 months,” the 23-year-old
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Matt Tootle has stressed that he "wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere else" after he committed his future to Notts County until 2020. The Magpies defender, who was voted the Fans' Player of the Year, was rewarded for his endeavours after the club unveiled their retained list on Tuesday. Writing on his Twitter account, Tootle said: “Absolutely delighted to have signed a new two-year deal at Notts. “I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else it’s been an amazing year which ended on
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Shola Ameobi, Rob Milsom, Adam Collin, Carl Dickinson and Jonathan Forte are among the players who will not be at Notts County next season as the club published their end-of-season retained list. All the players met with manager Kevin Nolan on Tuesday and a total of 11 senior players have been axed ahead of the new campaign. Meanwhile, Fans' Player of the Season Matt Tootle has penned a new deal at the club which will take him to 2020, while another six who were due to be out of contra
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Notts County are set to launch a new senior women's team, just over a year after the previous incarnation, Notts County Ladies, was folded. Magpies owner Alan Hardy "called time" on efforts to save the Women's Super League 1 side in April 2017 when faced by debts of around £500,000, and folded just before the season started. The Lady Pies had been moved from Lincoln to Nottingham and got to the FA Cup Women's Final in 2015, but Hardy stressed that "the numbers simply (did) not stack up
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Michael O’Connor has called for more ex-players to go into refereeing after Notts County were knocked out of the League Two playoffs against Coventry City. In the first leg at the Ricoh Arena, Matt Tootle was wrongly penalised for a foul on Tom Bayliss which saw Marc McNulty score a late penalty to earn Coventry a 1-1 draw. And in the return leg at Meadow Lane, Jonathan Forte saw an equaliser wrongly chalked off for offside when the score was 2-1, while Maxime Biamou's third Sky Blues
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Coventry City captain Michael Doyle has claimed that Notts County's attitude prior to the League Two playoff semi-final second leg effectively did the team talk for his side. The Sky Blues coasted to a 4-1 win on Friday night, putting them into the playoff final 5-2 on aggregate at the expense of the Magpies. Doyle felt County gave Coventry an extra incentive because of things like the specially printed Wembley T-shirts and comments made by Alan Hardy. “I just felt that they thoug
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Alan Hardy has paid tribute to the Notts County fanbase in an end-of-season message following the playoff defeat to Coventry City. A total of 17,615 people were in attendance at Meadow Lane on Friday night to watch the Magpies fight for a place in the final at Wembley. It wasn't to be unfortunately, with the Sky Blues instead winning the chance to go up in the showpiece event on Bank Holiday Monday, with Exeter City in their way. Nonetheless, Hardy was delighted with the Black &am
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Alan Hardy has urged the Notts County fanbase to play their part in what he hopes to be a night "that will go down in Meadow Lane folklore". Tonight, the second leg of County's League Two playoff semi-final against Coventry City takes place, with the tie evenly - and unfairly - poised at 1-1. Writing in the Nottingham Post, Hardy spoke at length about the nerves and anticipation involved prior to kickoff, the camaraderie in the Notts camp, and the role which the Black & White Army
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Notts County boss Kevin Nolan has claimed that Sam Allardyce "was hard done by" at Everton. The 63-year-old, who managed the Magpies 20 years ago but left in unpopular circumstances, was sacked by the Merseyside outfit following a six-month spell in which he guided the club to an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League. Nolan played under Allardyce at West Ham, Newcastle and Bolton, with the former England manager appointing him as captain on each occasion, and thinks he should have
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What's been happening in League Two over the last week? Here is Pride of Nottingham's round-up of the biggest League Two news from the last seven days. - Former Notts County boss Martin Allen has left his position as Barnet manager - in what was his fifth spell in charge at the club - following their relegation from League Two, and took charge of fellow relegated side Chesterfield. - The first legs of the League Two playoff semi-finals both finished evenly poised as Lincoln and Ex
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Notts County full-back Matt Tootle has spoken out to raise awareness of Mental Health Awareness Week. Last year, the 27-year-old opened up on how his career was almost derailed due to mental health issues and had cognitive therapy to help assist him. Tootle has been widely praised by his Notts teammates, staff and fans, not to mention the wider football world for speaking out. The player has once again sought to raise awareness of mental health and wrote on Twitter: "I’d just like
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Jorge Grant is hoping to make use of Meadow Lane as a fortress on Friday night in a bid to overcome Coventry City in the second leg of their League Two playoff semi-final. The tie is evenly poised at 1-1, though it should be a goal up to the Magpies were it not for the referee's outrageous decision to award the Sky Blues a late penalty in the first leg. However, Grant remains positive, both of County's performance at the Ricoh Arena and the prospect of being still in the tie ahead of w
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Kevin Nolan has provided an update on Jonathan Forte, who limped off in Notts County's playoff draw at Coventry City. The striker opened the scoring at the Ricoh Arena, only for the Magpies to be pegged back through a ludicrous penalty. “Forte is okay, he was just tired and had given a lot on a heavy pitch as all the players did,” Nolan told the Nottingham Post. “They were weary. They had a day off on Sunday and I told them to relax and recuperate. “Then it was back to work o
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Richard Duffy has praised teammate Jonathan Forte for his "fantastic" form in recent games and was delighted with his goal for Notts County against Coventry City. The 31-year-old, who has found himself frozen out of the first team on numerous occasions this season, opened the scoring at the Ricoh Arena with a deft flick from Dan Jones's cross. Notts were well on their way to victory until Coventry won a ludicrous penalty and drew level late on for a final score on the night of 1-1, but
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Coventry City manager Mark Robins has claimed that Tom Davies is not a cheat despite appearing to stamp on Richard Duffy and kicking out at Jonathan Forte during Saturday's League Two playoff semi-final first leg. Referee Gavin Ward, who awarded a completely ludicrous penalty to the Sky Blues late on at the Ricoh Arena for a 1-1 draw, did not see either of the incidents, meaning he cannot put it in his report. However, the FA can take retrospective action should they deem it necessary,
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Alan Hardy has described restoring pride to Notts County's fans as the most satisfying achievement of his tenure at the club. When Hardy took over at Meadow Lane in January 2017, the Magpies were looking odds-on to drop out of the Football League and potentially out of existence. In the 16 months that have followed, not only did Notts survive relegation, but have gone on to finish fifth in the current season, giving them a chance at the playoffs. "I’m often asked what’s been the m
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Coventry City full-back Chris Stokes has described Notts County as "basically" a "long ball" team and is hoping to see his side put another three goals past them. The two sides will lock horns for the first leg of their League Two playoff semi-final at the Ricoh Arena this Saturday before the return leg takes place at Meadow Lane six days later. Notts fell to a 3-0 defeat in the opening game of the season but won 2-1 when the Sky Blues came to Nottingham. “When they came here last
