Coca-Cola League Two

Tuesday 12th February 2008, 7.45pm

Another struggling season for Notts County - England's oldest club, who may not yet be out of the relegation battle.

The topsy-turvy world of Meadow Lane saw another managerial casualty, with Steve Thompson getting the bullet after a dreadful start in October.

Man to watch Richard Butcher Ex-Peterboro and Lincoln midfielder, who has got his fair share of goals since joining the Magpies in the summer.

Full match previews on the D@rlo Uncovered website.

Meadow Lane has been developed into a decent all-seater ground, with plenty of room in the modern away end behind the goal in the Kop end. There's a good view, with plenty of toilets and catering facilities. The programme (£2.50) is very well designed and produced, certainly one of the best at this level. Admission: Normally prices are: Adults £16, Over 60's £10, Under 16s £5 - pegged to last season's prices.

Notts County FC: Meadow Lane, Nottingham NG2 3HJ Tel: (0115) 952 2000 History: Formed in 1862, the world's oldest club; founder members of Football League 1888, although early years spent playing at cricket grounds, including Trent Bridge. Won FA Cup while in Div 2 in 1894. Crowds of 30,000-40,000 in WWII post-war years, with Tommy Lawton, but relegations to Div 4 in mid 50s. Good times again in 1970s under Jimmy Sirrel, with promotions and club returning to Div 1 in 1981/82 for first time in 56 years. Financial problems in mid 80s but promotions again under Neil Warnock and one more season in Div 1. Sam Allardyce stopped the slide but decline again when he left in 1999 and more financial problems. Saved from near extinction last season. Record Attendance: 47,310 v York, FA Cup, 12 March 1955 Capacity: 20,000 Last season: 13th Honours: FA Cup winners 1894, beating Bolton at Goodison Park; Div 2 champions 1896/1897, 1913/1914, 1922/1923; Div 3S champions 1930/1931, 1949/1950; Div 4 champions 1970/1971, 1997/1998; Div 3 play-off winners 1990 and Div 2 play-off winners 1991. Record victory: 11-1 v Newport Co, Div 3S, 15 Jan 1949 Defeat: 1-9 v Blackburn Rovers, Div 1, 16 Nov 1889 Nickname: The Magpies. Colours: Black and white stripes. Manager: Ian McParland Chairman: Jeff Moore Players in: Felix Bastians (Nott Forest, loan), Ali Gibb (Hartlepool, loan), Ryan Jarvis (Norwich, loan), Guy Branston, Lee Canoville (Boston), Paul Mayo (Lincoln), Neil McKenzie (Scunthorpe), Hector Sam (Walsall), Tim Sandercombe (Plymouth), Adam Tann (Leyton O), Spencer Weir-Daley (Nott Forest) Players out: Paul Mayo (Darlington, loan), Saul Deeney, Dan Gleeson (Cambridge), Dan Martin (Mansfield), Jake Sheridan, Tcham N'Toya, Alan White (Darlington), David Pipe (Bristol Rovers, £50,000) . Famous fans/players/connections: Tommy Lawton, Don Masson, Brian Kilcline, Rachid Harkouk, John Chiedozie, Gary Birtles, Andy Gray, Jermaine Pennant (players), Jimmy Sirrel, Howard Wilkinson, Neil Warnock (managers), Sam Allardyce (player and manager). Click for Streetmap of ground

Exit Junction 24 of the M1. Follow the signs for Nottingham on the A453, through Clifton, passing Trent University on your left. At the next set of traffic lights, continue straight over and follow the signs for West Bridgford (B679). Continue for two miles, at the junction turn left onto the A60. Continue over Trent Bridge and take the first right turn at the lights into Cattle Market Road, with Meadow Lane stadium on the right-hand side. Parking in the Cattle Market carpark, opposite the away end, or on surrounding streets.

Trains: Good news is that Nottingham station is less than 10 minutes walk from Meadow Lane. Turn left and left again onto Queens Road and follow this road to a T-Junction with London Road. Turn right here and follow the road until the first left turn onto County Road. The stadium is on the right. If travelling from the city centre, as for buses, there are bus services including the L1, L2 and L3, and nos 90 and 91 to Trent Bridge. There is a tram service linking the station with the city centre (and beyond)- it costs £1 single or £2.45 for an all-day ticket.

Suggested trains (UPDATED JAN 08): Darlington (no train back); London St Pancras (last train 21.30)
Birmingham New Street: 17.09 arr 18.37, rtn: Last train is 21.54 (Leicester 22.23) 22.49 arr 23.43. Cheapday return £11.90; saver retun £17.
Sheffield: 17.41-arr 18.29. Rtn: 21.42-arr 22.38 or 22.58-00.41. Cheapday return, £10.60.

Easy Cabs Tel: 0115 914 5555
Gold Cars 0115 965 6444
Trent Cars 0115 950 5050

Darlington FC Supporters Club
Coach 3.30pm, £17.50. Contact: 01325 243911. See Darlington Supporters' Club for more details.

Real ale/near the ground and station Vat & Fiddle 12-14 Queens Bridge Road (100 yards from Nottingham station) 0115-9850611 A DAFTS favourite for Notts County or on the way to Mansfield. A pub close to the station and an easy walk to Meadow Lane. Consistently good beer from a choice of 10 hand-pulls, including a mild.This ex-Hoskin's pub is now run by Tynemill and is situated next to the Castle Rock Brewery, from where you will allways find two of their beers on. Also on offer are 70-plus malt whiskies.This single room pub is only two minute's walk from the main railway station (turn left and over the road out of the main entrance). Parking is very limited.

Near the ground The Globe London Road Pub near the ground with good food and real ales, recommended by CAMRA and with up to six beers on. The Southbank. Near Trent Bridge, this pub serves good food and has Sky Sports, real ales including Mallard Hooters, Hicking Building, London Road, NG2 3AS As the name suggests, its dolly-bird barstaff approach, aimed at stag parties and passing football supporters, is the angle here. They also do a Tex-Mex style menu. And no-one worries about the beer.

Real ale/city centre Old Moot Hall, 27 Carlton Road. This should be open after a refurbishment, but still promising real ale. Worth the 10-15 minute walk from the railway station, close to the ice house. This is a very hospitable real ale bar in an old converted chapel, with an early morning service. Open from 10.30am, so ideal for those who want to help the breakfast digest. An excellent range of real ales and on a winter's morning/lunchtime it was also warm inside. Not sure if they did food, as it was early, but there as a large screen for sports fans.DAFTS recommended.

In the ground, the catering facilities are good - fine pies (Pukka, costing £2.30) and also coffee and chocolate. They also sell alcohol - bottled Carlsberg.

Thanks to Colin Fletcher, DAFTS Notts.

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Nottingham is a pretty lively city - plenty of nightlife of all kinds. For those wishing to stay overnight, there numerous places to stay are located around the station, from smaller hotels to chains. The council website has a visitors' guide, and there's also Visit Nottingham. A tourist information centre is located near the Market Square, 1-4 Smithy Row, Tel: (0115) 915 5330 and accommodation can be booked from there. The Information Centre is a 10 minute walk from the Station forecourt. Rail timetables Virgin Trains GNER National Express Online map Hotels/B&Bs Evening Post BBC Notts County Nottingham Council Notts Pubs Nottingham CAMRA Notts Tourism MAGPIES IN BLACK AND WHITE: If you enjoy a decent football book, especially about the '70s and the lower leagues, then can I recommend "Steak..Diana Ross - Diary Of A Football Nobody?" It's the account of a season and half in the life and lunchtime of young Notts County midfielder David McVay. He's since become a sports writer with The Times and you can see why. Diaries by players these days are often crushingly bland and pointless. This, in the vein of Gary Nelson's books about an ageing pro, is a sharply funny coming-of-age account, despite the distance of time since it was written - presumably with a hang-over. As well as long bouts of drinking around training, there's the toilet humour of certain team-mates and the dry, if sometimes incomprehensible, logic of one of football's "characters," manager Jimmy Sirrell (pictured left). Ex-Darlo player Eric Probert also makes a regular appearence. Available for £9.95 etc - or ask nicely and you can borrow mine. Surfing there... The Official Notts County website is pretty detailed and one of the better efforts of this ilk. A new site, which is well laid out and neat-looking, is YouPies - early days but already lots of info and stats. Worth a peek is SuperNotts is a site dedicated to nostalgia and Notts past. Don't also forget Notts County Supporters' Trust, who were supportive of the Darlo Trust in the past. Next away game: Bury (Saturday February 23rd, 3pm) Anything worth adding? Please e-mail us any suggestions. Back to index page No responsibility is taken for accuracy, if in doubt check before travelling. © DAFTS 2007