How easy is it to get back?

[jscarr]

I'm pretty confident we'd bounce back, but I don't think it would be at the first attempt. Whatever happens we need to clear out the dead wood and start rebuilding.

[Bohinen]

I think Hardy will give next season a real go. He won't say so but I am sure he is planning ahead already. Clearly a massive clear out is needed. I would think Notts will keep O'Brien, Osbourne, Dennis and Kellet and ditch the rest. As far as I am aware, FFP doesn't apply in the National League. There are decent players to cherry pick from Vanarama- like Rowe and Bonne and lots of League 2 players that will switch if the price is right.

I don't think vilifying Hardy and sacking Ardley will help. They need to start planning for promotion now.

I would think Notts would keep Hewitt, Milsom, Vaughan, Fitzsimons, Duffy, Brisley and Stead and maybe sign Thomas on a permanent deal. Why? Because we are ****ing clueless. Ardley has not proven himself up to the job at all.

[Bohinen]

i was thinking yesterday that this level of suffering surely has to mean something, like it'll somehow pay off in the future and all be worth it. But I'm honestly not so sure. That's not how life, or football, works.

It certainly hasn't worked like that for Chesterfield fans.

[Apotheosis]

As a suffering Chesterfield supporter, I’ll be honest with you and say the National league isn’t an easy league to get out of. You need to put every effort into staying up as the reality of Non league will soon hit hard if you do fall through the trap door. Alot of the teams in this league are well funded and all of them are difficult to beat. You will come up against some part time teams, but there is nothing amateur about their physicality, work ethic and organisation.

After overcoming the pain of relegation, you will start to feel optimistic about seeing new teams and visiting new grounds. Arrogantly, you'll think you are a big fish in a little pond, but it will soon become apparent that you are just the same as the rest (tin pot). I thought it couldn’t get much worse than getting relegated but losing easily at home to the likes of Maidstone and Gateshead and getting truly thrashed by Solihull Moors (4-0) is about as bad as it gets.

Oh and the standard of refereeing is truly abysmal.

[feeb]

interesting post Frigi, nice stats. just to increase you list size of ex league teams we used to play regularly, (one for the older supporters, who remember in the 1960s going to exotica like, Bradford park Avenue, Barrow, Workington. Halifax, non of whom ever got back.

[sidders]

As I reckon there’s now a 90% chance Notts will be in the National League next season, I’ve been thinking about how long it might take to get back into the EFL. The evidence of what has happened to other clubs isn’t very encouraging.

I took a starting point of season 2002/3, which was the first year in which 2 up 2 down was in force between what are now League 2 and the National League. Since then, 29 different clubs have been relegated from League 2, 3 of which, Torquay, York and Barnet, have gone down twice.

Of these, only 4 have gone straight back up again. These were Shrewsbury (2004), Carlisle (2005), Bristol Rovers (2015) and Cheltenham (2016). Not many out of 32 relegations. The next quickest returns were by Torquay (2 seasons in 2009), Barnet (2, 2015) and Tranmere (3, 2018).

Others took longer.... Oxford (4, 2010), Exeter (5, 2008), Mansfield (5, 2013), Luton (5, 2013), Grimsby (6, 2016), Lincoln (6, 2017), Macclesfield (6, 2018), York (8, 2012) and Cambridge (9, 2014).

And of course there are those that haven’t made it back up and perhaps never will.... Kidderminster (now National League North, 14 seasons since relegation), Rushden and Diamonds (SLP, 13), Boston (NLN, 12), Wrexham (NL, 11), Chester (NLN, 10), Darlington (NLN, 9), Stockport (NLN, 8), Hereford (NLN, 7), Aldershot (NL, 6), Torquay (NLS, 5), Dagenham (NL, 3), York (NLN, 3), Hartlepool (NL, 2), Leyton Orient ((NL, 2), Barnet (NL 1) and Chesterfield (NL, 1).

Some of these, such as Darlington and Rushden, aren’t strictly speaking the same club that was relegated, but they are all close equivalents.

So if we do go down, it could take a long time to get back up again. There are some relative minnows in the list like Kidderminster and Boston who massively over achieved by ever reaching League 2 in the first place and perhaps it isn’t surprising that they haven’t come back. But there are others, with roughly the same size and fan base as Notts, who took several years - Oxford, Grimsby, Luton and Tranmere for instance. And one, Stockport, which has been in the sixth tier for several years now. In fact it’s the first time I’ve ever been able to regard Bristol Rovers as a beacon of hope!

It could be a long hard road back.

Scarborough? The very club from which Notts bought its 2nd most successful manager. Hopefully National League North next year then playing Notts the year after if Notts remain Conferenced.

[SwalePie]

Scarborough? The very club from which Notts bought its 2nd most successful manager. Hopefully National League North next year then playing Notts the year after if Notts remain Conferenced.

Hopefully not.

[karl wheatly]

Thats what I can not understand when folks say might be a good thing we go down & re build.It's fecking hard league to get out of & who is to say another bad season hey presto North divison

Many Notts fans aren't aware that if we get relegated to National North we face losing Meadow Lane. The council have an option to redevelop the site and relocate us to a new, small community stadium at Holme Pierrepoint !

[karl wheatly]

Much depends in what AH does after we go down.

I think that Alan Hardy has already had enough of the flak he is taking on social media and would - or sorry will - cut his losses and quit Notts after relegation.

As he has almost no chance of recovering his money, I can envisage another spell in administration, with all its consequences.

[karl wheatly]

I'v'e seen a lot of Conference / 5th tier football in my time. Here are a few things to consider.

* Notts fans complain bitterly about referees. Refereeing in The National League is a lot worse.
* We would/will be the scalp that everybody wants.
* The standard of football is a lot better than outsiders think. There are some very good teams and some really good players i.e. a lot better technically than much of our current squad.
* The away followings are staggeringly poor, with the exception of some of the ex-league clubs like Wrexham.
* Generally very friendly and surprisingly knowledgeable home fans.
* Scruffy but user friendly stadiums, where you can change ends at halftime, stand and sing your hearts out.

Overall I would much prefer us to keep our league status but if the worst comes to the worst, then as soccerman would say, "We are Notts County, we carry on"