The 1965 Rescue

[Old_pie]

Just stumbled on this on X.

I regularly started going to matches in the 1959/60, as I was just old enough to sometimes go on my own. Promotion from having dropped into the recently formed 4th division, players like Tony Hateley and Jeff Astle sold on at what was then lots of money, large crowds and failure to get into the 2nd division. Relegation and despair as resulting in the following:

Notts County FC and Notts County Foundation follow
PrideofNottingham
@PON_NCC
On this day, in 1965, facing financial crisis, the Board, at Fred Williamson’s home, decided to seek help from ex-Scotland and Nottingham Forest manager Andy Beattie. He agreed to advise the club for free, stabilising finances with a £10,000 cheque from car dealer Bill Hopcroft. #NottsCounty
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3:02 PM · Dec 5, 2023
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1,119
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Chris Brooks
@Christo09543518
·
2h
Bill Hopcroft & Haydn Green , two gentlemen to whom all Notts fans owe an enormous debt of gratitude as without them them there simply wouldn’t have been a Notts County 🙏

I can't remember the exact timeline but around then Billy Gray (Nottingham Forest FA Cup Winner) was appointed manager, and he brought in Don Masson, I think. Then Dunnett took over bringing in Jimmy Sirrel and for a couple of decades things looked good then we started on this vicious roundabout/rollercoaster journey via Pavis/Warnock then leading to the Trust, Munto, Ray Trew and Alan Hardy. Some of us are used to seeing Notts living on the edge.

Be thankful for what we have, brain farts at the back or not.

[durhampie]

Just stumbled on this on X.

I regularly started going to matches in the 1959/60, as I was just old enough to sometimes go on my own. Promotion from having dropped into the recently formed 4th division, players like Tony Hateley and Jeff Astle sold on at what was then lots of money, large crowds and failure to get into the 2nd division. Relegation and despair as resulting in the following:

Notts County FC and Notts County Foundation follow
PrideofNottingham
@PON_NCC
On this day, in 1965, facing financial crisis, the Board, at Fred Williamson’s home, decided to seek help from ex-Scotland and Nottingham Forest manager Andy Beattie. He agreed to advise the club for free, stabilising finances with a £10,000 cheque from car dealer Bill Hopcroft. #NottsCounty
Image
3:02 PM · Dec 5, 2023
·
1,119
Views

Chris Brooks
@Christo09543518
·
2h
Bill Hopcroft & Haydn Green , two gentlemen to whom all Notts fans owe an enormous debt of gratitude as without them them there simply wouldn’t have been a Notts County ��

I can't remember the exact timeline but around then Billy Gray (Nottingham Forest FA Cup Winner) was appointed manager, and he brought in Don Masson, I think. Then Dunnett took over bringing in Jimmy Sirrel and for a couple of decades things looked good then we started on this vicious roundabout/rollercoaster journey via Pavis/Warnock then leading to the Trust, Munto, Ray Trew and Alan Hardy. Some of us are used to seeing Notts living on the edge.

Be thankful for what we have, brain farts at the back or not.

The meeting was set up by the late Colin Slater...

[Old_pie]

The meeting was set up by the late Colin Slater...

Ah thanks, that has been mentioned on here before. How lucky we are that influential people cared.

What I've always been curious about is what happened to all the big gate money and transfer fees prior to getting into that state. I know we were unlucky with a couple of signings but can't have all been wasted on Terry Bly.

[upthemaggies]

Ah thanks, that has been mentioned on here before. How lucky we are that influential people cared.

What I've always been curious about is what happened to all the big gate money and transfer fees prior to getting into that state. I know we were unlucky with a couple of signings but can't have all been wasted on Terry Bly.

I would guess the relegation in 1957/58 very much took the board by surprise having expected a significant lift in gates and results with the return of Tommy Lawton as manager summer 1957 to offset Fword's promotion that same year - Fword having been out of the top flight for longer than Notts had been at the time, so there must have been some sense of urgency that we had to keep pace with their progress, with Lawton the man to deliver.
Instead Notts went from being the 37th best supported club in the country to 61sr best supported in the space of 2 years and suffered a double relegation that coincided with Fword winning the FA Cup - An unimaginable nightmare scenario at a time when the FAC was THE thing to win and Division Four a freshly dug abyss.

Fred Williamson publicly called for chairman Len Machin's resignation in 1959, Machin clung on for another 5 years before Williamson took over and then things got a whole lot worse. So the 1965 crisis had apparently been building up for some time, despite the temporary relief of the 1960 promotion, Hateley and Astle.

Billy Gray came with Dunnett when he joined Notts as a director early 1967.

[Old_pie]

Thanks UTM. I keep trying to look at your site but it stalls/stops.

We sort of stormed out of Div 4 (along with Walsall) and then looked like going straight up until a blip over Easter. If felt to me as if that sapped a lot of energy and enthusiasm out of all involved. All my mates were going over the river, I felt pretty much a lone voice, well, with my Dad.

I was mostly away from '65 onwards so only got snippets of news and to occasional matches and now memories are a bit dim and confused.

[upthemaggies]

Thanks UTM. I keep trying to look at your site but it stalls/stops.

We sort of stormed out of Div 4 (along with Walsall) and then looked like going straight up until a blip over Easter. If felt to me as if that sapped a lot of energy and enthusiasm out of all involved. All my mates were going over the river, I felt pretty much a lone voice, well, with my Dad.

I was mostly away from '65 onwards so only got snippets of news and to occasional matches and now memories are a bit dim and confused.

The financial issues might even have been rooted in the record British transfer fee we paid for Lawton in 1947 (£1 million in today's money). Jackie Sewell was sold within a year after promotion despite the huge gates and protests from the fans, and Lawton followed him out of the door a year after that, which implies they were struggling to balance the books. It must have been hugely disappointing that we only once managed to crack the top 10 in tier 2 in the 1950s before sinking back down again, having beaten Fword into getting promoted out of tier 3.

[Elite_Pie]

My Notts County journey started around the same time Jimmy Sirrel was appointed, which was a brilliant time to start. The 1970s will always be my favourite era, getting from division four to division one a bit later was more enjoyable than actually watching us play in division one. I've seen us play Man City, Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea as equals, I've also seen us play Chorley, Dover, King's Lynn, Weymouth and Maidstone as equals. I think I've had the full package, good and bad in equal measures seeing as we're back where I started.

Whatever the level, I'll be in my seat at Meadow Lane as long as I'm physically capable.

[Elite_Pie]

Thanks UTM. I keep trying to look at your site but it stalls/stops.

Same with me, it's always my 'go to' place for Notts history but now I often get:

carouseldrivefootballs.on.drv.tw took too long to respond

[upthemaggies]

Same with me, it's always my 'go to' place for Notts history but now I often get:

carouseldrivefootballs.on.drv.tw took too long to respond

I've been hosting the site from Microsoft OneDrive for a while now but the interface between that and the internet has been going down for the last few days, which is beyond my control.

If it does come back, there's a player database gradually coming together (currently at 823 names) with an image for every player who turned out between 1969/70 to early 2000s. I wanted to avoid squad photo crops and oddly I had a hard time finding a pic for Ian Bolton in his Notts days and had to settle for a low-res action shot. John Cozens was another, but there was a decent pic of him at Peterboro.

67 players used in the 1st team in the 1970s, 189 in the 2000s.

[ThaiPie]

My Notts County journey started around the same time Jimmy Sirrel was appointed, which was a brilliant time to start. The 1970s will always be my favourite era, getting from division four to division one a bit later was more enjoyable than actually watching us play in division one. I've seen us play Man City, Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea as equals, I've also seen us play Chorley, Dover, King's Lynn, Weymouth and Maidstone as equals. I think I've had the full package, good and bad in equal measures seeing as we're back where I started.

Whatever the level, I'll be in my seat at Meadow Lane as long as I'm physically capable.

Maybe Notts County can claim another world record. Have we played a greater number of different teams than anyone other team?

Due to our longevity and journey up, and more often, down the leagues.

I think this is a bit of a challenge for the statisticians.