Season 2009 - 2010 |
The Squad, 2009 - 2010 1. Russell Hoult 2. Brendan Moloney 4. Mike Edwards 5. Graeme Lee 6. John Thompson 7. Matt Hamshaw 8. Richard Ravenhill 9. Lee Hughes 10. Neal Bishop 11. Ben Davies 12. Kevin Pilkington 14. Sean Canham 15. Karl Hawley 16. Ben Fairclough 17. Jamie Clapham 18. Stephen Hunt 19. Luke Rodgers 20. Craig Westcarr 22. Delroy Facey |
Another season, another relegation fight waiting to be fought, a fresh load of journeymen to learn about and watch and be disappointed in....such is the lot of the Pies fan..... just imagine how it would be if one of those big money benefactors came into this lowly club, bought it and then turned it into a mighty team of world beaters, installing some really big name who condescended to tap Meadow Lane into his Sat Nav and come on down...then it would be all over the newspapers and we'd get a really good collection of new players in and...stop it ! This is getting very silly...... So, what does happen when all that happens, as it did to Notts in the summer of 2009. A collection of money-men suddenly realised that they didn't need to pay out £100 million for a top club when one at the bottom could be bought for a fraction of that and came with a tag that no one else had, that could be exported on merchandising to all sorts of footie mad fans all over the world..... |
The hastily unveiled new logo sits on the famous gable of the Jimmy Sirrel Stand. The old and new worlds collide ! |
...seems simple when you think about it. Buy the club on the cheap and put the cash into worldwide merchandising. The deal was accepted, the new owners moved in and soon installed a massive name as figurehead - ex England manager, Sven Goran Ericksson. With his arrival came the press interest, back pages, Sky Sports etc - just the sort of things you need to grab the attention of the world for your product. Out went the old sponsorship deal and a new shirt manufacturer - Nike. The giant was lured by the chance to run the Notts shop and in the future, move its product into a worldwide market. On the pitch too, Charlie Mac was reaping the benefits - quietly collecting a side of players suddenly interested by longer deals. Bigger names, including Luke Rodgers and the rehabilitated former Championship striker, Lee Hughes offered the promise of previously unconsidered success and maybe even promotion. Sven wanted the premiership, his board would settle for Championship. Big talk from a side used to just avoiding relegation from the football league but when they won their first game 5-0 against much-fancied Bradford, people began to think. Maybe...just maybe...this time... |
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I wonder what odds you would have got on Sven joining Notts as Director of Football in the close season ? With him installed, the press very quickly became interested until a 5-0 opening win made them turn their cameras onto the pitch. |
The Home Kit Last year, all we had to worry about was the fact we didn't want a rat catcher as our home shirt sponsor. With the arrival of the new money, the old order went straight out of the window. Notts had planned to commemorate the passing of Jimmy Sirrel with a commemorative kit. The sponsors were Vandanel, also the shirt manufacturers and now in the second year of their deal. Everything was on course for a pre-season release when the clubs owners changed. Their ideas were very different and existing plans were quietly scrapped including the proposed tribute. Instead, the club was looking to the future. Nevermind a run of 2000 shirts for Nottinghamshire. How about 200,000 for Europe and Asia.... well the figures are mine but you get the picture. They were certainly big enough to interest Nike who came in with the lure of running a shop full of their own stock. Medoc returned as sponsors. The new kit was bound to be a winner, even if it was a little delayed.... In the pre-season, the club used off-the-shelf black and white striped Avec shirts. These were, in themselves, very nice although there was no club logo (now redesigned). Under the new regime, there was no chance of them being released for resale and because they were no different from normal shelf stock, if they ever do appear, they'll be indistiquishable from any other over the counter buy. |
