Written by Max
Ground #58
Saturday 24th February 2024
EFL League 2
Notts County 1-3 Crewe Alexandra
Attendance: 11,470
Entry: £22
Notts County Football club are the oldest professional football club in the world! They were formed way back in 1862 which predates even the Football Association itself! The club became one of the founder members of the Football League back in 1888 and twice finished 3rd in the top flight in the early years. The biggest moment in the clubs long history has to be winning the FA Cup in 1895 beating Bolton Wanderers 4-1 in the final.
In recent times the club have slipped down the leagues and even spent a few years in non league, but after their record breaking promotion alongside Disney Plus’s Wrexham find themselves back in League 2 this season making it the easiest away game of the season for us as Crewe fans living 25 minutes away in Newark!
The proud history of the club can be seen all around the stadium with statues of club legends Jimmy Sirrel and Jack Wheeler outside the turnstiles. Across the road from this is a fantastic new mural of 2 of Nottingham’s most loved football icons, Jimmy Sirrel and Brian Clough.
Unfortunately Emma couldn’t make the game today so it was the solo train journey from Newark to Nottingham to meet my Dad before the game. From there we headed towards the ground and to the Trent Navigation pub. This was packed full of both home and away fans and once we got our drinks we headed outside. The beer garden out the back was amazing! A huge big screen showing the early kick off, a live musician playing and a brilliant atmosphere with chants from both home and away supporters being sung. There was a BBQ and outdoor bar too, this has to be the best pre match bar we have come across on our travels so far!
We finished our drinks and headed to the away end which was already filling up nicely and the atmosphere was building as kick off approached. Just 5 minutes in and the large away following were in dreamland as goal scoring centre half Mickey Demetriou headed The Alex into an early lead. 15 minutes later and forward Elliott Nevitt was taken down by the keeper and stepped up himself to slot away a penalty to double the lead.
The hosts were having plenty of the ball but thanks to a brilliant press throughout were struggling to break through and have any meaningful attempts on the Crewe goal. In the second half and the away end entered party mode as loan signing Josh Austerfield sealed the win with a 3rd goal!
The Magpies got a late consolation through Jim O’Brien but it wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of the away end as Crewe made it 5 away victories in a row and moved up into the automatic promotion spots. Meanwhile County are going through a sticky patch and seem to be falling towards mid table obscurity after a good start to the season.
Now to rate my day in Nottingham:
Location: 9/10
Meadow Lane is just a short 15 minute walk from Nottingham train station with a couple of pubs en route including a favourite with many away fans, hooters!
At one point during the walk to the ground you can see all 3 of Nottingham’s major sporting venues. The Brian Clough stand of Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, the back of Notts County’s Kop and the floodlights from Trent Bridge cricket ground. This area has to be one of the best for sport in the country!
Kit: 7/10
Notts County play in an iconic black and white shirt, with black socks and shorts. The kit was so iconic that they actually inspired Italian giants Juventus who changed their kit colours from pink and black to black and white after seeing the magpies kit in the early 20th century.
This seasons kit is a smart effort which I felt was let down by the large red sponsor plonked on the front. Due to getting overexcited by the Crewe performance I forgot to get a photo of the kit myself, so the below photo comes from the official Notts County twitter feed.
Facilities: 6/10
The concourse underneath the Jimmy Sirrel stand is pretty generic with bare concrete everywhere. There is a decent amount of space but with over 1,400 away fans piling in it got pretty rammed as kick off approached. Luckily we got to the ground early meaning we had a decent amount of space to eat our pies before it got too busy.
Look: 9/10
Meadow Lane is one of lower league footballs most iconic grounds. Notts County have played their since it was built in 1910 and it has an all seated capacity of just under 20,000. The main stand opposite us in the away end holds over 6,700 fans including the hospitality area and is named after the clubs former chairman Derek Pavis. To the left of the away fans is the Haydn Green Family Stand.
To the right is The Kop which is home to the more noisy Notts fans. The impressive stand holds almost 5,500 supporters. The away fans are housed on one side of the Jimmy Sirrel stand next to the family stand.
Food and Drink: 6/10
The food and drink options were pretty standard for what we have come to expect from football league grounds. Pukka Pies or pre cooked burgers. I went for a Chicken balti pie while my dad opted for steak. It had been a while since I’d had a pukka pie at the football, and maybe it was just down to the fact I was 4 pints in and hadn’t eaten yet, but I actually really enjoyed my pie!
The drink selection was once again pretty standard. Carling was the only beer on draft so I went for that. Stowford Press was the cider on offer but no dark fruits means no bonus point today but at least it meant Emma wasn’t missing out!
TOTAL SCORE: 37/50
Meadow Lane is a ground I’ve been to many times over the years, both in the home and away ends and it was great to finally get here with the blog. In the past it hasn’t been a happy hunting ground as a Crewe fan so it was brilliant to come away from there with the 3 points for the first time in 4 visits as an away supporter. That’s 5 wins from 5 Crewe games watched this season, and this was one of the best. Over 1,400 Crewe fans watching an almost faultless away performance, what more could you want from a Saturday afternoon!
If you want to see where this score puts Meadow Lane on our leaderboard you can check out the table here: Football League Leaderboard.
If you’d like to see our Leaderboard of Non-League Grounds click here: Non-League Leaderboard.
Emma’s Ground Guide 