Vital Statistics
Founded: 1862
Owner: Ray Trew
Last Season: League Two - 17th
Nickname: The Magpies
Rivals: Nottingham Forest, Mansfield Town
Major Honours
FA Cup: 1894
Scheduled Matches
Portsmouth vs Notts County: Saturday, October 22nd (3pm)
Notts County vs Portsmouth: Monday, April 17th (3pm)
Notts County: A brief history
Formed in 1862, Notts County are the oldest professional football league club in the world. They were founder members of the Football League in 1888 and beat Bolton Wanderers in 1894 to win the FA Cup as a second division club.
The Magpies' fortunes were mixed during the rest of the 20th century but Jimmy Sirrel revived the club and transformed them from a Fourth Division outfit in 1969 to a First Division team in 1981 during two spells, eventually retiring after a third stint in 1987. Neil Warnock then took County back to the top division in 1990 but they were relegated after just one season and years of obscurity followed.
Notts were famously sold to Munto finance in 2009, attracting Sven-Goran Eriksson as a director of football and Sol Campbell to play for them, although he walked out after just one match. The club had suffered financial problems and changes of ownership much like Pompey since then but Steve Cotterill did steer the Magpies to the League Two title in 2010. The club were finally relegated five years later after a string of managers and relegation battles.
The Manager: John Sheridan
The 51-year-old spent his early playing career as a midfielder for Leeds United in the 80's and Sheffield Wednesday in the 90's. He ended his playing career at Oldham Athletic where he was appointed manager in 2006 after a couple of spells as caretaker.
Despite signs of promise he was sacked in 2009 and appointed as Chesterfield manager where he won promotion to League One only to experience relegation the season after followed by his resignation early in the 2012/2013 season.
His next destination was Plymouth but he failed to get Argyle promoted despite signs of promise and left the club in the summer of 2015 only to turn up at Newport last season with the Welsh side struggling. No sooner had he made an impact there that he decided to return to Oldham to rescue them from relegation but rather than stay there he took the job at Notts County in May 2016.
The Ground: Meadow Lane (Capacity: 20,300 - Away: 1,300)
Meadow Lane is the only stadium larger than Fratton Park in League Two and therefore the biggest in the division. It lies on the other side of the Trent to Nottingham Forest's City Ground.
Pompey fans are given part of the Jimmy Sirrel Stand, named after arguably the best manager in the club's history. Being on the side of the pitch, you'll have a good view of the game and the facilities are good for the division, too.
To the right is the Kop Stand, although it's not nearly as famous or as noisy as Liverpool's counterpart.
Opposite is the Derek Pavis Stand and although there's nothing special about it, it's about as luxurious as you'll find in the fourth tier of English football having been built in the 90's.
On the left is the Meadow Lane Stand which is the family section of the ground. Hence, you won't find many vocal supporters here. In fact, you could say that about the rest of the ground, too.
Overall, Meadow Lane is one of the best venues in League Two in terms of facilities but you'll have to walk a distance to find a pub as the club bar doesn't allow away fans in and the ground lacks atmosphere due to the number of empty seats found during the match.