Cod Almighty | Diary

A trip down Meadow-y Lane

3 August 2020

Miss Guest Diary writes: Following yesterday's conference play-off final between Harrogate and Notts County, we finally have the full roster of teams to be faced by Town in the league next season. Oh, but wait a minute, we don't do we: the whole Macclesfield v Stevenage relegation saga won't be settled until next week's appeal hearing. Whatever.

I don't know about you, but my main interest in who is relegated or promoted into whichever division Town currently occupy is always based on the away trip potential. What makes a good away trip for me is based on a complicated (and ultimately pretty random) combination of the difficulty of the journey, the attractiveness of both the ground and the surrounding area and past experience. No prizes for guessing why Stevenage was finally struck off the list of away days last season.

I was weighing up these factors when I sat down to watch yesterday's game and deciding which team to root for. Notts County had a head start as, after Mansfield, it is the closest club to where I live on the outskirts of Lincoln. I really like Meadow Lane as a traditional ground that hasn't been ruined by development. Also, one of my favourite restaurants is in Nottingham. So far, so good. But then you have to add in the past experiences.

My first trip to Meadow Lane in October 1992 was pretty disastrous. My partner is an old school friend of Gary Lund who was playing for County at the time, and he got us some tickets. Unfortunately, they were in the area occupied by the family and friends of the County players. An early goal by Lund got Town off to a bad start; one penalty, seven bookings and two sendings off later, my partner was apoplectic. I'm quite surprised we weren't actually ejected from the ground.

The next two visits produced a routine 2-1 defeat and a 2-0 victory memorable only for the agony and ecstasy of an own goal by former Town keeper Paul Rees. The Meadow Lane honours have been fairly even this century, with two wins, five draws and three losses. But the last couple of visits were much more about the experience – crowds of over 8,000 and a brilliant atmosphere – and the discovery of a great pub within walking distance of the ground.

Harrogate starts off at a disadvantage, being nearly three times as far away as Nottingham, and with only one competitive game ever played between the clubs. On the plus side, that trip to the FA Cup qualifying round in 2015 scores very highly: a delicious lunch at a local gastro pub, a comfortable win and some red kites circling over the ground to entertain during lulls in play.

After deciding that I didn't really mind which team joined Town in division four, it turned out Harrogate achieved a rather stylish 3-1 victory. From a footballing perspective that feels like the right result when you contrast Harrogate's entertaining passing play with the Notts County hoofers. A tremendous shame that the Harrogate fans were unable to experience the utter joy of seeing their side promoted at Wembley.

Let's face it, though, my traditional criteria for judging the merits of new teams in the division are completely redundant in the current climate. With the prospect of getting into Blundell Park this side of Christmas receding into the distance, the chances of there being any trips to away games in the coming season must be zero. By the time we are allowed back on the road, I'd probably even welcome a trip to Stevenage. UTM