3rd tier* League fixture
*Then known as Division Three

Notts County 4      Tranmere Rovers 1
Nixon 2                                                   Loyden 24
Randall (2 pens) 11, 77
Needham 60
 

Attendance :- 23,613
Referee:-  D. Laing (Preston)
 

Notts County
Colours:- Black & white striped shirts, Black shorts, White socks
League Position:- before match 2nd/24, final position 2nd/24
Manager:- Jimmy Sirrel

1.   Eric McManus
2.   Bill Brindley
3.   Bob Worthington
4.   Don Masson
5.   David Needham
6.   Brian Stubbs
7.   Jon Nixon
8.   Kevin Randall
9.   Les Bradd
10. Willie Carlin
11. Arthur Mann

Sub not used: Steve Carter

Tranmere Rovers
Colours:- An all dark change strip (red or blue?)
League Position:- before match 10th/24, final position 10th/24
Manager:- Ron Yeats (as Player/Manager)

1.   Dick Johnson
2.   Ray Pritchard *
3.   Eddie Flood
4.   Tommy Veitch
5.   Ron Yeats
6.   Ray Mathias
7.   Bobby Tynan
8.   Kit Fagan
9.   Eddie Loyden
10. Tommy Young
11. Paul Crossley

Sub: Syd Farrimond *15

Video of the match:- No footage known to exist.

Top six going into the match (2 points for a win, 2 clubs promoted)

                     P   GA   Pts
1. Bolton Wanderers 45  1.82   59
2. Notts County     45  1.37   55
---------------------------------
3. Blackburn Rovers 45  1.22   54
4. Oldham Athletic  45  1.34   53
5. Port Vale        46  0.81   53
6. Bristol Rovers   45  1.36   51

Today's other key result....
Blackburn 1 (McNamee) Oldham 1 (Robins) [HT 1-0, Att: 13,346]

Another Nice One, Sirrel

It was not Wembley of course. And it was not the aberrations of Malcolm Allison or the passionate obsessions of Willie Shankly, or the latest in the continuing saga of George Best. But the old game that has run these many years, from the turning of the leaves to the blossoming of the flowers is big enough to contain all this and more, and this day Nottingham had its place in the sun - Notts County beat Tranmere Rovers before their biggest crowd of the season and won a place in the Second Division for the first time in 15 years and, at the end of it all, joy was as unconfirmed as it used to be in the days of Tommy Lawton.

These are the plain facts but they do not disguise the proper romance of the day - Notts County was founded in 1862. That in itself gives them no privilege but one has to feel that they deserve a share of the better things in life. This success I dare say is the product of much hard work stemming from a remarkable if virtually unknown manager, Jimmy Sirrel. Sirrel, a self effacing Scot in a cardigan, started a few days before yesterday as an inside forward with Celtic. More recently after good work at Aldershot and Brentford he took County out of the Fourth Division a couple of seasons ago and now moves them up to another station along the line. On the field Masson, the captain, and Carlin control the team and Carlin yesterday added to an extraordinary record - in a career that spans seven clubs he has enjoyed the champagne delights of promotion five times.

The match itself was not especially distinguished and, come to think of it, may be it was as good as could be expected in these nervous circumstances, Notts almost knocked the heart out of it by scoring in two minutes when Nixon
hooked in a shot through a scattered defence and again after 11 minutes when Randall scored with a penalty. If this took the tension out of County it also seduced them into surrendering the initiative. Tranmere in fact played better football, got one back with a Loyden shot in 24 minutes but enjoyed little luck. County scored through Needham and another Randall penalty in the second half to make their promotion as clean cut as could be and one came to believe that after a long hardworking season it was all preordained.
 

Notts County Season 1972/73
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