2nd tier* League fixture
*Then known as Division Two

Notts County 3     Manchester City 2
Fashanu 24                                             Simpson 66, 72
Harkouk 31
Young 38
 

Attendance :- 17,812
Referee:-  I. Borrett (Harleston)
 

Notts County
Colours:- White shirts with black dual pinstripes, Black shorts, White socks
League Position:- before match 21st/22, after match 20th/22
Manager:- Jimmy Sirrel

1.   Mick Leonard
2.   Pedro Richards
3.   Keith Downing
4.   Dean Yates
5.   Dave Watson *
6.   Steve Sims
7.   Mark Goodwin
8.   Justin Fashanu
9.   Alan Young
10. David Hunt
11. Rachid Harkouk

Sub: Ian McParland *
 

Macnhester City
Colours:- All sky blue
League Position:- before match 3rd/22, after match 3rd/22
Manager:- Billy McNeil

1.   Alec Williams
2.   Kenny Clements
3.   Geoff Lomax
4.   Nicky Reid
5.   Mick McCarthy
6.   David Phillips
7.   Paul Simpson
8.   Andy May
9.   Paul Power
10. Neil McNab
11. Steve Kinsey

Sub not used

Video of the match:- No TV or video camera thought to be present.

No reports available

Up the Maggies footnote:
Meadow Lane witnessed one of the worst incidents of crowd trouble in its' history on this May bank holiday afternoon. With just two games of the season remaining, 10,000 Manchester City fans flocked to Nottingham hoping to see their team claim the final promotion place, a victory for City would all but mathematically put them out of reach of 4th placed Portsmouth (who were three points behind with an inferior goal difference - there were no play off's in those days). Notts on the other hand were still in with a chance of staying up after a late revival under Jimmy Sirrel following the sacking of Richie Barker. Next to bottom of the table County were now only two points behind 4th bottom Middlesbrough. The first half was probably the most jaw dropping first half display I've ever seen from a Notts team, 3 goals in 13 minutes whipped Notts fans into ecstasy, it was absolutely incredible. Then at half-time the City fans decided to start a riot, fencing at the Kop end was torn down, supporters ran onto the pitch, a fire extinguisher was let off in the County Road and fights broke out. Mounted Police were then called in to try and clear the turf of City fans seemingly hell bent on getting the match abandoned. It was absolute chaos and, as it was a warm afternoon, I was wearing my Admiral pinstripe Notts shirt with no jumper or coat available to cover it, I feared I wouldn't be able to get out of the ground alive! The match was delayed for 30 minutes with both managers making appeals on the tannoy for calm. Notts lost their momentum in the 2nd half and City staged a fight-back as Notts former England defender Dave Watson limped off injured. Somehow, Notts held out. The 3-2 result meant that Notts were now level on points with Middlesbrough and were only in the relegation zone because of an inferior goal difference (by 9 goals). At the top, Portsmouth's win that day left Manchester City clinging on to 3rd place also by virtue of goal difference. The next day Meadow Lane was national news headlines, I remember seeing a big photograph of a police horse tackling a City hooligan on the front or back page of The Sun. Had TV cameras been present then scenes at the Notts ground would have undoubtedly been added to the clips of shame that were being gathered to illustrate the demise of English football, this incident coming only weeks after Chelsea had installed an electric fence to keep supporters off the pitch (following a riot v Sunderland) and Millwall fans had been shown tearing out seats to hurl at riot police in a televised match at Luton's Kenilworth Road. It would soon get even worse - The Heysel stadium disaster that resulted in English clubs being banned from all European competitions was only a few weeks away, the Bradford fire would occur even sooner on the very same day that Notts lost at Fulham to lose their place in the 2nd tier whilst Manchester City went on to clinch promotion at Maine Road. Those weren't the days!

Justin Fashanu
This match also turned out to be Justin Fashanu's last appearance for Notts at Meadow Lane. Many fans still grimace at the sound of his name - he was nick-named 'the cart-horse' for his apparent inability to chase after a 'lost' cause, but I have fond enough memories of probably our best known player of the period, his goal scoring record at Notts was reasonably good; 20 in 64 league appearance including a match winner v Arsenal and two goals in a 3-3 draw at Manchester United. Fashanu had risen to instant super stardom as a teenager in 1980 after scoring the goal of the season on 'Match of the Day', a big money move from Norwich to Forest then turned sour when manager Brian Clough suspected that he was homosexual, Clough suspended him but Fashanu still turned up for training which led to Clough having him escorted off the City ground premises by police officers (a scene captured by tabloid photographers), he then joined Notts. As a black player he was already being subjected to racism (rife in football at the time), the added pressure of being a gay as well as a black footballer saw Justin turn to evangelical Christianity which seemed to cause him even greater problems in both his private and professional life (he refused to play for Notts in Sunday matches - In a Q&A in the Man City programme he declared that his ambition was to get Sunday football abolished). He left Notts for Brighton (where else!) but a serious reoccurring knee injury kept him out of the game for a number of years and several attempts to make a comeback with various clubs all failed, by which time he had become the first professional footballer to out himself as being gay - which saw both his family and the black community publicly disown him. After a spell with Hearts in 1993/94 Fashanu finished his playing career in New Zealand and the USA. His life was to end amid great controversy and tragedy - In April 1998, Fashanu fled home to England from the USA following an alleged sexual assault against a 17 year old male. Fearing a potential 20 year jail term, Justinus Soni Fashanu hanged himself in a lock-up garage in Shoreditch (East London) on the night of 2nd/3rd May 1998, he was 36.
 

Notts County Season 1984/85
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