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

Notts County 2     Sunderland 1
Birtles 35, 55                                         MacPhail 6
 
 

Attendance:- 8,854
Referee:- Ffrangcon Roberts (Prestatyn)
 

Notts County
Colours:- Black & white striped shirts, Black shorts, Black socks
League Position:- before match 4th/24, after match 4th/24
Manager:- John Barnwell

1.   Mick Leonard
2.   Paul Smalley
3.   Chris Withe
4.   Darren Davis
5.   Dean Yates
6.   Paul Hart
7.   Gary Mills
8.   Ian McParland
9.   Garry Birtles
10. Geoff Pike
11. Wayne Fairclough

Sub not used: David Kevan
Sub not used: Gary Lund
 

Sunderland
Colours:- All sky blue
League Position:- before match 1st/24, after match 1st/24
Manager:- Denis Smith

1.   Iain Hesford
2.   John Kay
3.   Reuben Agboola *
4.   David Corner
5.   John MacPhail
6.   Gary Owers
7.   John Cornforth +
8.   Paul Lemon
9.   Eric Gates
10. Marco Gabbiadini
11. Paul Atkinson

Sub: Frankie Gray *
Sub: Gordon Armstrong +

Video of the match:- Presumably Notts' own video camera filmed the match, but I'm not sure if a goals report was shown on local news.

No report available

Up the Maggies footnote:
There always seems to be a big club making a cameo appearance in the 3rd tier and in 1987/88 it was Sunderland's turn. They were already top of the league by the time they came to Meadow Lane for this eagerly anticipated fixture, but the gate was a little dissappointing, perhaps the weather had something to do with it (although it still ended up as the biggest league match crowd of the season). The Sunderland keeper had been on loan at Notts two season's earlier whilst their no.6 would join Notts many years later towards the end of his career. Sunderland also fielded two former big stars; Eric Gates (a UEFA cup winner with Ipswich Town) and Frankie Gray (ex-Leeds). This was probably Garry Birtles finest hour in the Black & white stripes, "Match" weekly made him Notts' man of the match with a rating of 9/10, Iain Hesford was rated Sunderland's best player (also scoring 9/10). The victory saw Notts close the gap with 1st placed Sunderland to just 2 points. Please note that both Rothman's yearbook and the official Notts history books both give an incorrect Notts line-up for this match (they include David Thompson who had left Notts for Wigan eleven days earlier, they also include Kevan in the starting 11 and have two subs coming on).

Notts County Season 1987/88
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