Saturday 22nd August 1992
3pm kick off at Meadow Lane
Saturday 22nd August 1992
3pm kick off at Meadow Lane
2nd tier* League fixture
*Then known as Division One
Notts County 1 Leicester
City 1
Smith (pen) 52
Gee 39
Attendance:- 10,501
Referee:- P Vanes (Warley)
Weather:- Fine
Corners:- Notts 3 Leicester 7
Goal attempts on target:- Notts 5 Leicester 5
Goal attempts off target:- Notts 5 Leicester
6
Bookings:- Palmer (Notts) for a foul
Notts County
Colours:- Black & white striped shirts, Black shorts, Black socks
League Position:- before match 21st/24, after match 18th/24
Manager:- Neil Warnock
1. Steve Cherry
2. Charlie Palmer
3. Meindeert Dijkstra
4. Craig Short
5. Michael Johnson
6. Don O'Riordan
7. Mark Draper
8. Andy Williams
9. Tony Agana
10. Steve Slawson +
11. David Smith *
Sub: Phil Turner *81
Sub: Kevin Wilson +84
Leicester City
Colours:- All Blue
League Position:- before match 8th/24, after match 9th/24
Manager:- Brian Little
1. Carl Muggleton
2. Gary Mills
3. Mike Whitlow
4. Richard Smith
5. Steve Walsh
6. Colin Hill
7. David Oldfield
8. Steve Thompson
9. Bobby Davison
10. Ian Ormondroyd
11. Phil Gee
Up
the Maggies note:
This was the first Notts home match to be played after
3 stands had been re-built during the summer of 1992 (The County Road stand,
the Meadow Lane end and the Kop). I was amongst the very first paying customers
to enter the new County Road stand (later renamed the Jimmy Sirrel Stand)
and, having found a seat that appeared to be in roughly the same spot in
which I'd once stood, took great pleasure in watching the animated faces
of fans making that first left-turn upon climbing the steps from under
the stand. It was a complete transformation. Whilst watching the Filberts
attack the Meadow Lane end in the first half, I felt like I was at an away
match, I had to keep glancing across to the old Main stand to remind myself
where I was! Although Notts had just been relegated from the top flight,
the 2nd tier was still a mouth-watering prospect, for as well as Leicester,
there were matches with Derby, Wolves, Newcastle, West Ham and Sunderland
to look forward to and we had much hope for the fresh faced Rob Matthews
and Paul Devlin. The Notts Chairman Derek Pavis came out onto the pitch
at half-time to make a speech and Notts fans sang "There's only one Derek
Pavis!". Yes we had just been relegated, but surely we would quickly re-gain
Premiership status with a stadium like this! Leicester fans, having just
celebrated taking the lead, tried to drown out Pavis' address and thanks
to those fine men who had built "the 9th wonder of the world" in just 4
months. Pavis retorted "You bastards" and at the end of his speech turned
to the away end and said; "And as for you lot - You are a bloody disgrace!".
As far as the Notts fans in the "Z" were concerned, Pavis had never shone
so brightly, yet it would prove to be his super-nova.
Video of the match:- "Central News East" broadcast a report on their
Monday tea-time programme which shows; Tony Agana wasting a good scoring
opportunity / Phil Gee heading in a cross for the Leicester goal / 2nd
half; Leicester almost scoring again / The incident that led to Notts getting
a dubious penalty / Dave Smith converting the spot kick. A separate 2 minute
report on the half-time Pavis incident went out earlier in the programme
as part of the main news, this shows Pavis explaining himself to a reporter
followed by interviews with the football supporters club spokesman and
then a representative of the Leicester City supporters club, there are
also numerous shots of the stands filmed on the day of the match.
The Matchday Programme editorial
"Inside write" by Derek Pavis
I'm delighted to welcome you all to Meadow lane and for the first time
since I became involved with the club five years ago, I can say that without
feeling embarrassed.
I must admit that it does my heart good to look around the place and
see what a transformation there has been in the past 17 weeks. Ever since
I joined Notts County, my aim has been to improve things and although there
is still plenty more we want to do, we haven't done too badly so far. To
be honest, the last thing we needed this afternoon was a local derby which
might just attract a capacity crowd and I'm disappointed that the Football
league were not as sympathetic as they might have been. Knowing that three
sides of the ground were being re-developed in such a short space of time,
we asked to be away on the opening day of the season. We also asked not
to have a home game in midweek, nor to be allotted a local derby the following
Saturday and here we are facing our friends from Leicester City!
Under the circumstances, can I appeal for you to please be patient
because there are bound to be teething troubles. That's inevitable because
the stewards and police are not yet familiar with the new facilities- nor
are you. Bear with us if there are some organisational problems and if
anything particularly irritates you, please write to me (not the Football
Post) and I will attend to your letter personally.
Ironically, I still have a batch letters that I received last season
from Leicester fans, criticising our facilities following their ZDS Cup
visit. In most cases, they had every right to complain But I replied to
each letter saying that it would be different the next time they came to
Meadow Lane - and we've been true to our word.
I happen to think that to transform Meadow Lane in such fashion for
the amount of money involved and to do it in just 17 weeks is the ninth
wonder of the world.
We are all greatly indebted to the various contractors who have worked
so hard on the ground throughout the summer and you will have the opportunity
to show your appreciation.
The contractors will be here this afternoon as my personal guests and
at half time, I intend to take them onto the pitch and introduce them to
you.
As I said at the beginning, we haven't done too badly in terms of upgrading
and expanding the range of facilities available to you and now the dream
is to celebrate promotion at the end of the season by putting the final
piece of the jigsaw into place. I would love to be able to announce that
we are going ahead with plans to build a new Main Stand. But there's a
big difference between having the desire to do that and being in a position
to finance the project!
Nottingham Evening Post Reports
PAVIS: MY BIG REGRET
(Back page story of the following Monday's Nottingham
Evening Post)
by David Stapleton
NOTTS COUNTY chairman Derek Pavis said today that he regretted the expletive heard by many spectators at the interval of Saturday's game with Leicester City at Meadow Lane. And Mr Pavis insisted that it was not meant for the ears of visiting supporters, who had shouted him down as he praised contractors who had completed a remarkable £3.4m transformation of the ground in 17 weeks.
Said the chairman, who could face an FA charge
of bringing the game into disrepute: "I regret the choice of word, but
it was an instinctive reaction not meant to be heard by the crowd. "I put
the microphone well away from me, but unfortunately it picked it up. "Now
I suppose I could be on a disrepute charge. I hope not, though if so I
shall just have to face the music." At the end of his speech Mr Pavis,
standing on the halfway line alongside the contractors, told Leicester
supporters: "You're a disgrace." He said afterwards: "They were guests
on the ground, but showed no politeness at all."
“It was quite emotional moment for me. The redevelopment
people had worked their butts off for 17 weeks. Before we got our ground
safety certificate on Friday afternoon they hadn't stopped work for 36
hours, working through the night."
Mr Pavis also expressed his "great disappointment" at the size of the gate -10,501, of which 4,329 were Leicester fans. He went on: "My boardroom colleagues have advanced a number of reasons, but it was a sickener to have less than 6,200 Nottingham folk at the game on such an occasion. I did seriously question the police decision to make the game all-ticket and think we might have lost 4,000 spectators straight away. All-ticket matches put people off. Many of them can't afford to come down to the ground twice, the first time to buy a ticket. The only justification for all ticket games is when demand far outstrips supply. Only the visit of Derby County, when I hope 30,000 people will want to be on a ground that only holds 20,000, should be all-ticket."
A NEW ERA AND HONOURS EVEN
The Nottingham Evening Post match report
By David Stapleton
THE profusion of Midlands clubs in the new First Division is calculated to produce many more hard slogs like that between Notts County and Leicester City on Saturday. Rival managers Neil Warnock and Brian Little were agreed on that after the 1-1 draw which ushered in another era at transformed Meadow Lane. There was not too much in the way of blend and co-ordination, It was largely frenetic, with the ball travelling from end to end at a furious rate.
Both teams missed chances, though neither 'keeper Steve Cherry nor Carl Muggleton were called upon to make a better than average save. Warnock felt that Notts played "a lot more on the floor" in the second half, but he was quick to add: "I think there might be repercussions from being a Midlands club in the division. There are so many from this patch. "It points the way to a battle every time we play each other. We're ready for one next Saturday at Peterborough. "If I were the manager, say, of a Southern First Division team I would be pleased to see so many Midlands clubs."
SPLENDID
Said Little: "It was a hard, difficult 90 minutes.
The players of both sides knew they had been in a game. Local derbies are
se very important, and that can have a bearing on the type of match it
is."
The ground; with its three new sides, looked
splendid and long-serving groundsman Peter Thompson holds the view that
there has never been a better playing surface in his 31 years at Meadow
Lane. Unfortunately, the gala occasion did not produce an attendance to
match, though Leicester folk travelled in numbers. Various reasons can
be put forward and analysed, and let's be frank about one of them when
discussing 'floating' support. The big majority of Nottingham's football
public is used to a style of play which contrasts vividly with that employed
at Notts. Only recently Warnock said that he would not change his style
for anybody, and after all the success he has enjoyed one can understand
his viewpoint. Ironically, perhaps, one of the best moves of the game by
Notts was the prelude to Leicester taking the lead six minutes before half
time.
Mark Draper, who collected a nasty foot injury
six days earlier at Birmingham, shot only tentatively from inside the box
after winger David Smith had cut the ball back into his stride. Leicester
broke back for Ormondroyd to spread the ball out wide to Mike Whitlow,
whose near post centre was headed in fiercely by Phil Gee. Said Warnock:
"Michael Johnson was sleeping a bit and, perhaps, Steve Cherry wouldn't
have been too happy considering that the ball went in at the near post."
It was fitting on such a day that a new player should hit County's 52nd
minute equaliser Smith, who underlined his centreing ability, dropped another
good cross into the box and Whitlow was adjudged to have pushed Tony Agana
by referee on the spot Paul Vanes. Smith converted the penalty.