Notts County are going through tough times. With little money to spend, the
club on the banks of the River Trent is trying to stay above the waterline
in League Two. Fortunately, they still have time to remember history. On
Tuesday evening the oldest professional football club in the world, founded
in 1862, will honour its most successful manager, Jimmy Sirrel. The man who
took them into the top division for the first time in 56 years will be
presented with an oil painting of himself that has taken two years to
complete.
Sirrel masterminded promotion to the First Division in 1981, when they
finished runners-up to West Ham. The Magpies secured promotion with a 2-0
win against Chelsea in their penultimate match. At the start of the season
they were quoted at 33-1 outsiders to go up; several astute players took
money off the bookies.
“Jimmy Sirrel was a one-off,” says winger Gordon Mair. “His knowledge of
football was fantastic.” Sirrel brought in Howard Wilkinson as his
assistant. Trevor Christie recalls: “Howard worked the lads hard, and we
were still running strongly at the end of games while other teams began to
fade. Don Masson was the calming influence who could cajole the young lads.”
Masson, nearing the end of his career, regards it as one of the highlights:
“It was a fantastic time for the club. We were an exciting team who passed
the ball and played with two wingers. We had Pedro Richards playing as a
sweeper, which was unusual at that time.” Iain McCulloch, a striker, says:
“We were a positive and organised side. We had a small squad, so we played
with the same team almost every week, which helped.”
Many people thought the Magpies would struggle in the top division. They went
to Aston Villa, the league champions (and about to become European
champions), for their first match and won 1-0 with a goal from McCulloch.
“It gave us that little bit of confidence for the rest of the season, and we
were able to stay up,” says Christie.
1 Trevor Christie Top scorer in the promotion season with 14 goals, he
was a prolific striker at Meadow Lane, with 64 goals in 187 league matches.
A sales director for a company in High Wycombe, he sells labels and
self-adhesives, driving 50,000 miles each year.
2 Eddie Kelly A Glasgow-born midfielder, Kelly had helped Arsenal win
the Double and the Inter-City Fairs Cup. He had only one season for County.
Now works for a double-glazing company in Torquay, where he finished his
playing career.
3 Mick Leonard A 21-year-old understudy goalkeeper, he spent 10 years
at the club, becoming the regular No 1. He played in Hong Kong and was the
national goalkeeping coach in New Zealand. Coaches in Dubai.
4 Raddy Avramovic Signed from his hometown club, Rijeka in Croatia, he
was the regular goalkeeper for four winters. He played one international for
Yugoslavia. Now the Singapore national coach, he has won the Tiger Cup.
5 Pedro Richards He grew up in rural northern Spain before moving to
England at the age of 11. A one-club defender, Richards played in 399 league
games. He worked in the building trade, but died of pneumonia at the age of
45 shortly before Christmas in 2001.
6 Rachid Harkouk Known as Rash the Smash because of his propensity for
long shots, Harkouk was born in Chelsea and joined County from QPR at the
start of the season. He played for Algeria in the 1986 World Cup finals in
Mexico. He has business interests in the Nottinghamshire village of Burton
Joyce.
7 Jack Wheeler A goalkeeper whose career straddled the war, he joined
the club in 1957 and filled 10 roles including manager, coach, trainer and
scout. Wheeler, 88, retired in 1983, having watched more than 1,000
consecutive first-team matches.
8 David Hunt One of three ever-presents in the promotion season, the
midfielder spent 11 seasons at Meadow Lane. A £40,000 signing from Derby
County, he later joined Aston Villa. He runs the David Hunt Soccer Schools
academy, coaching kids in Ashby.
9 Gary Wood A Kettering defender, he played 11 league games, but is
not in touch with the club.
10 Brian Kilcline Another ever-present, the powerful defender formed
the backbone of the defence in four seasons with County. Known as Killer, he
captained Coventry to victory in the 1987 FA Cup final and was Kevin
Keegan’s first and most important signing in his first spell as Newcastle
manager. He lives on a barge in the Midlands and does home renovations in
Yorkshire. He is also a professional arm-wrestler.
11 Brian Stubbs A veteran defender who played 426 games for his only
league club, Stubbs helped County rise from the Fourth Division. He lives in
Keyworth, where he was born, and is a painter and decorator, having also
worked in building construction.
12 Ray O’Brien The Republic of Ireland full-back enjoyed nine
seasons at Meadow Lane. Formerly manager of nonleague Corby Town and general
manager of Arnold Town, he is in the printing industry in Newark.
13 Tristan Benjamin Born on the Caribbean island of St Kitts, Benjamin
was ever-present in defence and made more than 300 appearances. He was a bus
driver for Nottingham City transport and now teaches trainee bus drivers.
14 Mick Walker A former maths teacher, he was youth coach at County.
He managed the club and is at the Leeds United youth academy.
15 Don Masson A skilful midfielder who had helped QPR finish
runners-up in the First Division, Masson was in his second spell at Meadow
Lane. He won 17 caps for Scotland. He and his wife, Brenda, ran a hotel near
Trent Bridge for 15 years. They own The Grange, a five-star guesthouse in
the Belvoir valley close to Newark.
16 Paul Hooks A 21-year-old midfielder, he broke into the first team
as a teenager and in six seasons played more than 150 games. He lives in
Nottingham and is a lorry driver.
17 Gordon Mair A Scottish schoolboy international, he joined as an
apprentice and enjoyed eight years on the wing. He works in the Morrisons
superstore in Bellshill, Airdrie. “It is very different from football and
not the way you think it will work out,” he says.
18 Jimmy Sirrel Born in Glasgow, Sirrel was an inside-forward for
Celtic, but enjoyed more success as a manager. He took the Magpies from the
Fourth Division to the First in a spell that was broken by a short and
unsuccessful stint at Sheffield United. Nearly 86, he remains a hero at
Meadow Lane.
19 Howard Wilkinson A winger at Boston United, his role as assistant
under Sirrel was his first full management job. In charge at Notts County,
Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland, he was the last English manager to win
the First Division, while at Leeds in 1992. A care-taker manager of England,
he is chairman of the League Managers Association.
20 Paul Manns A midfielder who played seven league games in two
seasons, Manns was a fringe player who has lost touch with the club.
21 Iain McCulloch An 11-goal striker in the promotion season,
McCulloch joined from Kilmarnock. A former manager of Arnold Town, he worked
in insurance, then had a double-glazing business for 12 years, which closed
last March. He is a delivery driver for UPS.
22 Jim Doherty The forward played eight games in two seasons before
moving to Motherwell. His son-in-law, Craig Beattie, is a striker for West
Bromwich. Doherty is a deep-sea diver, checking steel cables on oil rigs
around the world.
ESPN Classic, Sky channel 442, will show Brian Kilcline’s Coventry against
Tottenham in the 1987 FA Cup final at midnight tonight
