As I arrived at Meadow Lane at 11.30am this morning, I had to pinch myself to believe that Notts County, footballing “minnows” were at the centre of a media circus, the likes of which we’ve never seen before, and that ex-England manager, Sven Goran Eriksson is to become director of football. It still amazes and baffles me as I sit and write that I can type those words out, but here we are, it’s happened.
As I wandered around outside the club’s main gates, the atmosphere was a strange mix of euphoria, optimism and disbelief, with fans anxious to catch a glimpse of Sven arriving at Meadow Lane for the first time. Cars came and went, “is this him?”, “is that him?” passed this way and that in strangely hushed tones, so imagine the anti-climax when we found out from a policeman that he’d already been in the ground for at least an hour, so off we went to the pub.
I was one of the last to arrive, just before Sky Sports News cut straight to the Notts boardroom, and you could feel the excitement and anticipation at what was to come. One gentleman commented that this was surely the first time there’d ever been a press conference beamed live from the ground, and today, for once, we were the centre of the football world.
Perhaps the strangest moment was when the caption “Sven Goran Eriksson, Notts County Director of Football” flashed up on the screen. I cast a quick glance round the room, and it was a joy to see Notts fans with smirks on their faces. Probably the highlight was the cheer that went up when Sven received a text just after he’d started speaking – “’ere, Sven, five year contract, are you sure, mate?” was the suggested text. We’ll never know what it said – but who cares, we’d got him on board.
The Press Conference came to an end, drinks were finished, and the assembled Pies made their way down to the gates again, where we were beckoned inside the ground and into the Haydn Green Family Stand, and glancing at the pitch, a mass of photographers and reporters had made their way onto the sacred Meadow Lane turf. “The Wheelbarrow Song”, “We Don’t Care About Forest”, “Charlie Mac’s Black and White Army” and other well-known Pies songs were sung to the visiting press, and the fans were in full swing.
After a short pause, Sven, Peter Trembling and Charlie McParland entered the pitch to a rousing chorus of “The Wheelbarrow Song”, and at that point, finally, it became real. For me at least. They stood in the middle of the pitch for the press, before eventually, almost in slow motion, Sven made his way down to the fans, for a minute or so, for handshakes and autographs and a precious photo opportunity for the success-starved Pies fans.
Soon, he turned and wandered back up the pitch and into the Derek Pavis Stand again, leaving the assembled ranks to filter out. “Surreal, absolutely surreal – what’s next?” was the question on everyone’s lips. Who knows, but it’s sure going to be fun finding out.