For once they delivered justice as well as drama, which was just as well on this occasion…
So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, at the end of unquestionably the greatest season in non-league history, Notts County sealed promotion the hard way and will join Welsh rivals Wrexham in the fourth tier of English football next season. Has a return to league football ever been sweeter? Possibly. But what is beyond all doubt is that there’s never been a more deserved one.
Yes, the Pies rode their luck in both the playoff semis and final, and were left hanging by the stirrups too many times to count. Many will say the gods were smiling down on them yesterday and last Sunday, but that’s the playoffs for you and exactly what we love them for.
What doesn’t always go down so well is that, more often than not, the side that finishes highest usually chokes and is left to reflect on what might have been. Meanwhile, their opponents, who made sixth place by the skin of their eyelids (easily thinner than the skin of your teeth), take the plaudits. The big difference in the National League is that only one can go up automatically, whilst the seventh-place side also inexplicably make the running. Here we had second playing third with the former having finished the regular season 24 points clear.
Now, although this ludicrous system is under revision as you’re reading this, it meant that Notts, having finished on a gargantuan 107 points, faced the ignominy of another season in non-leagueville. Yes, everyone’s aware of the rules from the outset, and we love the theatre that only the playoffs can provide, but the gap was that cavernous between the Pies and the rest that it meant we could have had the biggest injustice that football – no, make that sport – has ever seen.
Last season, Grimsby Town, who finished sixth, had finished a mere eleven points behind second-placed Wrexham. By stark contrast, Notts County had finished thirty-five (yes, you read that right) clear of Boreham Wood this time around. But as it was, justice was served. Notts came from behind in both games by virtue of goalkeeping errors and a lot of luck. Extra time ensued in both, with the final going all the way to penalties, but every man and his dog were chuffed to bits for them, despite their many rubs of the green. Normally, this is far from the case, but these were far from normal circumstances.
The playoffs are, and should, be here to stay. There’s nothing quite like them and, despite many fans bemoaning the unfairness of it all, they breathe life into every football season, not just at the end but throughout. Plus, as was witnessed on Saturday, it’s edge-of-your-seat stuff that’s rarely bettered. For the good of the English game from the Championship down, we need them.
But please, there should never be just the one automatic promotion slot, or the critics will surely have their day… perhaps permanently.
The Early Whistle 