Key information about Meadow Lane
Meadow Lane was built in 1910 and is now the home of National League’s Notts County. The ground is located in Nottingham, England and is actually only 300 yards away from the City Ground, Nottingham Forest’s stadium.
Its current capacity soars up to 21,388 and the pitch measures 104m by 70m. The field is not surrounded by a running track but the surface is covered with natural grass, albeit they don’t have undersoil heating installed just yet.
The record attendance is 47,310 as people flocked in to watch Notts County yield a 1–0 victory to York City in the FA Cup Sixth Round on 12 March 1955.
A history of Meadow Lane
Before they finally moved to Meadow Lane in 1910, Notts County were actually playing their football across the River Trent at Trent Bridge as a tenant of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Needless to say, this was far from an ideal situation since the pitch was mostly used for cricket rather than football and this forced the club to play their fixtures either far too late in the evening or far too early in the morning to avoid overlaps.
This was of course deemed unacceptable by the Football League and the club was asked to either relocate or negotiate more favourable terms with their ‘landlord’. Shortly after that, they leased some land on the other side of the river and constructed a stadium there and got it ready for the beginning of the 1910/11 season.
The first game played there took place on 3 September 1910 and the grand opening was celebrated with a 1-1 draw against old rivals Nottingham Forest, watched by 27,000 supporters. Even though they would still face some problems with the lease, they settled at Meadow Lane and started with the upgrades in the early 1920s. The first of those was the expansion with earth banks and a newly built main stand. This was followed by the addition of another stand in 1923 that saw the old Sneinton Side replaced with the County Road Stand.
Further renovations were necessary after World War II since Meadow Lane was badly damaged by the bombing and there were no fixtures played during the 1942 campaign. Interestingly, in times of need, the stadium would also host their rivals, Nottingham Forest, on two occasions when their own ground was unavailable first after the war and then once again in 1968.
In 1978, the club also demolished the Meadow Lane End and subsequently replaced it with a building which housed new dressing rooms, a social club and a variety of other facilities but around that time, their capacity dwindled to only 24,000 places, a far cry from their plateau that was reached in 1955 when 47,310 supporters watched Notts County face York City.
Meadow Lane was modernised in the 1990s, which was also a reaction to the Bradford City stadium fire and Hillsborough disaster with the Meadow Lane End, County Road Stand and Spion Kop all getting replaced in 1992 by the Family Stand, the Jimmy Sirrel Stand and the Spion Kop Stand respectively and the main stand by the Derek Pavis Stand two years after that.
In 2002, the stadium was briefly called Aaron Scargill Stadium due to sponsorship reasons but that couldn’t last and after the deal fell through, the ground’s name reverted back to Meadow Lane. Over the years and in modern times, there were several changes but none too drastic.
The Derek Pavis Stand now has a number of conference and function facilities to complement their Broken Wheelbarrow bar which is located behind the Family Stand. And the Family stand also got renamed to the Haydn Green Family Stand in 2007.
Tickets to watch Notts County at Meadow Lane
All the tickets to watch Notts County at Meadow Lane can be found on the club’s official website. The price range will vary depending on the seat you choose and the time of the purchase but you can find tickets for around £22-£24 for adults.
They also offer season tickets to their fans with the price for adults and seniors previously being £276 and £184 respectively. More information can be found on their website.
Related links
https://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/ – Official website of Notts County