NL Full Time Podcast: Play-offs get set to bask in the spotlight

By Rich Worton, NL Full TIme Podcast

A few weeks ago, I gave myself the equivalent of a ‘hospital pass’ when I wrote that as eye-catching as the Wrexham story is, there are plenty of great stories elsewhere in the National League too.

In doing so, I gave myself a problem: is it possible to write about the Vanarama National League and not reference the North Wales club? Mentioning Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, Paul Mullin or any of the leading figures at Cae Ras is a surefire way to get your content noticed, after all.

Even articles about other clubs will refer to them as ‘rivals to Ryan Reynolds’ team’ rather than ‘Wealdstone’ or ‘Aldershot Town’; the appetite for Wrexham content is a huge one.

It would be churlish not to acknowledge the Red Dragons have been this season’s box-office blockbuster, but their story has been augmented, like so many good movie scripts, by a rivalry, and you can’t have a rivalry without a rival.

Wrexham might have won the Vanarama National League’s equivalent of ‘Best Picture’, or maybe ‘Best Actor in a Leading Role’, but sometimes a movie needs a great supporting cast so that the leading man (or men) can shine.

Wrexham found their Best Supporting Actor in Notts County, whose near-faultless delivery of their own lines brought the best out of Phil Parkinson’s side, raising them to levels never previously seen in the National League.

Wrexham may have become many people’s favourite team or second team; however, when it comes to the playoffs I suspect County will enjoy the backing of a vast number of neutrals, and perhaps even a sizeable chunk of Wrexham fans.

Luke Williams and his side have had some time to process their disappointment at missing out on the title, but you sense resilience isn’t in short supply at Meadow Lane. It may be known as the Lace City, but County has substance to go with the frills.

Given the appalling tragedy that befell the club with the recent death of chief executive Jason Turner, they also have perspective.

Notts County experienced a loss far greater than anything football can deliver. An unconverted injury-time penalty that denies you a point is just something that happens in sports; the real tragedy was the untimely loss of Jason Turner, and it can galvanise County to ensure they take what so many people feel they deserve.

When head coach Williams and star forward Macaulay Langstaff collected their recent manager and player of the month awards, the images that accompanied them were striking. Both stood flanked by teammates and staff, indicating that whilst the trophies had Williams and Langstaff’s names on them, they were actually a reward for the whole team.

But there was more.

Behind them, displayed on a banner across the Meadow Lane seats was a giant image of Jason Turner, their missing and mourned off-field mastermind.

It lent the image a powerful emotional aspect and spoke of a team united by loss.

Fans are often referred to as the twelfth man, and referees can often be referred to in the same way, albeit rather less positively.

When the Magpies kick off their playoff semi-final on 7th May, it may be that Jason Turner proves to be County’s twelfth man.

Football isn’t life itself, merely a part of life, albeit a significant one. Like life itself, football rarely goes entirely to any sort of script; however, whilst every other playoff team will doubtless contest that one remaining place in the EFL with everything they have, it would be both a sentimental and logical outcome for the season’s Best Supporting Actors to take centre stage.

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