Notts County Football Club

The event on Sunday saw fans, players and staff come together for the second annual Bench team photo in the Derek Pavis Stand and club CEO Aileen Trew was delighted with the turnout. 

"It was fantastic to speak with so many people eager to see the new season. On a personal level it's great speaking with our supporters at days like this because it gives us a great opportunity to mix and share our enthusiasm for a new campaign. 

"We're delighted with how things have gone off-field for us this year. Myself and Guy Branston our Head Of Recruitment have worked with Ricardo (Moniz) in giving us the best chance possible of getting promoted at the first attempt. I'm sure the fans here yesterday will have picked up on his enthusiasm just seeing him train with the first team on the pitch!" 

An open training session was just one of a number of events throughout the day at Meadow Lane. Earlier on those in attendance showed great appreciation for the club's Ladies side who had less than 24 hours earlier had competed at Wembley Stadium in the FA Cup Final. Manager Rick Passmoor was delighted with the response his players received: "We're still a side which is building for the long term but we've come so far in such a short space of time and the ladies loved being a part of the day, as they did last year too. 

"Obviously the challenge for us now is trying to get these people back on Wednesday evening for what is a massive game in our season. We'll be using Saturday's game to spur us on to success in future you can rest assured." 

Fans with tickets to any day of this week’s Ashes test can get into this Wednesday’s game with Bristol Academy at Meadow Lane on Wednesday, kick-off at 7.30pm, with Bench members getting in for free.

Supporters who came out in the beautiful Nottingham sun were treated to a number of stalls and sales along the car park. The Jimmy & Jack Statue Fund were doing great business in making their dream a reality, so too was the club's Official Supporters Association who continue to make great strides in raising funds for the club's academy. 

Head of Commercial & Events Richard Cokayne told the OS: "What people saw yesterday was a club moving in the right direction both on and off the pitch, the enthusiasm and support for the whole day was outstanding. I would like to thank the fans in particular for being so positive and making the day the success that it was " 

Richard also spoke of the club's fledgling #MagpieRewards scheme, saying that more companies had already signed up who would be announced this week, as well as two more exciting commercial linkups that will be announced very soon. 

First and foremost however, the club hosts these events for the supporters and you too were full of compliments for our efforts. Local barber Pete Caine was impressed with what he saw Friday night and told us yesterday he was looking forward to the new campaign: "I like what Ricardo is trying to achieve to be honest. There's a lot of logic in what he's saying and I think a lot of supporters can see that. 

"We're all starting to get last year out of our system now and as much as I'm happy with signings like Jon Stead, I've been really impressed with what I've seen of Adam Campbell and Stanley Aborah this Summer." 

Finally the club's retail manager Lynn Lawson reflected on a fantastic weekend of sales for the new home shirt: "I think everyone is aware by now of the effort we went to to get the kit out in time for Friday's game and the response from our supporters has fully justified the hours put in. 

"By Friday morning we had supporters outside before the doors were open, and even with the limited sizes available we've done some great trade. The Wembley scarves for Notts Ladies are nearly all gone now too so people will need to be quick to get in touch if they want one.

“We thank our main sponsor for the event Premier Facilities and Premier Electrical for their generous donations towards the event which enabled us to bring in such attractions as Punch & Judy and the Scallywags Fun Bus. A lot of hard work went into making the open day a success and we thank all our exhibitors for taking part, community charities including Indigo Kids and The Frank Hudson Foundation who were able to raise much needed funds.”

The day’s raffles alone raised over £600 for the club’s Lifeline scheme, with the winners as follows: